advice on gabriel shocks

[90lxcn]

well after finally working out the car needs new shocks, going through the hassle of finding some good ones and requesting permission from the evil superior money keeper ( herein known as the missus) i was told off for choosing a more expensive alternate and told off how the house isnt paying for itself.... anyyyyways spoke to the local shop and was told i can get gabriel shocks model number g44897 at 79.85 each and fitting charge of 180.00 for the both.

just wondering if the gabriel model i mentioned is of good quality ( doesnt have to be perfect but decent would be nice) and if 180.00 fitting for both sounds fair?

the missus has said that its fine with her but i want to make sure im not just putting crap in ill have to replace again in a hurry and outlay more cash


thanks and soz for the lon post its past beer o clock and im tired

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Do you have a set of spanners? It isn't hard to change the rear shocks. Get the better ones and fit them yourself, use part of the $180 to cover the dearer shocks and the rest to buy you some well deserved brews.

[90lxcn]

i do have a good spanner set but im not that experianced and would prefer to get them done right instead of doing a half arse job or getting half way thru and relising i got no idea lol...thanks for the suggestion though

by the way i should add its only the fronts that urgently require the change so its only the front getting doe atm with the rears to be done soon... by 180.00 for the both price i should have mentioned that it covers both the left and right hand fronts only soz

[Not_An_Abba_Fan]

Does it include a wheel alignment too? When replacing front struts it should be re-aligned, although it isn't strictly necessary.

[90lxcn]

wouldnt think so but if i have to get another done ill be pissed cause ionly got one done last week when i got new tyres

[greenacc]

don't use gabriel.... i tried them once thinking i was getting a bargain.
when i put them in there was absolutely no difference to the old ones.

[VrWagz1]

I put gabriel gas ryders in the back of the wagon. They turned out to be ok and thus far about 6 months they are going great. Was a marked improvment from the air shocks i had. For doing the front shocks that sound ok price to me. But beware if you have not had you suspension checked in a long time you will definatly be up for 2 new strut top bearing plates and maybe sway bar bushes. The rest they probably wont touch. But yeah just beware it will blow out easy if there is worn bushes around the place.

I did this a while back, the procedure is for rear wagon shocks, but for sedans its just as easy, you'll just have to find the covers hiding the top nut on the shock in the boot somwhere
How to change rear shocks (wagon)

[90lxcn]

yeah i guy i bought the car off trashed it dailly and did nothing to it for at least 2 years ( his words ) i almost felt like slapping him and making him do some work on it there so im going to assume that nothing has been done with the suspension for qiute awhile.. and im sure anything going on here would be an improvment as every bumb i hit i hear the clud and feel it throw off my steering no to mention ive been told by a mate who works for a suspension place in brissy ( to busy to help i asked ) that im pissing fluid from them everywhere thanks for the link i might do a search and see just how hard its going to be damn i wishedi lived in an area there were otherforum members in lol

[gslrallysport]

For an extra $15 per strut insert, I'd definitely step up to KYB. But Gabriel aren't a bad shock... we used to sell them a fair bit at an old parts place I worked at, and never had any dramas, but you'd be kiddin' yourself if you think they've got the quality or performance of a Japanese made KYB for the extra couple of bucks. From memory I think all the Gabriels were either made in Mexico or Venezuela....

[90lxcn]

only 15.00?? damn mate where exactly are you getting your prices from cause i want in

[VrWagz1]

he is a site sponsor, and will post too you. PM him if you want stuff

[sxy-tme]

for the price there great i reckon

[v8_bomberdore]

i just replaced my front shocks on my vp with some monroe gt gas, and there fine , i think the gabrial shocks are on the low end scale of things, i think u should go either monroe or kyb , that bit extra and u know for sure that there going to hang in there for a while

[gslrallysport]

i think the gabrial shocks are on the low end scale of things,

I'd actually put Monroe GT Gas and Gabriel in the same box, both are made in the same part of the world..

i think u should go either monroe or kyb , that bit extra and u know for sure that there going to hang in there for a while

Monroe's new GT Sport would probably be more of a match for KYB. There's Monroe and there's Monroe, and it's just unfortunate that the decent Monroe is too overpriced when compared to KYB or Boge to be worthwhile.

I liken Monroe to a lot like Bendix. Their entry level stuff is rubbish, and their decent stuff is just too overpriced. But both have fancy marketing and continue to make sales. Also both are owned by VERY large companies, Bendix (FMP Group) and Monroe (Tenneco) that are too focused on OEM to really gives a rats about aftermarket...