You wont regret it

I hated my Monroe GT's + superlows.

Not only did they feel crap, but the back ones kept blowing up.

In the end I put in some Ultimas which were about the same price and these worked out much better.

Ok, it has been a week so here is my report:

Problems:

I had the shocks fitted at the Tyre Factory in Cheltenham (the service was excellent, it wasn't their fault) and my car started scuffing. This had never happened before, my wheels are the correct offset and I couldn't figure out why this had started happening.... the car appears to sit a little lower than it did before I had the shocks put in (it does look lower) but the scuffing was happening on one side only.

After I noticed scuffing I had a look at the guard and I noticed that the guard lip on the side that was scuffing had a small ridge that stuck out toward the tyre by about 3 or 4mm. This ridge ripped what I considered to be a massive, deep chunk out of my tyre. It didn't get through the tread blocks but there wasn't much left in it. If nothing else it looked very, very average as the gouge covered 3 tread blocks and left a smaller slice in the tyre almost all the way around.

Solution:

With this scuffing problem, I went back to the Tyre Factory in Chelt and asked them what we could do to sort it out.

The guys there offered to roll both front guards to ensure that further scuffing did not occur and even swapped swapped the FR tyre for the FL so that the tyre damage, which they assured me was not dangerous or overly bad for the tyre (and they did offer to replace the tyre too), was on the engine-side of the tyre, not the exterior side, so that the tyre doesn't look like a dog's breakfast.

Basically, they rolled the guards, swapped the two front tyres and balanced the wheels accordingly for a very small amount of cash.

I've been keeping an ear and eye out for further scuffing but I'm yet to notice anything, so the problem appears to be solved.

I'd certainly recommend the Tyre Factory in Cheltenham to anyone, they went above and beyond the call of duty to look after me. They're all friendly and very helpful. Big thumbs up for them.

The Shocks (with King Superlow springs)

So, the actual shocks.... I have to say that I quite like them. Compared to the stock shocks they are light years ahead.

Corners: The feel through corners is infinitely more planted, the car sits more confidently with less body roll. I found myself going around the block just to go around certain corners again because it just felt so much better.

Bumps: The Monroes are a little firmer than the stock ones over small road bumps and you certainly feel that. It's not uncomfortable at all, I hear it more than I feel it. I can hear the dash taking the bumps now... but that's a trade-off you pay for lowering and firming a 13 year old family sedan, I suppose.

Bounce: Massive improvement. When the car is parked I used to get 2.5 to 3 'bounces' out of the rear end when pushing down on the tow-bar. With the new shocks you hardly get even one bounce. This means that speed bumps and harsher road bumps are much, much less noticeable. I've found that I don't need to slow right to a crawl over some speed bumps anymore.

General ride: As I said, it has only been a week since these shocks were installed and I have not done a lot of Ks on them. I suspect they haven't yet finished bedding in, so I'll come back here again if I notice any changes worth mentioning. The ride comfort is much better than before, the car actually feels like it is doing something to absorb bumps rather than just trying to get over them. Cruising around is much nicer... firm but not a spine-punisher and the cornering is a huge improvement.


I cannot compare the Monroes to other shocks... I've never tried anything else nor have I been in another EF with anything other than standard shocks, so my comparisons above are only to the standard shocks.

My summary for these shocks is this:

Much better than standard and for a shock that (depending on how you buy them) you can buy for under $400 a set, the Monroe GT Sports seem to be a good low-budget option for replacement shock absorbers.

I do low Ks, so I don't imagine that I'll be able to give you a reliable opinion on the their lifespan, so this is just an initial impression.

thats good feedback mate!

im ordering a set of these sometime today and im going to put them in myself. just hope i dont end up with any scrubbing!
what size rims are you running?
ive got plenty of clearance atm with ftr's so shouldnt be a problem.

thanks!

monroe don't actually make a shock to suit lowered springs. they say they do but if you look in the catalogue it is actually the same part no. as the std gt gas.

having said that i've used them with no troubles on the front of a couple of different e series but the rear tends to chew them out pretty quick.

my eb probably sits a bit lower than superlow height and i have ultima short travel shocks in there and they've been fine for a while now.

Monroe do make a shortened shock now. They are the GT Sports.

See links>>> http://www.monroe.com.au/products/gt-sport.html

http://www.monroe.com.au/uploads/pdfs/G ... 281%29.pdf

my bad. i'll just crawl back under my rock now.

hi i just got my suspension done by pedders yesterday.
they will measure your car and discuss what you want and whats leagal.
my car was lowered from tickford front ,king lows rear
i went with sports ryder cant remember what spring size but they were different front to back.
the car has a 2.5 cm rake from front to back for looks first and imo launch.
the lowest part of my car is the center muffler which is bang on 10cm.
all you need is a 30% deposit and say you have a job for interest free monthly repayments.
cost $1137 with %10 nrma member discount

 

 

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So that was supply springs and shocks only? Could have saved hundreds doing it yourself as springs are only around $250 a full set and shortened shocks from about $370 full set. Also to obtain a correct wheel alignment a camber kit starts at about $120 full set so a total of about $740 and about 3 hrs of time plus wheel alignment.

all installed spring ,shocks ,struts
took 3 hours saved heaps of stuff around plus i only had 500 bucks
i am chuffed and so is teh car
yeah you can get kits for 600 and whatever and do it yourself
i am no mechanic lol

I had some pedders gasryder rear shocks (leaked), and now i have come upon some sportsryder fronts, and in both cases they are harsh, they have too much compression valving.

I think most of the $$ in the pedders job is in the
cost of the shocks. They are fairly expensive, going
from the quotes I have had for a BA....
ie supply only sports ryders, fronts $250 each, rears $185 each !!!

Anyway, car looks good there mystro......well done.

Hey All,

I did the silly thing of cutting the standard springs (2 coils off) and kept standard shockers
it looked heaps better than stock 4x4 look
I had really bad bouncing issues going down the highway. (was like a rodeo bull)

so i had enough and fitted Monroe GT Sports.
they were shorter and a little firmer. fun to fit in 44" deg,

i have been for a good 100km drive and have noticed it a little bit better, but dont really feel its fixed my bouncing issue 100%, any idears on spring choice???

Will new springs help. i like hard firm break your back style suspension not this floaty bouncy stuff.

Any info would be muchly appreciated

Cheers
Mike

As long as your ride height is okay, i.e. not too low, the next step is to make an estimate of the increase in spring rate. If say the OE coils had 8 turns as std, and you took two off, you now have a rate approx. 8/6 = 33% more than what it was before. If so that would be okay for a 1.5" lowering, but maybe not enough for a 2" lowering.

It sounds like you are concerned your springs are now too stiff. Maybe so. Or maybe they are not stiff enough and you are bottoming out? Bump stops have a high rate and therefore rebound quickly, and if things are really bad you can get tyre squash, which is a higher rate again and there is no damping for when they rebound. If the car is floaty without hitting the bump stops the coils are indeed too stiff for the shocks, or put another way the shocks are not firm enough for the coils.

Thanks relaxed_diplomacy ,

I think its about 2" lower now, its not really floaty when driving just bouncey over pot holes and bumps in the road. it doesnt sound like its bottoming out, but not 100%.
i am thinking of fitting King Springs superlows as it should stay at the same height with these new shockers, as i have seen Monroe and king Springs worked together to design them.

Do you think its worth a shot???

Cheers
Mike