What brand shocks?

[chefduane]

When I took out my front Sensatracs, they had the seals blown... after less than 50k miles.

Were you able to get them replaced under warranty?

 

[jremington59]

I'll never run anything but the load adjusters ever again. Hell, I got a set in the garage for the next one I buy, lol....

 

[J_C]

It's a shame KYB doesn't make a coilover version of their Monomax shocks. I'd have rather had that. I had regular (non-load-adjust) Sensatracs on mine for 50K mi. or so and didn't even want them replaced free under warranty, ended up getting the Sensatrac load-adjust for the rear only because it sagged a bit and there were so few other cheap and easy options.

If it were a newer vehicle I'd have splurged on new or rebuilt springs instead. To me the Sensatrac without the load-adjust springs were fine when new but after a little wear they resulted in an undulating boat on water sensation, which reminded me of the horrible suspensions on larger GM cars when they went to unibody & FWD in the mid-'80s, not the tighter ride Fords usually have.

I know Gabriel makes a coilover but around the web the general consensus has been that Gabriel shocks wear out faster... might only be an urban myth but still an Explorer is harder on shocks than many vehicles. There's probably some custom suspension manufacturer out there that makes them too but that's almost certain to cost a lot more.

 

[SoNic67]

Were you able to get them replaced under warranty?

Not interested, I went straight to KYB monotubes.
The "Positional Sensing Technology" in the Sensatrac depends a lot of exact ride height of the vehicle. Is just 1" of "comfort" zone in the middle position, the rest of the travel is normal damping.
If you have a leaning vehicle, softer leafs, or any height raise from stock, the rear shocks will not be in the right position to work properly.
Didn't know all that when I got the "buy 3 get 4" deal of Sensatracs.

It's a shame KYB doesn't make a coilover version of their Monomax shocks. I know Gabriel makes a coilover but around the web the general consensus has been that Gabriel shocks wear out faster...

I was super tempted to get them too. Gabriel has a monotube too, but they don't use it on the coliovers... and combined with the rumors of not lasting long, I decided not to experiment.