After 5 1/2 months of use my rear rear shock started banging.

My tiny town mechanic says it will be covered by a warranty.
So no charge.

I thought I was getting a much better than average product,

I needed to replace the shocks on my Wrangler, it was between Monroe and Rancho. Went with Rancho, Monroe was Chinese country of origin while Rancho was U.S. made.

Bilstein. www.shockwarehouse.com

You need Monroe Doctorin'

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Bilstein. www.shockwarehouse.com

IIRC, he has a 2004 Buick. No Bilstein option I can see.
KYB, Moog, Monroe

quote:

Originally posted by 4MUL8R:
Bilstein. www.shockwarehouse.com

Funny you should mention this. My rear Bilstein puked oil at the 12 month mark 21k miles. It too was warranted.

It would have been a lot worse had it been on the front. I love em but was really disappointed when I saw that oil.

The o.e.m. replacement air bag strut was very expensive so I opted for the non air bag struts for half the price.

The "04" LeSaber has 78,000 miles on it.

I didn't want to risk having the compressor going out at a later day for additional expense.

We were doing that exact replacement to that vintage C & H body cars (Electra C Body, LeSabre H Body) about 10-15 years ago due to the cost involved in replacing the electronic struts.

Sorry about your suspension woes. A premature shock failure can happen with any brand, regardless of where the part is made. These sorts of things across all sorts of products just seems to happen more often when the stuff is from China. I suppose one could blame Monroe for not doing a better job of watching the QC out of that forsaking God place. But for now it's just a single-case issue.

I sort of hate saying this being so late in the discussion, but I was never much of a fan of Monroe even when their stuff was entirely made here in the U.S. A few buddies back in the day used to swear by their gas shocks on their trucks, but they were the kind of guys who could be easily swayed by flashy ads with girls in cutoffs and bikini tops. And having a fear of not admitting to making a mistake. Whereas a couple of neighbors who went down the Monroe route had nothing but problems with their setups. But that was back then in the 70s and 80s and may not relate to how the situation is today. But some memories are damn hard to forget.

Monroe does claim that "most" of their production is US-made, whatever that means. That doesn't help you with your situation, but hopefully this was just a one-off and Monroe does normally do a good job of watching the QC of their product coming in from the PRC.

For what it's worth, which at this point I confess isn't much, I would've went with KYB. Either Japan or US-made, depending on brand of car. And really good sh*t.

Last couple rounds of shocks I replaced I learned that Monroe shocks were generally looked down on, as one of the shit brands. I'm currently using Bilstein and KYB, better quality imo. I generally like factory replacement shocks, but those are guys are always way overpriced in every case.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
You need Monroe Doctorin'

Maybe John Quincy Adam's could help. Just like John Adams, only Quincier

Shocks on yesterday N/C.

F&R brakes today.

Got the car a week ago,
How does $800.00
Sound for
Front rotors and pads
And rear pads.

New steering stabilizers included

Roughly
400.00 parts
400.00 labor

What kind and quality of parts? 20 years ago that would have been way out of line.
These days around here, you can’t even cut a fart for $800 at a repair shop. My guy pretty much only uses OEM brake parts from a dealership in the “nearby” big city. It’s not like we have the luxury of several good shops competing with each other, either.

I can't name the parts manufacturer,
But I do trust my tiny town mechanic of 20 years.


He is his business, one guy.
After thirty years of getting stuff running , I don't tell him what or how to do stuff.