KYB or Monroe struts?

**shadow83** · 12-28-2007, 10:08 PM

KYB GR2 or Monroe struts, which are better? (yes I did a search and did not find the specific info)

My 8g has stock suspension, not lowered and I only drive it on the street, no racing. I have 85k miles and the struts are original. For about a year I get a oscillating vibration from the front end over 60 mph. It feels like a tire out of balance but it oscillates, it comes and goes, steering wheel slowly starts shimmying (not real bad), vibrates for about 15 seconds and them slowly stops, then repeats.

Rotors are true, hubs are straight, wheels are balanced, no overlapped belt in the tire, rim is not bent (it stayed the same when I rotated tires front to back) and front end is aligned perfectly. And to make sure hub and rotor were turning straight I hit the brakes (not hard) at 70 mph and the shimmy did not change.

The front end was raised when I bought it (62k miles), the previous owner did it by welding 1/4" plates to the struts and redrilling the knuckle attach holes. I ground off the plates at the welds and brought it back to factory specs.

I suspect the oscillating shimmy is due to worn struts, either the heat from the welding or age made them go. I'm not sure because this is the first time I had a car with struts and don't know if this type of shimmy is indicative of the struts being worn. Anyone have any experience?

**fatal1** · 12-28-2007, 10:43 PM

most of the guys here use kyb

**RAZ_76** · 12-28-2007, 11:03 PM

Monroe is crap, Get KYB GR-2s About 30% better then stock but an OE equivalent.

WarmAndSCSI · 12-28-2007, 11:07 PM

The Monroes are cheaper and have a lifetime warranty IIRC.

**RedGalant2k1** · 12-28-2007, 11:38 PM

The Monroe Sensatracs and KYB GR2s are equivalent products.

Originally Posted by shadow83

I suspect the oscillating shimmy is due to worn struts, either the heat from the welding or age made them go. I'm not sure because this is the first time I had a car with struts and don't know if this type of shimmy is indicative of the struts being worn. Anyone have any experience?

Sounds like a issue from Mr.Home Mechanic and his welding of additional metal plates to the struts.

**duh2150** · 12-29-2007, 07:52 AM

why would you weld plates to your struts?

**6G72Galant** · 12-29-2007, 08:27 AM

Originally Posted by RedGalant2k1

Originally Posted by shadow83

I suspect the oscillating shimmy is due to worn struts, either the heat from the welding or age made them go. I'm not sure because this is the first time I had a car with struts and don't know if this type of shimmy is indicative of the struts being worn. Anyone have any experience?

Sounds like a issue from Mr.Home Mechanic and his welding of additional metal plates to the struts.

:smt005

**ricky_db** · 12-29-2007, 08:34 AM

Originally Posted by duh2150

why would you weld plates to your struts?

maby he wonts a stiffer ride

**02redgalant** · 12-29-2007, 10:32 AM

Originally Posted by fatal1

most of the guys here use kyb

kyb is a great choice..and they also have a life time warranty

as for the vibration issue its a tough issue to get rid of i've replaced everything in the front end and it still does but not as much as it used,replacing control arms made the biggest difference for me....

**shadow83** · 12-29-2007, 10:45 AM

Originally Posted by duh2150

why would you weld plates to your struts?

I am sure that he had those big expensive wagon wheels on it and had to raise the front end to keep the tires from rubbing. Luckily he only used spacers on the rear.

From what I read lowering a car is less damaging than raising it. Engineers (of which I am one) make precision designs (especially on Jap cars) with load distributions and stress points carefully calculated so when we change these parameters it puts different stresses on areas which they were not designed for. This is why when altering a suspension it should be done professionally. IMHO I believe that it is one of the most damaging things one can do to a car, we will pay for it later. If I had known the previous owner had played with the ride I would have passed on the car.

**RedGalant2k1** · 12-29-2007, 11:43 AM

Altering anything on the vehicle puts undue strain and stress where it was not intended. So in other words if you lower or lift it will not last as if factory.

**djflex167** · 12-30-2007, 07:14 AM

i have a friend who doesn't recomend kyb since he have had bad experience with them!! but i can't really say which one you should go for!! probably AGX's!!

**bronxbombr** · 12-30-2007, 08:19 AM

I have Monroes that we sell at my job. They usually come stock on most cars. KYB's are more for those that change things in their suspensions and what not. If you want to keep that stock ride then go with Monroes or KYB GR2's. Stay away from Gabriels! If you gonna give the car a drop then you cannot use the Stock Monroes cuz they will blow on you. Gr2's would be your next bet for that but after time will take a shit on you also.

Stock> Monroes,Gr2's, Moog coilsprings............XXXXXGabriels
Drop>Gr2's, AGX's, Coilovers, Eibachs, Teins or good equivalent to.