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'97 Eldo - riding high after shock / strut replacement

22K views 124 replies 17 participants last post by  Eldorado99ETC 
#1 ·
Hi all,

Yesterday, I had a local shop install new shocks / struts on my 97 Eldo (base model / ESC). My car has the FE1 soft ride suspension. It does NOT have F45.

I had them install the Monroe 90011 suspension conversion kit in the front, and Monroe 40046 shocks in the rear.

When I picked the car up, I noticed it was riding higher that it had before. There is now an extra inch to two inches (closer to two inches) clearance between the top of the tires and the bottom of the wheel wells. This is occurring both in the front and rear. It looks really weird now. Also, the suspension is now quite hard. There's no element of "float" like there was before, although I'm not sure how much of that should be attributed to the new shocks.

Below is a pic of my car BEFORE the new shocks. The height looks "normal", yes? I'm having a bit of an issue transferring a pic of what it now looks like from my camera phone to my computer, but maybe I can do that later. In the meantime, imagine the below pic, but jacked up a few inches and all weird looking.

I pulled the codes and am not getting any. Any ideas on what might be wrong?

 
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#66 ·
Good to know, as i have brand new Monroe 40018's for the rear and a monroe 40016 for RF, now to get the monroe 40017. After reading this thread and then doing some research i'll just keep the OEM strut mounts installed. Not sure if i need new springs or not though
 
#71 ·
Those should be correct for an ETC. The 501-95's are for the passive struts.

Be sure to hang onto your upper seat (spring) plates, as you'll probably have to reuse them. Neither I nor the dealer could find new ones anywhere, and had to use salvaged ones.
 
#74 ·
Update: Funny how this happens now, just as another thread regarding the Monroe 90011 kit is active at the moment.

Anyways, since this incident happened, I submitted a claim to Tenneco Inc (the owners of the Monroe brand) asking them for compensation for the cost it took me to rectify the situation, and threatening small claims court. I just got off the phone with someone from their warrantee claims department, who just so happened to call right when I was typing up a response to that other thread. Weird.

They said that it is true that the strut mounts, insulators, and upper seat plates in the kit are of a different design than the OEM versions. However, they also said that these parts have to be installed in a specific way, as detailed in their provided instructions, or the ride height issue I experienced will be present (they've had reports of this happening before). So they are saying that the fault lies with the aftermarket shop that I took the car to initially to get the kit installed. They are reimbursing me for the cost of the 90011 kit and installation, which is nice of them if what they're saying is true, but also kinda strange because it would mean they are not at fault at all, so why send me a dime? Keep in mind that this is only a fraction of the amount I was asking for (the dealership cost to rectify) so maybe they're just trying to get off the hook cheap, and TBH now I have zero clue what to believe. I'm currently back to dealing with the aftermarket shop who allegedly did the install incorrectly to see what they'll do since they warrantee their labor, but now that the car's been fixed, who knows what really happened?

I guess the only way I'll know the truth is if someone (anyone) installs the full 90011 kit on their Eldo as per the provided instructions and reports complete and total success. Any takers? :p

Next time, I'm just gonna learn to replace these damn things myself.:banghead:
 
#75 ·
I'm doing this in a few weeks , Ill look at the upper part of the kit and compare to OEM. but ill probably use the OEM especially if i dont like what I see. I sent a note to the support line on the web site about this issue a few weeks ago. Never heard a word . I wonder what the assembly Instructions look like to see if improper installation could make a difference .
 
#76 ·
Cool. I talked to one of their engineers as well. He described the "correct" way to assemble the struts as "this part needs to be rotated exactly such-and-such an amount to fit into this part just so, while the moon and stars line up correctly..." and so on, and not just "this part goes on top of this part which goes on top of this part" which is what they allege the aftermarket shop must have done. So see if that's the case, and if the provided instructions specifically say so.

Thanks.

----------

Update 2: Just talked to the aftermarket shop. They said no way no how did they do the install incorrectly and if they had, the dealer would've noticed it and simply fixed the install rather than replaced with OEM parts. Of course, who knows for real, what with shady dealers with their upsells and whatnot? So now it's back to dealing with Monroe...again.:banghead:
 
#79 ·
basscat, rather than argue with you, which would be pointless because you've got your stance and I honestly don't know what to think at this point, I'd rather wait and see if someone else can confirm that the 90011 kit works for them or not. To be honest I really don't care which way it ends up going, but I would like to know who's at fault, Monroe or the shop & dealer, so I can adjust my future actions accordingly and bring some closure to the situation.
 
#80 ·
Due to financial difficulty at this time i can't get em all installed today. So i'm contemplating installing at least the rear F45 shocks myself. Ive alldata steps, two 3 ton jacks and a 2 ton hydraulic jack. Is there anything else i might need?
 
#82 ·
When I changed the shocks on my friend's '97 Eldorado the top of the lug was so rusted that the T50 didn’t work.
I end up using a grinder to cut off the top nut. I just shave it basically all the way to the threads (end up with a "C" nut). You don't need to save the old parts so you don't care if the threads on the lug are damaged.
With that aggravation I still had the job done in little over 1h (did not have the proper grinder either).
 
#86 ·
Threw in the towel, i got her jacked up, threw a 3 ton jackstand on the rear crossmember. Compresed the rear control arm with a floor jack. But couldnt get close to removing the lower nut and bolt. 17mm is too small, and an 18mm is too big.

So i just reconnected everything, put the wheel back on and lowered her. I'm pissed.
 
#89 ·
Since I am watching the paint setting (literally - I am painting the front door so a quick 1 minute spray then 30 minutes waiting), I took the creeper and went under the car and I can tell you the lower control arm bolt is a 18 mm socket.
The bolts have those clips to lock it in place when assembling. Are not required outside the production line, so if they come off don't worry about it.
 
#96 ·
Ok, so with a huge, new set of Vice grips i was able to get the bottom bolt out and it came out really clean, no rust, but the top one is causing the shock to twist., so i figure i'll slide the bottom bolt back in and try to get that top one out again, and no, so i soaked it in PB blaster, but it still wont budge, so i soaked it again and will let it sit over night, and when i get home from work tomorrow i'll hit it again.

What's the best way to keep the shock from twisting when removing/loosening the top nut?
 
#97 ·
Vincent if you wanted to save some money you could do like I did with my BMW and take the two front strut assemblies to an auto shop that has the correct spring compressor and pay them to remove the spring from your old strut and put it on the new one. I wouldn't want to mess around with cheap spring compressors myself as they are extremely dangerous. Took 10 minutes a side for my car and it came out great... much better than paying a shop to install them.
 
#101 ·
Funny but I bought a grinder many years ago to cut shocks off with... the crappy sockets I had at the time rounded the nut off.
I'm an IT guy... wrenching doesn't pay well enough. People think you're weird when you have motherboards and sledge hammer on workbench at same time. I'll fix that sob one way or the other I tell them.
 
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