With all this talk about KYB, Tokico, etc. shocks for the maxima, does anyone have just regular shocks such as monroe? Please post your experiences with this brand including ride quality, performance, etc. Thanks.

 

i dont have a drop but as far as the stock ride is concerned, i have monroe sensatracks. nice, comfortable ride and they have held up and served me well. and theyve clocked A LOT of miles, so they definitely stand the test of heavy driving. so if your checking for a stock ride, id say their a good choice. im in the process of getting my hands on a gr-2 and h&r set up for a nice drop tho so the monroes will be comming out soon. awwwwe haha

 

Have them on my mom's Civic and they're great as stock replacements. Some places run "buy 3 get 1 free" promos so the pricing shouldn't be too bad, but it'll come close to the price of KYB GR-2s

 

gr-2s are comparative to stock...as far as liek monroe and gabriel i dont think they can handle the drop quite like gr-r agx HPs Illiuminas or Yellows....maybe sprints to..but i dunno anyone with the sprints yet

 

I've had monroe sensatracs for almost 2 yrs, very comparable to stock ride..no complaints so far.

 

GR2's are not even close to the stock dampers.

They are a very firm strut and tend to ride a bit harsh as they get older. If you couple them with a sport lowering spring the ride could be a bit rough.

 

I agree, I 1st had stock GLE dampers (Tokico "blacks") and then i switched to GR2's. At first i was all happy about the firmness of the ride, but i don't appreciate the roughness over rough rodes. I think it's because the KYBs 1) don't have a greater bias towards rebound stiffness than compression, and 2) lack a design to decrease stiffness under rough or "hard impacts" (high velocity) conditions.

Basically what i am trying to do now is to find dampers that will fullfill these 2 conditions 1) a design that decreases stiffness under rough/high velocity situations & 2) rebound > compression stiffness to control body motion better but with a "softer" ride. I believe that I can't find that in KYB's, and i think probably not in Tokicos either. Though I am wondering about the Illuminas since it's compression is adjustable. Bilstein or GAB would've been nice if it were made for Maximas. I don't have the time or money for the installation of Koni's. I have not heard much about any of Monroe's dampers so I am wondering (and hoping) that it can provide the solution i am looking for. BTW i'm not interested in lowering.

 

Buy a BMW, and you'll get all the speed variable suspension you want, otherwise what you're asking for would probably cost as much as a new maxima

 

Are they any better than stock dampers?