[Jan Erik]

New rear suspension is on the list of what to buy this summer for my gen 4 2.2, as my rear end is both too low and the right strut mount is shot.

I was almost determined to buy the Monroe quick struts - and then KYB came with their strut plus...

Does anyone have experience with KYB's strut plus for the gen 4? I've seen many comments on the Monroe, and almost everyone who have them recommend them. But some have mentioned the KYB might be of even better quality and more of an OEM ride.

Edit: I also see that Raybestos have quickstruts for this car too. if someone have tried them i'd love to hear about them too.

I live in Norway, so a return of a broken strut still under warranty to the US isn't going to be an option - but i'm still a bit conserned when Monroe offer what appears to be lifetime warranty, while KYB gives you 1 year?

 

[71Corolla]

Monroe makes a good strut, but their mounts are not so great. Many reports of creaking and clunking noises even on new units. Ideally you should use all factory parts except the strut itself but I don't know if that's an option for you. KYB struts are excellent, you'd unlikely ever need the warranty on them. But same deal, their mounts are suspect, and they do ride a bit harsh compared to stock. But they fit exact if you use the rest of the parts OEM, and are really high quality.

BTW I was at the yard today and looked for rear disc backing plates, every gen4 car there was a 4 cylinder with drums.

 

[Jan Erik]

Thanks for the reply. Though in my case, the issue is this:
I already have replaced all the struts and kept the rest OEM. But now, in the front it's all good. But in the rear, everything OEM is rotten. The strut dust booth have ripped off, the mount is worn out, and the spring seat have fallen apart. So keeping OEM isn't an option anymore, unfortunatly.

I've heard about the clunking and squiking on the monroe, but as far as i under stood that was only on their eco-models, and not the quick-struts model?

 

[71Corolla]

I've read about clunking etc. on the Quick Struts, but it sounds like it's your best option. You must have some severe rust issues in your part of the world, I thought it was bad here but I don't think I've seen a strut so badly degraded where even the spring seat was shot.

 

[Jan Erik]

Yeah, it's usually very heavy salt usage where i live, probably 4-5 months a year. Even as i write this, it's about -1c outside, so i wouldn't be surpriced if the salt truch is still busy...

It worries me a bit, that clunking part. As i'm replacing them exactly because of that. Hmm..

 

[71Corolla]

How much would a set of rear Quick Struts be for you including shipping? I found the upper mount/rubber on Ebay for pretty cheap. Fabest TSS-021 and Febest TSS-020 I believe this is the identical part to OEM. So you'd just need the strut and spring seat rubber. And of course the coil, you sure yours are actually shot?

 

[Mr.Nutcase]

from my experience, monroe quick struts are junk..
I had to warrenty one struts in my car..

 

[Jan Erik]

How much would a set of rear Quick Struts be for you including shipping? I found the upper mount/rubber on Ebay for pretty cheap. Fabest TSS-021 and Febest TSS-020 I believe this is the identical part to OEM. So you'd just need the strut and spring seat rubber. And of course the coil, you sure yours are actually shot?

left and right monroe quick struts including shipping and tax = $546
left and right KYB strut plus including shipping and tax = $555
These are prices from rockauto, wich i prefer to buy from. Country = Norway, postal code = 1634.

I know for a fact the right strut mount is shot, yes. And the dust booth, wich is part of the mount, have ripped on both sides. The spring coil seat is also torn apart. There's still some rubber between the spring and strut, but not much.

 

[masintenn]

I had always used Monroe shocks and never had an issue until I installed some of the Monroe cheapo blue economatic struts on my old Cavalier. I had a rear strut fail within a year, causing a cyclic clunking at cruising speed that shook the whole car and caused that wheel to bounce. After install, the front struts immediately had a bad rattle/clunk when hitting bumps. It sounded like the front end would fall apart! I warrantied them and had the same issue!!! They have to be junk for me to end up with 5 bad ones! I will never install another Monroe strut and probably won't even take a chance on a Monroe shock. I hate redoing repairs and struts are a pretty big PITA.

Jan, since you're ordering parts from oversees, I would strongly suggest the KYB's. I've never read anything bad about them and the price difference is only $9. I'll be doing all 4 corners with KYB's in the near future.

 

[Jan Erik]

I see. It confirms that the ecomatic ones are completely useless at least, like pretty much everyone else who have tried them say.

As for the KYB strut plus - I've never heard of anyone who have actually tried them and used them for a while give any feedback on them. Neither good, nor bad. Everyone sais the KYB are good struts, but it's no point if their mounts and so are low quality.

buying only the OEM strut mounts here comes at the same price as both of the KYB's strut plus, and then I'd still need new spring seats, springs, and maybe bumber? Not to mention the work assembling it, and I'd have to buy a spring compressor. So i don't really want to go that route if the OEM mounts, springs and seats are not far better then the ones on the monroe/KYB.

 

[71Corolla]

On the rear struts the spring seat is part of the strut, not like the front where it's a separate part so you don't have to worry. Best option for you IMO if you don't ever want to have to deal with replacing parts again is factory mount/boot, factory springs, KYB strut, factory (or maybe aftermarket) spring seat rubber. The bump stop is probably fine but they don't cost much.

Doing the rear struts with a spring compressor is not that hard because the coils are tall, lots of movement. Even a cheap compressor works fine here. I've even assembled rear struts without a spring compressor, I put everything in a vice and pressed down on the mount and threaded on the top nut. It would have been super easy if I had another person there to get the threads on the nut started.

 

[Jan Erik]

Maybe I've misunderstood the parts names. The struts are all new and in good condition. It's the rubber under the spring that's torn apart. As well as the dust boot.

I wonder what makes the OEM mounts so darn good compared to all aftermarkeds ones though. But if you say it's not that hard to replace it anyway I think i'll give the KYBs a go for my rear, and replace the mount with OEM if it shuold ever fail.

 

[71Corolla]

I wonder what makes the OEM mounts so darn good compared to all aftermarkeds ones though.

It's the quality of the rubber, and how well the rubber is bonded to the metal. So if you only need the spring seat insulator (the rubber piece under the coil), the upper mount and boot and possibly new coils then maybe you don't need to buy complete units. I don't know if the KYB compete units are the same form factor as OEM, meaning can you swap mix and match parts. Could be but I don't know that.

I forgot, what year is your car again?

 

[Jan Erik]

99 mod gen 4, jap made, EU model.

So you're saying i might risk not being able to replace only the mount later if i go for the strut plus option instead of individual parts?

 

[zzyzzx]

I had always used Monroe shocks and never had an issue until I installed some of the Monroe cheapo blue economatic struts on my old Cavalier. I had a rear strut fail within a year, causing a cyclic clunking at cruising speed that shook the whole car and caused that wheel to bounce. After install, the front struts immediately had a bad rattle/clunk when hitting bumps. It sounded like the front end would fall apart! I warrantied them and had the same issue!!! They have to be junk for me to end up with 5 bad ones! I will never install another Monroe strut and probably won't even take a chance on a Monroe shock. I hate redoing repairs and struts are a pretty big PITA.

The Monroe Blue ones lasted around 100K on my Escort.

 

[bgmbgmbgm]

Out of those two, I'd get KYB. They made the OEM struts on these cars.

If you can afford them, Sachs now makes quick struts for the 4th gen Camry as well.

My car has Gabriel Readymount quick struts. They're awesome. (KYB and Sachs aren't available for the 3rd-gen, and I didn't know that 4th-gen struts were usable on the 3rd until after I installed my Gabriels)

 

[71Corolla]

Consider the following:

Upper mount/boot LH - 48760-33020 $120 from Toyota, Fabest $25
Upper mount/boot RH - 48750-33020 $120 from Toyota, Fabest $25
Spring seat insulator LH - 48258-32020 $10
Spring seat insulator RH - 48258-32020 $10

Use your existing struts and springs. If you need springs:
Coil LH - 48231-33240 - $70
Coil RH - 48231-33240 - $70

 

[Greasewrench]

I'll throw in my 2 cents here cuz I got experience with BOTH Monroe quickstruts AND KYB strut plus. I got a 97 camry 4cyl and I put Monroe quickstruts on the rear and those worked fine, no issues at all. Monroe struts are a very soft ride compared to OEM. I wanted to try KYB's struts out so I bought 2 front KYB strut plus units and just put them in not even a week ago... they ride awesome so far, but much stiffer in ride quality compared to Monroe. so I got KYB in front and Monroe in the back . I personally prefer the KYB units, but either brand u take, I would strongly suggest getting a quickstrut bcuz it saves a ton of time.

 

[zzyzzx]

I'll throw in my 2 cents here cuz I got experience with BOTH Monroe quickstruts AND KYB strut plus. I got a 97 camry 4cyl and I put Monroe quickstruts on the rear and those worked fine, no issues at all. Monroe struts are a very soft ride compared to OEM. I wanted to try KYB's struts out so I bought 2 front KYB strut plus units and just put them in not even a week ago... they ride awesome so far, but much stiffer in ride quality compared to Monroe. so I got KYB in front and Monroe in the back . I personally prefer the KYB units, but either brand u take, I would strongly suggest getting a quickstrut bcuz it saves a ton of time.

I would not mix and match like that, but if you live someplace where the roads are bad, you probably want the Monroe's. If you like a stiff suspension, then get something other than a Monroe.

 

[John Anthony]

Just some additional info about strut mounts. As others have said, the KYB struts are very good (especially for the price), BUT KYB mounts are only mediocre in quality. Another reason besides what was mentioned earlier is the machining of the mounts. I looked carefully at the inside machined part of the KYB mount (the part that makes contact with the strut) and compared it to the original Toyota mount. The KYB mount was clearly inferior to the Toyota mount. The Toyota mount was precisely machined with strong looking subtle ridges on clean metal. The KYB mount was nothing like that. It was just painted over on that spot, no precisely machined ridges on clean metal. KYB mount showed "Made in India" (note: I am not against parts made in India) and KYB strut shows "Made in USA". KYB struts = smiley face. KYB mounts = not so smiley face.