Experience with KYB, Monroe, or Gabriel struts?

I've searched the forums, and read a lot of the info on struts for the B4 Passat. It seems that the Bilsteins are the way to go. But, I'm not sure I want to spend that much money. My car has 152,000 miles on it. This is a daily driver, and I'd really like to have the best handling for the money, not necessarily the all-out best. It seems that KYB, Monroe, and Gabriel all make replacements that are quite a bit cheaper. Anybody have experience with these? Would they at least be better than the lousy stock struts?

Hi ezbngrn, I had a set of KYB's installed on a 97 B4 Passat with near 130K and they seemed to be quite good. I sold this car to tdiBill and he really likes the way the car handles. I'm not sure what the cost difference is between KYB's and Bilstien's but, I do remember the labor cost to install them was the killer. Later!

Bilstein also has the EconoTC line which are a twin-tube, low pressure gas design and considered a high quality OEM replacement. I just bought a set but haven't installed them yet. Price for 4: $240 from Shox.com

P/N: VNE-4576, front, BNE-1994, rear

With the price of installation on a passat (most shops charge $400+ as a passat has struts on all 4 corners, requiring time consuming spring compressing on all four shocks) Why not save up and buy the best shocks you can so you never have to do the job again? I believe only one company promises this sort of reliability.. Bilstein. If you need them installed, I do it for $200, it is about a 5 hour job.

I had KYB gas shocks/struts put on our A2 Golf Diesel. Both rears blew after a couple years. KYB warranted the shocks, but had to pay for the labour (fair enough).

KYB didn't make a specifically calibrated shock for the A2. It raised the body by over an inch, and rode quite stiff over small bumps. I didn't complain too much about it, as we like our cars stiff.

My friend had Bilstein's on his car, and the same roads that caused our A2 to bounce, his car worked well on smaller undulations. This proved the extra refinement with the Bilsteins.

If I were to do it again, and was to keep the car for at least 5 more years, I'd put on the Bilstein's... they are worth it.

Harry.

If you plan to keep the car for a long time, then the cheapest shocks you can buy are also the BEST: Bilstein monotube shocks and struts, baby! Sure, the up-front cost is pretty high, but you'll never need to replace them. Ever.

KYB makes some very good performance shocks and struts, but nobody makes 'em like Bilstein. Besides, you probably won't be getting monotubes if you get KYBs. The monotube design is worth its weight in gold. They are naturally progressive, without a lot of complicated valving. They are impervious to cavitation. ("Fade.") And, though the design is dead simple, it requires the absolute BEST in materials and workmanship in order to be reliable. Monotubes are made with very thick, heavy-duty, machined shock bodies. Internal tolerances are far smaller than anything inside your engine. If they aren't built like surgical instruments, they won't work.

Gabriel and Monroe build crap. The only time I'd buy them is if I need to add new shocks to sell a car to some poor sap.

I suppose one could make the argument that a Gabriel or Monroe is "cheaper" if you can get a lifetime warranty. I guess it all depends on your tolerance for crawling under your car and replacing shocks every year or two, and dealing with mediocre performance in-between. I have a very low tolerance for grovelling under cars, and I HATE floaty, poorly-damped shocks.

-mickey

Great feedback, guys. That's really helpful. Mickey, are you familiar with the Bilstein EconoTC that was mentioned earlier? I realize it's a twin-tube design, but would it be better since it's Bilstein? What's your take on the Boge Turbogas? Are they twin-tube as well?

I think I know where this is going...what's the cheapest I can get a set of HDs?

You want to do it right? buy a spring compresser or rent one from autozone(free) even if you didn't buy the parts.It is a quick job if you have a jack stands and power tools. If you don't have the tools then its more time to turn the compresser bolts. But with what you save you can buy any strut you want.just be sure to get the rebound boots-n-bumpers.struts are one of those things that they make a killing on 2 hrs labor max in a shop.

For good handling dampers that are reasonably economical, my experience has been to use KYB GR-2 on my Japanese cars and Boge Turbo Gas on the European cars. This depends on availabilty of course. Both of these choices will be less expensive than the Bilstein HD. We currently have KYB GR-2s on our Sube Legacy GT wagon. These dampers combined with the very stiff unibody and long-travel suspension design of the Sube make for a car that handles great. My previous A2 Jetta GLI had Boge Turbo Gas as well as my wife's previous A2 Golf. These also improved the handling on those cars. I recommend either.

[ February 04, 2002, 09:36: Message edited by: 4wheeldrift ]

Originally posted by ezbngrn:
It seems that the Bilsteins are the way to go. But, I'm not sure I want to spend that much money. My car has 152,000 miles on it.

Click to expand...

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Hi there,
Just joined Your crew, You all seem to have incrediable insight on details.
I'm just now going to up-grade my suspension and went to see a pro that also runs the swedish VAG cars in the Nat. Golf Cup. They mostly use KONI with adjustment-nobb for the front struts. If Your back-struts end up inside the boot, U can also adjust them with a turn on the nobb.
He recomended these also for my daily-car.

With 152k miles on the meter everything will give feeling of driving a "Go-cart". But his wiew was quite interesting, use adjustable shocks as if U start with the softest or near to, U can always turn them to harder over time to compensate the wear. And ofcourse sneak out and turn them up when You're alone and want to take a "run".

regards
Robert

[ February 16, 2002, 12:26: Message edited by: the Swede ]