I might be regretting having monroe sensatracs installed yesterday! They are bouncy and weird. In their favor,they have improved the cornering of my 140000 mile 1995 xj6.

Would getting a street smart set of aftermarket springs like H&R's help my stability. I guess they won't make the bumps any better, eh? Or would they be a bad matchup with the monroe shocks?? After 15 years I have to think that the springs are getting worn.

I'm guessing the auto part store doesnt accept returns on installed parts, so Im probably stuck with the Monroes. However, they were buy 4 get one free, so I guess its not too bad. Also, they are half the cost of Bilstiens. But now Im thinking I should have waiting till i had enough for bilsteins.

What to do?

 

Maybe the store will take them back and give credit towards the Bilsteins...if you order the Bilsteins from them, of course. Perhaps they have a "100% satisfaction guaranteed" policy that you can work under. I wouldn't count on it but it can't hurt to ask.

You can check the ride height to determine if you need new springs as well. Personally, though, I don't think the springs are part of the problem here.

Cheers
DD

 

Ok, I just talked to Advance-auto parts. THey WILL give me an exchange. That means buying their bilstiens at $128 per front and $168 per rear. The sales rep does not know if they are comfort, touring or HD. She assumes they are the regular factory spec bilstiens , since nothing else is specified.

So at least I have that option. /shrug

 

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I like the Bilstiens I put on the front of my car. I noticed very little difference when replacing my old shocks. Of course, I did replace them slightly prematurely (at 120,000 miles) when I needed to replace my oh, whatever those little things are called that wear out. Brain fart!

 

Not those damned A-Frame bushes?

 

I am also in need of some shocks and bushings--probably only need bushings, but while I'm there might as well do it all. I had been thinking of the monroes--maybe I will pass. The Bilstiens are $$$, are they really worth it? How about the KYBs? Not trying to hijack the thread--just interested in shocks. JSO are you used to them now, or would pass them up if given the chance again?

 

No worries. Don't get me wrong, the monroes are not BAD . I definitely notice an increase in stability, control ,and ride quality (compared to my stocks with 140000). I wrote my initial report the day of shock installation. Now its 2 days later, and theyve gotten broken in a bit and feel better. More over , maybe i just expect too much from antiquated technology. The car is 15 years and uses shocks in the front instead of mcpherson, so some bumpiness is to be expected i guess. If I had gotten Bilstiens, maybe I wouldnt be satisfied either.

The monroes were buy 4 get 1 free at advance auto parts, which boils down to about 200 for 3. Whereas a full set of Bilsteins would have cost around 600. All that considering the car's age made me want to avoid spending too much on one particualr component.

By the way I just put my xj6 up for sale on the classifies :-) . Ive had alot of work done on it this summer.