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He is correct - the Monroes will and cost less money. They may not be softer riding - Monroe is capable of making shocks as stiff as anyone's, although the "Sensatrac" shocks do, I think, have short grooves cut in the piston bore right around the rest height of the piston. This partially bypasses the damping orifice in the piston and gives a smoother ride on relatively smooth pavement while maintaining wheel control on rough roads. The new design Koni FSDs (see Nick Taliaferro's site) do much the same thing but in a more complex way at greater cost).
A couple of issues when it comes to struts:
1) the strut is a structural part of the suspension. Saab OE struts usually use the fattest available piston rod for a solid steering feel. If the Monroe rod is thinner, you could lose some steering precision.
2) the damping needs to be tuned to the spring rate. Make certain that there is a different part number for the "Aero" suspension as compared to the standard suspension. An overly soft damping value won't properly control the wheel motion, and the difference in spring rate can make a big difference if you don't correspondingly increase shock stiffness.
Note that the Saturn LS uses the same platform as the Saab, and the Monroe shocks might be "Saturn" shocks that also fit Saabs.
Will your Indie take the Monroes back if you don't like the result and insert Konis, Bilstein, or OE Sachs shocks? How many Aeros has he fitted with Monroes and would it be possible for you to try one that has been fitted with Monroes?
I might mention that many years ago I had a custom shock absorber designed for a highway skid measuring trailer, and worked directly with the Monroe engineering department. They are a fine company and do build a quality product - but they do "build to a price." And at the time it was SOP for their shocks to be a little bit stiffer than OE shocks, just to be sure the customer got better control. That said, I used their shocks on a (very front heavy) Chevy diesel van I had, and they did need to be replaced after 30,000 miles or so.
posted by 69.63.50...
, Sun, 17 May 2009 11:39:11, Sun, 17 May 2009 18:12:16
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