Monroe OE spectrum Struts & shocks.

[BendVibe]

I have a 2007 Vibe & finally decided to do something about the abusively harsh ride.
The car is all stock with 35K & a couple months ago I decided to have new struts installed.
I chose the Monroe OE Spectrum units & had them installed at the local Sears here in Bend.
The ride is only slightly smoother, im guessing compression damping is about 85% as stiff as the original struts.
You still feel every little crack in the pavement & get your teeth rattled driving over any little
imperfection or at every painted crosswalk.
The rebound damping is very much improved & the incredible wobble you get while making a
turn in an intersection (over uneven pavement) is reduced.
Unfortunately, I wanted a shock with a nice ride & the OE Spectrum's are NOT the ones to get.
What a waste of $700 dollars (installed). I really feel Monroe has put out a "totally improper offering"
for the Vibe & would not recommend it at all. It's a little better than stock, but you all know what that is.

[ParknVibe]

I have a 2007 Vibe & finally decided to do something about the abusively harsh ride.
The car is all stock with 35K & a couple months ago I decided to have new struts installed.
I chose the Monroe OE Spectrum units & had them installed at the local Sears here in Bend.
The ride is only slightly smoother, im guessing compression damping is about 85% as stiff as the original struts.
You still feel every little crack in the pavement & get your teeth rattled driving over any little
imperfection or at every painted crosswalk.
The rebound damping is very much improved & the incredible wobble you get while making a
turn in an intersection (over uneven pavement) is reduced.
Unfortunately, I wanted a shock with a nice ride & the OE Spectrum's are NOT the ones to get.
What a waste of $700 dollars (installed). I really feel Monroe has put out a "totally improper offering"
for the Vibe & would not recommend it at all. It's a little better than stock, but you all know what that is.

I am sorry that you are not happy with the OE Spectrum's. I recommended it on this site because of what Monroe claims for a less harsh ride.
I did not get a set yet because they do not make it for the 2009 and newer models yet. However you do say that the ride is slightly better in some ways.
My question now is what is your tire air pressures? It is a hot summer and the tire pressure will increase as well. I have the 17 inch wheels with low profile tires and I adjusted the pressure every which way, and nothing really helps improve my ride. And, I want a less harsh ride as well. I'm for the most part will keep the front tires at 35-36 psi and the rears at 32-33 psi. However the label states 32 and 32 psi for FWD. But for AWD it is 35 psi front and 32psi rear.
I am getting better MPG at this setup.
It just tells us Vibe owners that Toyota really made the Vibe to stiff.

[BendVibe]

Has anyone found a shock that actually rides nice yet?
I finally ended up getting some Michelin primacy's & man what a nice improvement.
I would still like to investigate some better shocks, as the only place OE spectrum's
belong is through the front window of Monroe corporate hq.

Jeff Morrison Bend, Oregon

[BendVibe]

Well, its been over a year since my original post.
455 views. No comments from anyone on how they like their OESpectrum's!

I would suspect 100% of people reading the original post were looking for a better
product than the crappy stock item & if only 1/3 of them (~150) decided to buy something else, thats $100k
not going to Sears/Monroe from this forum alone. In my viewpoint that alone should cause a (head/s) to roll at Monroe. They never called me (as the sears mgr said) to discuss my dissatisfaction, so I must conclude that Monroe is an OBLIVIOUS DINOSAUR living on one-time purchases based on a "years ago name recognition of quality". Has ANYONE else on this forum bought this product? If so, what are your thoughts? Like/dislike?
Maybe I just got a bad set?

[ParknVibe]

I havn't seen much Vibe owners on this site ever changing their struts and shocks. A lot asked about lowing the height of the car an 1" or so with special springs.

There is one new 2009 Vibe owner here that just bought the OMSpectrum struts but has not installed them as far as I know. Monroe has just started to make them for the 2009-2010 Vibes. (look up BaseWhiteVibe )

I hate to ask this question, but did you buy the OES...on your own and then have someone to install them?
And/or did you just ask the installer get them for you and installed them?.....In otherwords, Do you really have the Monroe OESpectrum on? The original struts that came with my Vibe are made by KYB. (It is stamped on the Strut)

I would check your tire air pressure....I found that if you increase it to 40psi from 32 psi my car is less harsh then before....(but that is with low profile tires and 17 wheels. I still use the Goodyears's RA tires but I only have just over 12000 miles on my car...and now the car is over 5 years old.

[Zimm]

to be honest, if you bought a product called"OE Spectrum" and were expecting a ride quality that was significantly different that what the original equipment provided, well, i'm not sure that you thought this decision through.

[10vibe]

15 inch rims and "baloon" tires might solve some the harsh ride problems. Handling? I don't need no stinking handling! It is an anemic four cylinder and auto transmission! Will Toyota Corolla 15's fit all four corners of a 2009 and above with the four disk brakes? I think this was discussed somewhere when talking about winter tires and rims.

[vibenvy]

15 inch rims and "baloon" tires might solve some the harsh ride problems. Handling? I don't need no stinking handling! It is an anemic four cylinder and auto transmission! Will Toyota Corolla 15's fit all four corners of a 2009 and above with the four disk brakes? I think this was discussed somewhere when talking about winter tires and rims.

I know for a fact that 16" wheels are the absolute smallest that will fit over the brakes on the 2009-2010 Vibe 2.4L Base, AWD and GT. I'm not sure about the 1.8L Base, but I would assume it would probably be the same even though there are differences in the brakes, bolt patterns, etc.