What an ordeal this has been! I'm sure some of you have seen my suspension install thread located here:
http://www.dodgeintrepid.net/showthread.php?t=177992
I hope this post saves someone the hassle that I had to go through.
On Feb 14th I made a big purchase at rockauto.com for $717.26 for the following parts:
MONROE 71668 Strut Assembly $74.79
MONROE 903901 Strut Mount (2) $95.58
MONROE 71667 Strut Assembly $74.79
MONROE 801669 Strut Assembly (2) $99.58
MOOG K3181 Stabilizer Bar Link (2) $ 8.56
MOOG K7408 Tie Rod Bushing $14.71
MOOG K160033 Strut Bellow (2) $27.28
MOOG K7342 Stabilizer Bar Link (2) $85.58
MOOG K7367 Stabilizer Bar Bushing $13.90
MOOG K7213 Control Arm $80.79
MOOG K90460 Strut Bellow (2) $35.86
MOOG K7211 Control Arm $80.79
Shipping Ground (FedEx or UPS) $ 25.05
I purchased the parts separately rather than quick struts so that I could utilize the expensive polyurethane spring isolators which requires disassembly of the strut components to properly install.
After installing everything, I began to hear noises coming from the strut assemblies after just 3 months / 2000 miles and determined that the strut mounts were potentially bad. Not wanting to go through the task again of using spring compressors I decided to go ahead and purchase some Monroe quick struts 171667 and 171668 for $333 shipped from rockauto.com on June 21st.
After installing the new quick struts, the driver side makes no noises, but the passenger side does.
Upon calling Monroe, their tech department informed me that Rock auto may still have some of the Monroe strut mounts 903901 (which are the same ones used in the quick struts assemblies btw) that are of the defective lot. That is correct, defective. The rubber comes away from the metal within the strut mount, causing the noise. Still waiting to hear back from Monroe on how many are actually defective. My guess is that it's very few. I will update once I hear more on this.
Monroe advised me to contact Rockauto, and have Rockauto obtain new quick struts directly from Monroe's stock, and ship those to me rather than risk getting another bad set from Rockauto's inventory.
As it stands now, I'm basically out $333. I have a set of defective strut mounts on my car, I have to install new quick struts yet again (3rd time now), and I have no polyurethane spring isolators because I'm not going through the hassle of compressing the spring and compromising the warranty on the new quick struts in the event that the mounts on them are defective as well. I have emails out to both companies with individuals from both parties on copy.
I suggested that they send me 2 new quick struts. Customer service at Rockauto told me they will only send the driver side since it isn't making noise, but will put a "note" that the mount could be defective. Not sure how much good that does if the driver side starts having the same problem in 3 months, LOL! They ensure me that the one they send will not be defective. I've asked Monroe for their level of confidence in rockauto's statement.
Based on what I've had to deal with, what would you guys consider to be acceptable customer service by Rock auto / Monroe? Unfortunately in this case I gave Monroe the benefit of the doubt and assumed that the noise I was hearing the first time was due to improper installation, hence the reason why I went ahead and ordered the quick struts. Sure enough, it wasn't the install, but a defective part.
http://www.dodgeintrepid.net/showthread.php?t=177992
I hope this post saves someone the hassle that I had to go through.
On Feb 14th I made a big purchase at rockauto.com for $717.26 for the following parts:
MONROE 71668 Strut Assembly $74.79
MONROE 903901 Strut Mount (2) $95.58
MONROE 71667 Strut Assembly $74.79
MONROE 801669 Strut Assembly (2) $99.58
MOOG K3181 Stabilizer Bar Link (2) $ 8.56
MOOG K7408 Tie Rod Bushing $14.71
MOOG K160033 Strut Bellow (2) $27.28
MOOG K7342 Stabilizer Bar Link (2) $85.58
MOOG K7367 Stabilizer Bar Bushing $13.90
MOOG K7213 Control Arm $80.79
MOOG K90460 Strut Bellow (2) $35.86
MOOG K7211 Control Arm $80.79
Shipping Ground (FedEx or UPS) $ 25.05
I purchased the parts separately rather than quick struts so that I could utilize the expensive polyurethane spring isolators which requires disassembly of the strut components to properly install.
After installing everything, I began to hear noises coming from the strut assemblies after just 3 months / 2000 miles and determined that the strut mounts were potentially bad. Not wanting to go through the task again of using spring compressors I decided to go ahead and purchase some Monroe quick struts 171667 and 171668 for $333 shipped from rockauto.com on June 21st.
After installing the new quick struts, the driver side makes no noises, but the passenger side does.
Upon calling Monroe, their tech department informed me that Rock auto may still have some of the Monroe strut mounts 903901 (which are the same ones used in the quick struts assemblies btw) that are of the defective lot. That is correct, defective. The rubber comes away from the metal within the strut mount, causing the noise. Still waiting to hear back from Monroe on how many are actually defective. My guess is that it's very few. I will update once I hear more on this.
Monroe advised me to contact Rockauto, and have Rockauto obtain new quick struts directly from Monroe's stock, and ship those to me rather than risk getting another bad set from Rockauto's inventory.
As it stands now, I'm basically out $333. I have a set of defective strut mounts on my car, I have to install new quick struts yet again (3rd time now), and I have no polyurethane spring isolators because I'm not going through the hassle of compressing the spring and compromising the warranty on the new quick struts in the event that the mounts on them are defective as well. I have emails out to both companies with individuals from both parties on copy.
I suggested that they send me 2 new quick struts. Customer service at Rockauto told me they will only send the driver side since it isn't making noise, but will put a "note" that the mount could be defective. Not sure how much good that does if the driver side starts having the same problem in 3 months, LOL! They ensure me that the one they send will not be defective. I've asked Monroe for their level of confidence in rockauto's statement.
Based on what I've had to deal with, what would you guys consider to be acceptable customer service by Rock auto / Monroe? Unfortunately in this case I gave Monroe the benefit of the doubt and assumed that the noise I was hearing the first time was due to improper installation, hence the reason why I went ahead and ordered the quick struts. Sure enough, it wasn't the install, but a defective part.