Cheap Shocks for Bronco Street Use?

[mprice]

I know the shock thing has been discussed, and I promise I read everything that search gave me.

My question is that I am looking for the cheepest 'good' shocks I can get for my Bronco. This is a daily driver that sees mostly street use. I never take it off road intentionally.

I have heard good things about the KYB GR2 and I can get them shipped next day free from Advance Auto for $30 fronts each and $38 rears each. This seems to be a good price for these compared to Tire Rack and some other online places I have look. Does anyone here have good or bad experiences with the GR2 that you could relate?

The counter guy tried to sell me the Monroe Sense-a-tracs that they had in stock. He said that they were the best. He also told me that the KYBs were more for "tuners" (his word) and not a good truck shock. I read that the sense-a-tracks went to bypass for the middle part of their stroke and if that's true I definitely don't want them.

So what do you think for cheap street shocks? KYB GR2 or something else I can get over the counter?

Calvin

[rebocardo]

I usually put the cheapest Monroe Sense-a-tracs (BTW: It is the one usually stocked so I guess that makes it the best for the parts guy) on until I move to a more expensive ($50+) shock. They come with the limited life time warranty. Probably equal to stock quality on a Bronco.

[mprice]

Well it was a bad day for the parts guys anyhow. I was in four different shops through the day trying to get parts and supplies for the weekend's jobs.

One guy told be the tube of permatex blue was junk and wouldn't work for the water pump I had just bought. He tried to push a packet of some other brand that was so small it wouldn't have even covered one side of the gasket.

I asked in another shop if they had disc brake grease in a tube as I wanted more than the one-job packet and less than the lifetime tub. He rummaged through the permatex display and handed me a tube of silver anti-seize. No thanks.

Advance Auto has a new display with all their scanners. They have one that plugs into the Ford ODB-I connector but I couldn't figure out how it actually read out the codes. Parts guy says it "blinks or beeps or something". Yeah, at $30 I could get a lifetime supply of paper clips to do the exact same thing. It might have been worth it if it had a 3 digit readout or something



Just when I was beginning to trust these fools. Thank God there's FTE.

BTW, I went ahead and ordered the GS2's from another Advance and I'll let everyone know what I think once I get them installed.

Calvin

[Van Zant]

i got reflex from rockauto for like $42/piece. if you're gonna spend $38 on KYB's you might as well move up to something a little better.

[thesprocket26]

I use ProComp ES9000 on my trucks. $34 from most places.

[mprice]

Well I got the GR-2s installed on the front on Saturday and I am happy with them so far. I'll admit that I'm not the shock connoisseur that some others here seem to be, but they seem to be doing exactly what I wanted. They go down the road without drama or fuss on rail-road tracks or pot holes. I think the shocks they are replacing were original equipment, as they were pretty shot.

There's a real difference now between the front and back. When you go over a rough spot the front wheels cross with no issue and then the back end comes along and you can really feel that axle swing and pitch. Hopefully I'll have time for the rears this next Saturday.

Of course the real test is to see how they are doing after a year or two. These came with a lifetime warranty from AAP so hopefully I'm good to go for the rest of this truck's existence.

Calvin