Monroe vs Gabriel

I'm about to change shocks and struts on a 98 pontiac
grand am with ~ 100K miles.
I'm not looking to do a big upgrade, I just want something
OEM quality or maybe a little better.
The two easiest brands for me to find locally are monroe and gabriel.
If I compare the best models from both, gabriel ultra vs. monroe
reflex or sensa-trac, the monroes are 3 times the price.

Any reason why I shouldn't go with the gabriels?

--
- VI -

Vinny wrote:
>
> I'm about to change shocks and struts on a 98 pontiac
> grand am with ~ 100K miles.
> I'm not looking to do a big upgrade, I just want something
> OEM quality or maybe a little better.
> The two easiest brands for me to find locally are monroe and gabriel.
> If I compare the best models from both, gabriel ultra vs. monroe
> reflex or sensa-trac, the monroes are 3 times the price.
>
> Any reason why I shouldn't go with the gabriels?
>
> --
> - VI -

Since your gathering opinions, here's mine: You will get many others.
Car= 1992 Grand Am. Mostly freeway, stop & go driving.
No rough roads but I am pretty hard on the vehicle.
I put 4 Gabs on it at 75k. They were good.
At 150k I decided to try Monroe SensTrks.
One front strut was leaking in the box.
The other one would not expand.
I did not bother look at the new rear shocks & took all four
back and got another set of Gabs. They are good.

also check out KYB brand. They make shock and struts. Might be better
quality than Monroe and Gabs.
They have the standard GR-2 and Performance grade shocks. Search around
for best price, like tirerack.com

jjjsan wrote:
> also check out KYB brand. They make shock and struts. Might be better
> quality than Monroe and Gabs.
> They have the standard GR-2 and Performance grade shocks. Search around
> for best price, like tirerack.com

I'm not a big fan of KYBs. The PO of my 944 replaced all four shocks
before I bought it; the rears he did himself with KYBs and the fronts
he paid a shop to do, they used Gabriel. The rears started clunking
and rattling within a year; I didn't think it could possibly be the
shocks and I had visions of bad trailing arm bushings or similar.
Since this is my daily driver I just took it to an independent Porsche
specialty shop rather than try to fix it myself. Good thing I did; the
shop owner put it up on the lift and immediately condemned the shocks.
He replaced them with a pair of (pricey) Bilsteins and I haven't had a
problem since. He called me up and basically told me never, ever,
under any circumstances to use KYBs ever again - apparently this is not
an isolated incident. I had to explain to him that they were on the
car when I bought it until he regained any respect for me

Similarly, my landlady has an old POS Nissan pickup truck. She just
had four new shocks put on it and unfortunately they are KYBs. I
didn't know what work was done on the truck, I just drove it home from
the shop for her as a favor. When I got home she asked me "so how did
it drive?" My response was "fine, but I think you need new front
shocks, the LF is blown and rattling." That's when I found out about
the new KYBs... deja vu all over again...

I have also used Boge Turbo Gas on an old VW; they worked OK when new
but quickly lost their damping within 30K miles. I replaced them with
a set of used Koni Yellows which were still on the car when I sold it.

The Gabriels on my 944 are still fine, although they don't feel as
stiff as the Bilsteins. I've also used Gabriels on several old
Studebakers mainly because Gabriel is the only company that still makes
direct fit shocks for them; I haven't had any issues with them.

So my advice to the OP is, buy the Gabriels unless you are looking for
a sportier feel, in which case see if Bilstein or Koni makes a shock
for your app.

nate

Vinny wrote:
> I'm about to change shocks and struts on a 98 pontiac
> grand am with ~ 100K miles.
> I'm not looking to do a big upgrade, I just want something
> OEM quality or maybe a little better.
> The two easiest brands for me to find locally are monroe and gabriel.
> If I compare the best models from both, gabriel ultra vs. monroe
> reflex or sensa-trac, the monroes are 3 times the price.
>
> Any reason why I shouldn't go with the gabriels?
>

I'm considering doing this on my 98 Grand Am. In the past couple of
months I've replaced the driveshafts, rotors, sway bar bolts, and wheel
bearings.. I have over 140k miles on it and it's time for the struts.

What are you using to compress the springs? My buddy has some cheapo
spring compressors from Harbor Freight that don't really fit onto my
springs in a stable way. This is the only thing preventing me from
doing this myself and avoided hundreds of $$ of mechanic fees.

Any tips?

> What are you using to compress the springs? My buddy has some cheapo
> spring compressors from Harbor Freight that don't really fit onto my
> springs in a stable way. This is the only thing preventing me from
> doing this myself and avoided hundreds of $$ of mechanic fees.
>
> Any tips?

I bought some of those at Harbor Freight too. They work okay in some
circumstances,
but I ended up going to the parts house and buying some better ones. Some
places
will lend you the tools. The impact wrench was my best addition...it sure
helps get everything
on and off faster, and allows you to run the compressors up and down with a
minimum of cursing.

I bought Bilsteins shocks for my Dodge van, and it was money very well
spent.
I have used Monroe and Gabriel cartridges for GM products, and dont really
have a preference
yet.

Jon C wrote:
>
> What are you using to compress the springs? My buddy has some cheapo
> spring compressors from Harbor Freight that don't really fit onto my
> springs in a stable way. This is the only thing preventing me from
> doing this myself and avoided hundreds of $$ of mechanic fees.
>
> Any tips?

I made 6 spring compressors by heating up 3/8" rebar with my
torch and then bending them into sort of straightened C's with hooks
on the ends. With the spring compressed by the weight of the car I
slip them onto the spring and jack up the car. The springs stretch
but leave enough unstretched (about 1") to work with.
The cost was a bit of heat and my time. The rebar was free.
They won't break or come off.

I was planning to use a set of those cheapo harbor
freight compressors. They have double hooks on one end and
an adjustable hook and wing nut on the other to help
them say attached to the spring. I'm planning to use an
air ratchet or impact wrench to deal with the bolts.
I've used them before, they are a bit of a hassle and you
have to be very careful that they are properly attached,
but they do work.
If you're worried about using something like
this you can probably rent something better.

--
- Vinny -
"Jon C" > wrote in message
news
> Vinny wrote:
> > I'm about to change shocks and struts on a 98 pontiac
> > grand am with ~ 100K miles.
> > I'm not looking to do a big upgrade, I just want something
> > OEM quality or maybe a little better.
> > The two easiest brands for me to find locally are monroe and gabriel.
> > If I compare the best models from both, gabriel ultra vs. monroe
> > reflex or sensa-trac, the monroes are 3 times the price.
> >
> > Any reason why I shouldn't go with the gabriels?
> >
>
> I'm considering doing this on my 98 Grand Am. In the past couple of
> months I've replaced the driveshafts, rotors, sway bar bolts, and wheel
> bearings.. I have over 140k miles on it and it's time for the struts.
>
> What are you using to compress the springs? My buddy has some cheapo
> spring compressors from Harbor Freight that don't really fit onto my
> springs in a stable way. This is the only thing preventing me from
> doing this myself and avoided hundreds of $$ of mechanic fees.
>
> Any tips?

N8N wrote:
>
> jjjsan wrote:
>
>>also check out KYB brand. They make shock and struts. Might be better
>>quality than Monroe and Gabs.
>>They have the standard GR-2 and Performance grade shocks. Search around
>>for best price, like tirerack.com
>
>
> I'm not a big fan of KYBs. The PO of my 944 replaced all four shocks
> before I bought it; the rears he did himself with KYBs and the fronts
> he paid a shop to do, they used Gabriel. The rears started clunking
> and rattling within a year; I didn't think it could possibly be the
> shocks and I had visions of bad trailing arm bushings or similar.
> Since this is my daily driver I just took it to an independent Porsche
> specialty shop rather than try to fix it myself. Good thing I did; the
> shop owner put it up on the lift and immediately condemned the shocks.
> He replaced them with a pair of (pricey) Bilsteins and I haven't had a
> problem since. He called me up and basically told me never, ever,
> under any circumstances to use KYBs ever again - apparently this is not
> an isolated incident. I had to explain to him that they were on the
> car when I bought it until he regained any respect for me
>
> Similarly, my landlady has an old POS Nissan pickup truck. She just
> had four new shocks put on it and unfortunately they are KYBs. I
> didn't know what work was done on the truck, I just drove it home from
> the shop for her as a favor. When I got home she asked me "so how did
> it drive?" My response was "fine, but I think you need new front
> shocks, the LF is blown and rattling." That's when I found out about
> the new KYBs... deja vu all over again...
>
> I have also used Boge Turbo Gas on an old VW; they worked OK when new
> but quickly lost their damping within 30K miles. I replaced them with
> a set of used Koni Yellows which were still on the car when I sold it.
>
> The Gabriels on my 944 are still fine, although they don't feel as
> stiff as the Bilsteins. I've also used Gabriels on several old
> Studebakers mainly because Gabriel is the only company that still makes
> direct fit shocks for them; I haven't had any issues with them.
>
> So my advice to the OP is, buy the Gabriels unless you are looking for
> a sportier feel, in which case see if Bilstein or Koni makes a shock
> for your app.
>
> nate

Nate
You are right on the money.
If the choice is Gabriel or Monroe, I'd go Gabriel every time.
Back when we sold Gabriel, I used to carry a sample of each, cut apart.
The Gabriel was obviously better constructed internally. The last set
of Monroes I bought was in 1976.
If you want something better yet, Bilstein, Tokico, Koni.