My situation is i'm looking for some front struts to replace the existing ones on my vibe. And i'm having a difficult time figuring out what struts I should purchase. I'm checking sites like ebay and amazon, finding plenty of monroe and kyb, some fcs and a few others like sensen and gabriel. It's hard to know which brand will work and fit best. I just want my vibe to drive smooth again. Now I did find a pair of struts http://apxautoparts.com/sensen-front-pa ... ranty.html that i'm sort of interested in via amazon. But i'm not ready to commit yet. Still thinking things over. Any thoughts?
I recently purchased KYB Strut-Plus assemblies for the front, and have been really happy with the quality, stiffer than I expected. They are the model replacement for OEM spec KYB Excel-G strut assemblies of the past.
I would like to replace my rear struts (GT), and I see KYB generally sells the dampener.. not a quick strut.
What's the consensus on what to go with for the rears?
I'd prefer not to assemble my own struts, and the Gabriel and SenSen quick-s look cheap-o!
The rears are not struts but are coil over shocks. I believe Monreo owns Gabriel, or they use to own them, I am not a 100% sure on that now. In general, the Monreo's are softer, smoother riding then the KYB's are. If you put KYB on the front then I would stick with KYB for the rear too.
I put in Monroes in the front and have had no issues they work fine so far. Look to see if anyone is offering a rebate when I got the Monroes basically got the rear shocks for free because of the rebates they had.
So as far as going with OEM spec for the rears... the offering by KYB does need to be collected and assorted.
I bought two rear Gas struts Part # 344-612 KYB, the KYB SM5382 Mount Kit containing the washer/bearing/rubber.
I settled on MOOG springs as a good OEM level replacement (some have said they are a bit stiffer than OEM).
..and I went to my local Toyota for the insulator, Top mount bracket, and strut bumper. I did pick up the KYB Strut Boot kit (SB108 I believe), although reviews said the universal fit is mediocre. I'll see how that turns out.