I was wondering how many people are running monroe sens-a-tracks with lowered cars. How are they? Aparently they have different ride characteristics depending on the position of the shock (hard braking or cornering) Would a lowered car say 2" cause the shock to be in range where it stiffens up? Or is it just some fancy gimmick to sell shocks? Sonds like a good idea but I dont want to make coilovers out of a set of them just to find out that they are not functioning like they should because of the lower operating position they will be operating in.

I took a pair of Monroe and a pair of KYBs to a friend and we put them on the shock dyno. I have a graph lost in my office somewhere. Anyway, the Monroe has about zip on the compression and everything it has to offer is on the rebound. If you have stiff springs, it would control them probably. For soft springs, they do nothing to enhance our cornering. Save them for your wife's car. The KYBs went on my '88 and while the ride was harsher, it wasn't bad in my opinion. And I'm 57 and and don't like to loose my dental fillings on bumps. As a side note, each KYB was about 10 difference in force from it's vrother, same on the Monroe. Typical for production shocks. Koni's etc should be closer.

Mike, I'm wondering which Monroes you measureed since they make so many models and if they were the Sens-a-tracs how fast they were compressed since I understand the sensatracs are speed sensative; they adjust the stiffness by velocity as well as having different settings for distance of travel. I am actually running sensatracs all around on my lowered Fiero and I'm pretty happy with the response - they seem pretty stiff, as stiff as a 1987 Porsche 944 turbo (the stiffest production car I have driven). I haven't driven anything harsher than that since.

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John DuRette
Custom 85 SE/87 Coupe
"Kinda makes you nostalgic for a Members Only jacket"

I had sensa-tracs on my 88Gt and hated them - they gave plenty of small bounces (rough ride) driving the war-torn roads around LA. When my 88 formula needed shocks, I bought the low-pressure (cheapie) KYBs and I love them. Nice and smooth.

[This message has been edited by PaulJK (edited 01-10-2006).]

I have an 85 GT and an 86GT. Both cars are fitted with full poly bushings on the suspension and Eibach springs.
The 85 has KYB and the 86 has the Sens-a-trac. The 85 has a better overall ride with less bounce and absorbs bumps coming into and out of corners better. I prefer the KYB.
Rich

I pulled the fronts off the shelf to look at the '88 Monroes. Says 5821st (st for sensatrac I guess) also says p242v. Didn't really cycle them at high rates on the dyno. The shock guru said not to get too exicted about the variable rate business. Said basically all shocks are variable anyway. The graphs were quite different compared to KYBs.

I had the Sensatrac shocks on my lowered Fiero. They didn't seem to absorb the bumps very good, like the KYBs I have now (still a rough ride either way). Plus, they started leaking after about a year. Possibly from being compressed more than they were designed for? I don't know. The KYBs are still holding up, and I've had them for a couple years.

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FORMERLY KNOWN AS: sqoach

That goes right along with what I just heard from the moroe tech support person. Apparently the lowered position would keep the shock in the "control mode" causing the ride to be bumpy all of the time instead of just during turns and braking. Probably did lead to the premature wear. I suppose I could look for another application that might be the right size/lenght of a lowered fiero but that would be a lot of trouble just to use their product. Probably just get something else.
Thanks

Dan, you could try Koni's. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they didn't like them. The front are adjustable to (4) settings, but you have to remove them from the car to set them. They might be still available - Tire Rack used to carry them. Good news is they are lifetime warrantied - bad news is they are pretty expensive.

quote Originally posted by PaulJK: Dan, you could try Koni's. I don't think I've ever heard anyone say they didn't like them. The front are adjustable to (4) settings, but you have to remove them from the car to set them. They might be still available - Tire Rack used to carry them. Good news is they are lifetime warrantied - bad news is they are pretty expensive.

Konis are the stuff and they don't cost that much when you consider you will never have to buy another set plus you will never complain about them.
http://store.summitracing.com/default.asp?Ntt=koni&searchinresults=false&Ntk=KeywordSearch&DDS=1&N=115&target=egnsearch.asp

I have the sens-a-trac struts and shocks on my formula which is lowered with full polyurethane suspension - yes, the ride is pretty stiff - but I like it. The poly bushings make up most of the stiff ride, and to be honest it didnt get much worse when I installed the sens-a-tracs.

Just a note if you buy KYBs AdvanceAuto Parts can get them Cheaper then tirerack

what did I learn today? If/when my sensatracs start leaking, I'll try the KYBs.

i have sensa trac's on all four corners and lowered about 2".
can't say i have any problems with it, but i'm not into auto-crossing or anything either. no complaints for a daily driver though. and my friends think i can take corners pretty well, lol

My 86 SE is lowered 1 1/2" with Monroe Sens-a-tracks and rides stiff. My son had the same springs with KYBs on his 85 coupe and it rode a little softer than mine but then again, it always rode softer, even with everything stock on both cars. It's hard to compare car to car.

Hi, I had the Sens-tracks and all poly with eibachs on my 88GT 3800SC --to be honest I`m allmost 50 , and I don`t like the rough ride at all, I plan to switch out very soon.. Koni`s are a nice choice.

Ummm....got me thinking. Well Ive just put on the Entrax lower sport springs with my Monroe sens-o-tracs. I have driving the car yet since the 3800sc swap so we will see. I thinks the 3800sc engine added a few pounds from what the 2.8 had but I dont have solid numbers.

Skidmark,
How long did it take before you lower springs settle to the lowering height? Did you install Entrax or Suspension Techniques?

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" DRIVE IT LIKE YOU LOVE IT"

[This message has been edited by ohio86se (edited 04-14-2006).]

I have sensa tracs on the front with stock riding height and I'm not sure what to say about the ride quality other than they seem to transmit bumps in the road through the car very well, so well that I'm almost certain that it's the cause of my dashboard finally cracking. I thought tire pressure might be contributing to it also but lowering the pressure to about 30 psi didn't seem to make that much difference. The speed rating of the tires is also something you'll have to consider as well as the tire size when comparing the ride quality because low profile plus high speed rating = stiffer tire making everybodies experience different when that comes into play and it's not the same between you. I'm running stock tire size and a "T" rating.