I went to the NTB by my house. They said $600 for all new lifetime Monroe shocks and struts for my 04 envoy with 130K on it. I want it to ride nice again but with this many miles I plan to sell it in a couple years. I dont know if it is worth it. I can't install anything myself. Is that a reasonable price?
$600 for new Monroe shocks and struts?
- Thread starter dvdman
- Start date
I will defer to others...but I think that is alot.
Rationale:
You shocks are literally two standard bolts on each side? They don't hold up the truck so you can literally take them off and replace side by side in 10 minutes. But you did say no install so I will stay on that.
Buy the shocks of your choice from your vendor of choice...(same with the struts which ARE MORE WORK than doing your shocks)...and go to an independent local mechanic. If you use "quickstruts" it is literally a 40 minute job total. I would think an independent might do this whole proceduer (shocks and struts) for two hours labor as it is likely only 1 if that?
Call around to locall shops and sound knowledgeable about how easy the shocks are and you are doing it only because you are doing struts too...see what you get? And report back?
Good luck!
Rationale:
You shocks are literally two standard bolts on each side? They don't hold up the truck so you can literally take them off and replace side by side in 10 minutes. But you did say no install so I will stay on that.
Buy the shocks of your choice from your vendor of choice...(same with the struts which ARE MORE WORK than doing your shocks)...and go to an independent local mechanic. If you use "quickstruts" it is literally a 40 minute job total. I would think an independent might do this whole proceduer (shocks and struts) for two hours labor as it is likely only 1 if that?
Call around to locall shops and sound knowledgeable about how easy the shocks are and you are doing it only because you are doing struts too...see what you get? And report back?
Good luck!
JCJARHEAD said:I will defer to others...but I think that is alot.
Rationale:
You shocks are literally two standard bolts on each side? They don't hold up the truck so you can literally take them off and replace side by side in 10 minutes. But you did say no install so I will stay on that.
Buy the shocks of your choice from your vendor of choice...(same with the struts which ARE MORE WORK than doing your shocks)...and go to an independent local mechanic. If you use "quickstruts" it is literally a 40 minute job total. I would think an independent might do this whole proceduer (shocks and struts) for two hours labor as it is likely only 1 if that?
Call around to locall shops and sound knowledgeable about how easy the shocks are and you are doing it only because you are doing struts too...see what you get? And report back?
Good luck!
Thanks! What to you think is a reasonable price?
$200-300 labor might be reasonable, but only you know how much competition there is and what sort of reputable independent mechanics you have access to. Check yelp.com for reviews.
And know before you go in there what the parts are going to cost. And understand that even the PARTS are bought wholesale by the shop and marked up to list, so they're making less money if you bring in your own parts and are going to rip you on the labor to make up for it.
I'm not a fan of chain shops like Firestone and NTB, because the honesty and competence of the shop seem to radiate from the local manager, who may or may not be ethical. They seem to ride on some sort of reputation generated by national or regional advertising, and the truth is different. Any place where your price is set by somebody on commission and not the guy doing the work is automatically going to cost you more. By definition - who do you think pays the cut given to the service writer.
And know before you go in there what the parts are going to cost. And understand that even the PARTS are bought wholesale by the shop and marked up to list, so they're making less money if you bring in your own parts and are going to rip you on the labor to make up for it.
I'm not a fan of chain shops like Firestone and NTB, because the honesty and competence of the shop seem to radiate from the local manager, who may or may not be ethical. They seem to ride on some sort of reputation generated by national or regional advertising, and the truth is different. Any place where your price is set by somebody on commission and not the guy doing the work is automatically going to cost you more. By definition - who do you think pays the cut given to the service writer.
the roadie said:
True. Thank you. I'll call around and see. I called 2 other places before and said I was thinking of ordering Bilsteins and if they could give me a price difference for installing those and monroes. They never called me back.
Sparky
Member
- Dec 4, 2011
- 12,927
Shop labor and being a broke college kid is what prompted me to jump into my own car repairs (including suspension) a few years back. Sometimes it ended up going into the shop anyway 
As mentioned, the rears are extremely easy. Fronts are harder, BUT you can always take it apart to the point of getting the shock/spring assemblies off the vehicle, then taking them and the new shocks to a shop and have them swap the springs over to the new shocks (and get new upper mounts while you're at it). That doesn't cost much and it saves you from dealing with those springs and the compressors and such.
As mentioned, the rears are extremely easy. Fronts are harder, BUT you can always take it apart to the point of getting the shock/spring assemblies off the vehicle, then taking them and the new shocks to a shop and have them swap the springs over to the new shocks (and get new upper mounts while you're at it). That doesn't cost much and it saves you from dealing with those springs and the compressors and such.
meerschm
Member
- Aug 26, 2012
- 1,079
this summer a Firestone shop in upstate new york quoted me $695 for quick struts on the front only. also $200 for sway bar end links. (which motivated me to dig my wrenches out and get to work)
$600 is not too bad. but wonder if it is high end parts. see if they have a part number, and see where it shows up on Rock Auto, (for example) Monroe has a couple levels of parts.
you also want to think about sway bar end links, and an alignment if you have not had it checked in a while.
$600 is not too bad. but wonder if it is high end parts. see if they have a part number, and see where it shows up on Rock Auto, (for example) Monroe has a couple levels of parts.
you also want to think about sway bar end links, and an alignment if you have not had it checked in a while.
As a point of reference, I just bought front / rear Bilstein HDs for $229 shipped to my door. The rears went on in 10 minutes per side. I will tackle the fronts tomorrow. Yes, the fronts are more involved.
Are they charging you for an alignment? You do not need one.
Are they charging you for an alignment? You do not need one.
6716
Member
- Jul 24, 2012
- 822
dvdman said:
Yes, it is a reasonable price for them to provide and install the parts.
Could you get it cheaper? Maybe if you shopped real hard, bought the parts as cheap as possible, waited for the cheap parts to ship, and then shopped the labor real sharp and found someone who would install your parts.
Is it worth it? I thought the ride improvement was worth it when I did it.
RedEnvoyDenali
Member
- Dec 4, 2011
- 520
Ed H said:
Try look at this site and then printing the instructions to take to the garage. I did mine this way and although it took some time the procedures were correct.
Good Luck this is not rocket science and can be done by someone willing to read and follow instructions.
Strut and Shock Install - Truck Test Digest
meerschm
Member
- Aug 26, 2012
- 1,079
I would take the OP as the authority as to if a DIY project is possible.
lots of possibilities, including lack of a place, lack of tools, lack of aptitude, and many health reasons to not want to dig into hands on wrench turning.
my brother had a TB, changed wheel hubs, and brakes, but ended up in the ER, and complicated his back condition.
saved a few hundred, spent thousands on doctor bills. knowledge and capability are wonderful, but sometimes it is best to know when to know it is better to pay someone who does this for a living.
lots of possibilities, including lack of a place, lack of tools, lack of aptitude, and many health reasons to not want to dig into hands on wrench turning.
my brother had a TB, changed wheel hubs, and brakes, but ended up in the ER, and complicated his back condition.
saved a few hundred, spent thousands on doctor bills. knowledge and capability are wonderful, but sometimes it is best to know when to know it is better to pay someone who does this for a living.
Lima Tango
Member
- Dec 4, 2011
- 242
Is there a reason you made this into a new thread rather than continuing your last shopping for new shocks thread? I would expect to pay more like $500 for parts and labor in my area. I was quoted $180 for installing from struts if I provided parts, rears are so easy would have been ~$240 total install. $260 parts for the (IMHO) superior Bilstein HD and upper mounts, total $500. You're doing the right thing by calling around, use yelp.com to find good shops.
Lima Tango said:
I payed a reputable local muffler and strut shop $130 to change my front shocks. Did the rears myself. I bought all 4 shocks at shockwarehouse and the upper mounts at rock auto.
Busterbrown
Member
- Dec 4, 2011
- 253
CaptainXL said:
I, too, took it to an indy shop local to me an sacrificed around $100 to have the front struts installed. Definitely shop around. The rear shocks are practically as easy to swap out as wiper blades. I did buy my Monroe replacements online at Advance AUto Parts in two separate orders to take full advantage of the "$40 off over $100" coupon they frequently promote. IIRC, total price for parts was $160. Hope this helps.