front shocks matching rears?????

[rabbit82]

OK, before doing any research I went out and bought Gabriel shocks for the front and rear of my 82 Rabbit. Now after driving it for several hundred miles, the fronts are JUNK! They have almost no rebound to them and once the front left side of the car stuck in the down/collapsed position. I had to jack up the car to let the tire sloooowly fall back down into position. After much searching I have seen where others have had this same problem. I also went to the parts store that I bought them from and they said YES take them off and we will refund the money. They do have a lifetime warranty, that's the only good thing about them.
In looking I have found that for the money the Monroe Sensa Trac is a good shock so I am going with them. My question is, how well will these match up with the rear Gabriel shocks? The rears are working OK I guess, when you push down on the bumper they actually rebound. It's hard to tell about the ride because the fronts are so bad........... Anyway, what do you think?

[theman53]

If they are touring / touring I think you will be fine. When you have trouble is when you mix and match sport/touring/new/really old.

[8v-of-fury]

Springs also play a MAJOR piece in the action of a shock/strut. Are yours original? whats the ride height like? is it even all around? any broken coils in the rear?

I have Monroe Sensa-Tracs on the front of my 84 Jetta. I have them on there with Raceland linear sport springs, 25mm drop. On the rear I have KYB GR-2 with my stock springs, only because I have not yet put the rears on. Which are matching Sensa-Tracs and matched sport springs. However the way it is now it handles great. The fronts obviously play the biggest part in how the cars handle seeing as how they handle the majority of the weight.

The Sensa-Tracs are a great strut. They are under appreciated, but they are just as good as a Bilstein or Koni. They are a monotube design with more than adequate valving built in. This coupled with a linear spring and you have a very predictable well handling setup.

[rabbit82]

Yeah, the springs are in great shape and the car sits perfect. I rebuilt them myself so I know they are good.
I'll just see how it all works together, my feeling is it will probably be good. Just thought someone may have made the same mistake I did.
As far as touring or sport, I don't know what they are. They don't specify either way on the gabriels. They only offer the one cartridge, Ultra.
I'll get it done sometime in the next couple weeks and post it here for the archives so if anyone else makes this blunder..........
Just kinda p'd me off, I am Mr. research on most things before I act/buy. I was just dying to get something on there to replace the worn out ones and assumed, oh well water over the dam.

[8v-of-fury]

I got my Monroe's through RockAuto down there, as even with customs and shipping they came out like $20 cheaper then I could have gotten them in Canada..

I would look up their prices and consider getting all four. The gabriels really are bottom of the barrel, and having a fully matched system is ultimately the best.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Ditch ALL the Gabriels while you have the chance !
Honestly and truely.

Plus the rears are way easier to remove than the fronts (as u know).
So while you're at it ... ... ...

SensaTracs are really excellent on Mk1 and Mk2.
And they also have the LifeTime warranty.

Do the backfill with ATF on the front struts.

[rabbit82]

Ditch ALL the Gabriels while you have the chance !
Honestly and truely.

Plus the rears are way easier to remove than the fronts (as u know).
So while you're at it ... ... ...

SensaTracs are really excellent on Mk1 and Mk2.
And they also have the LifeTime warranty.

Do the backfill with ATF on the front struts.

I took your advice and ordered all four plus new mounts while I'm back in there. Don't want to do it again for a long time.
I'll have a set of rear Gabriels for sale soon

[Baron VonZeppelin]

Won't they take them back and give a refund too ?

[R.O.R-2.0]

Ditch ALL the Gabriels while you have the chance !
Honestly and truely.

Plus the rears are way easier to remove than the fronts (as u know).
So while you're at it ... ... ...

SensaTracs are really excellent on Mk1 and Mk2.
And they also have the LifeTime warranty.

Do the backfill with ATF on the front struts.

gabriels are JUNK.. idk how many ive replaced because of blown out valving.. they LOCK in the fully depressed state.. its kinda gay if you ask me.. i would NEVER buy a set of gabriels if my life depended on it. i would rather drive around on blown out stock struts..

[mystery3]

The Sensa-Tracs are a great strut. They are under appreciated, but they are just as good as a Bilstein or Koni.

This is absolutely false. The sensa-tracs are fine if you want a squishy compliant stock feeling set up, there's nothing sporting about them. They do last a long time though.

[8v-of-fury]

They do not claim to be a sport strut. Also I was comparing quality, not the struts physical capabilities. Clearly a touring and sport strut are valved differently.

Monroe was the pioneer of struts and shocks, and has been making them longer than koni and bilstein.

[R.O.R-2.0]

The Sensa-Tracs are a great strut. They are under appreciated, but they are just as good as a Bilstein or Koni.

This is absolutely false. The sensa-tracs are fine if you want a squishy compliant stock feeling set up, there's nothing sporting about them. They do last a long time though.

ive removed plenty of blown out sensa-tracs also.. thats another strut i would AVOID buying also..

ive had GREAT luck with KYB GR-2 struts, and even better luck with Gas-A-Just struts..

bilsteins, you cant go wrong.. same with Koni.

[rabbit82]

Won't they take them back and give a refund too ?

I'm going to give it a shot and since I do so much business with that particular parts store I think they will. I was more or less making a joke.

[rabbit82]

The Sensa-Tracs are a great strut. They are under appreciated, but they are just as good as a Bilstein or Koni.

This is absolutely false. The sensa-tracs are fine if you want a squishy compliant stock feeling set up, there's nothing sporting about them. They do last a long time though.

I want "squishy compliant stock" so all should be good.

[Baron VonZeppelin]

If you can - get the Monroe Boot-Bump Stop kits too.
Also lifetime stuff.
Good bumpstops make a world of difference.



Its wild how so many have such different results.
I love the SensaTracs and think they are great.
But i dislike KYB GR-2
I'd probably like Gas-A-Just , but they didn't have fronts for Mk1.

SensaTracs are gas charged.
And they haven't been out for all that long.
I wonder if some are confusing the cheaper grade Monroes - like MonroeMatics and whatnots of past.