Saab owners - Font suspension rebuild

[Lord Helmet]

I just completed a major overhaul of the front suspension on my Saab 97x.. I replaced the following parts:

Upper ball joints
Lower ball joints
Upper control arms with new bushings
Lower control arms with new bushings
Wheel bearing hub assemblies
Quick struts (coils and struts pre-assembled)

If you own a 97x and want to retain the factory height and ride, DO NOT buy the quick struts that come pre-assembled with a coil spring installed! If you do, your truck will sit about an inch higher in the front and it will ride much softer due to the springs. I bought mine through RockAuto and I just thought I would let others know about this. All of the suspension parts on the Saab cross-reference with all of the other 360's but the springs are clearly different. I had a feeling this would be the case and I was right. This is not a shot at RockAuto as they have been great to me. Everything I've ever ordered form them has been spot on. Just be aware that if you order quick struts, you will be lifting the Saab at least 1" over stock! You could adjust the rear up to match but this doesn't solve the diffence in ride. Just letting everyone know.

 

[The_Roadie]

Thanks for the report. For precision and to help future searches, can you post the part number of the quick strut assembly you bought? Assume it was one of the Monroe units?

They are notorious for using only one or two spring rates in their units, while GM had the assembly line computer choose from an array of 10-12 DIFFERENT springs for our vehicles, depending on the target ride height, option weight, etc. Offroaders are always buying stiffer springs to get free lift. In your case, you didn't want it when it showed up.

 

[Envoy_04]

There is an upside - the quick struts may sag in about 10 months to a year. Mine did when I didn't want them to. Right now I'm looking at using Mark's spacers to level it back out.

 

[Lord Helmet]

Thanks for the report. For precision and to help future searches, can you post the part number of the quick strut assembly you bought? Assume it was one of the Monroe units?

They are notorious for using only one or two spring rates in their units, while GM had the assembly line computer choose from an array of 10-12 DIFFERENT springs for our vehicles, depending on the target ride height, option weight, etc. Offroaders are always buying stiffer springs to get free lift. In your case, you didn't want it when it showed up.

No problem. The quick strut part number I used is Monroe 181341 for reference.

I should note that the front end does feel like it's tight again but it doesn't handle as well as it did before. It from a precision feeling to a floaty feeling if that makes any sense. Feels like a Cadillac which is not my cup of tea.

 

[The_Roadie]

IMHO, Monroe quick struts are meant for underpowered (or light in the pocket) driveway DIY mechanics without the means to research how to do a proper spring compression project. Or figure out how to take off their struts and take them to a shop who will charge a fair price to swap the shock rwith a quality Bilstein aftermarket replacement. There's a market for that sort of product, but I always hoped not too much among forum enthusiasts.

For the price Monroe gets to charge, they MUST be compromising on some or all of the elements of the product. The shock is not as good as one meant for a stand-alone replacement like the Bilstein. The spring might cut corners on strength. I've never looked closely at the upper shock mount to see how robust it looks.

 

[The_Roadie]

Just noticed you got the ECONO-MATIC version, not the 171341 Quick-strut. The 181341 might be even lighter weight than the Quick-strut, to keep the price down. Monroe doesn't publish all their specs, so it's impossible to tell.

If you're a handling enthusiast, I predict you're not going to be happy until you figure a way to get new Bilsteins into your old units.

 

[Playsinsnow]

+1 for new Bilstein HD's.

 

[Lord Helmet]

Just noticed you got the ECONO-MATIC version, not the 171341 Quick-strut. The 181341 might be even lighter weight than the Quick-strut, to keep the price down. Monroe doesn't publish all their specs, so it's impossible to tell.

If you're a handling enthusiast, I predict you're not going to be happy until you figure a way to get new Bilsteins into your old units.

You may be right. And with that, I might just look for some more performance oriented struts, possibly the bilsteins and make my own "quick-strut" from my factory coils. I went the quick strut route to save me some time but in the end, I cannot recommend doing it that way.

Also, the strut mounts on the quick strut looked exactly like the factory units.

 

[Lord Helmet]

Yesterday I had a chance to reinstall the factory coil springs which was a pretty painless job. If you have the right tools, you don't even need to open the hood to do this; an 18mm Gearwrench (which I had) fits perfectly inside the opening between the fender well and the top of the shock tower.

On the Monroe shocks and OEM springs, the truck rides great and the nose isn't sticking up in a air anymore. I can't wait till my rear shocks show up.

One thing to note.. If you are replacing shocks, I highly recommend you replace the mounts as well. Both top and bottom mounts in my originals were completely shot. I'm surprised they hadn't fallen completely apart yet. I decided to use the ones that came with the quick struts since they were identical in appearance except for in new condition. The original top hats were cracked on the top and bottom around the center. I'm really surprised they didn't come flying apart when I unbolted them from the truck. I snapped some photos in hopes that it will help others in the future. The bottom pads were not any better but no pics.