xA_Factor

I installed some Monroe Sensa-Trac dampers along with some Tein S-Tech springs yesterday. The front was absolutely slammed......much more than the advertised 1.7inch that Tein claims. I was even getting a little rubbing in the front in hard turns and I'm running a very conservative 16x7 rim with a +37mm offset and a 205/50 tire. Plus I had a raked look with the front being lower than the rear.

So, on a hunch, I pulled the front struts and compared them to the stockers. Has I thought, the Monores are shorter than the stock struts. I'd guess about a half an inch. That, coupled with the 1.7 inch drop from the Teins was just too much for my taste.

So for now, I put my H-Techs back on to raise it up a bit. But I still have this raked look which I'm not real crazy about.

I doubled checked to make sure the fronts were the right #. They are indeed the 71575....stamped right on it.

For those with the Monroes....have you noticed this as well? Maybe you could post pix.

dugzilla

let me know if you want to get rid of the Monroe's

DavesX

I had the same thing happen with H techs, I thought it looked much lower in the front. Nice find. But, now what do we do?

xA_Factor

Not sure what we can do, really. I suppose it's not a big deal if you don't mind the raked look.

I put my H-techs back on the front first and still had the S-Techs on the rear. It almost looked even that way. But I don't want to mix them like that....though I guess it wouldn't hurt anything. The H-Techs and S-Techs have the same spring rate, the difference being the 1/2 inch in height.

Anyway, I may install the S-Techs with the stock front struts, just to get an accurate idea of how they will actually look.

There might be a brand new set of S-Techs and/or Monore front struts somebody can buy cheaply if I decide to keep it as it was.

DeadRinger

sorry to hear this... Mine is perfectly level front to rear.. And I mean absolutely level... take a look at my pic in my profile, you can tell its straight. I would post more pics, but A. I dont have too many of the xB, and B. I dont know where to post them..?

Sciond

mine sits level too

xA_Factor

I saw pix of your ride before I bought the Monroes....and yes it looks very even.

Oh well, no biggie. I'll figure out something. I'm going to throw on the S-Techs today with the stock front struts and see how I like that.

eggie

I was just about to suggest that.

vintage42

The SensaTracs are just struts, i.e. shocks with a base to hold the spring around the shock. Shocks and struts cannot affect the ride height. The length and stiffness of the springs determines the ride height.

DeadRinger

[quote="vintage42The SensaTracs are just struts, i.e. shocks with a base to hold the spring around the shock. Shocks and struts cannot affect the ride height. The length and stiffness of the springs determines the ride height.[/quote]

thats what I thought... I dont see how they could lower it anymore than what the springs are going to do...

RTon20s

That is not entirely true. Granted that the springs have a set height that will not be changed by a strut swap, the strut it's self can differ. If the lower mount for the strut is in a higher relative position on the strut body it will actually lower the car. The same holds true if the body of the strut is shorter than the stock strut.

It all boils down to the distance on the strut between the lower mount and the spring perch on the strut. If there is a discrepancy it will translate into a change in vehicle height.

pdrizzle

So does anyone know for sure if there are differences in the positions of the mounts and spring perches for the aftermarket shocks (Koni, Monroe, TRD, etc)?

xA_Factor

I've been tinkering with cars for 20+ years, so I have a fair amount of experience with this type of thing....particularly suspension work. I've probably done 50 spring/coilover/shock/strut installs on various vehilces over the years. I know for a fact that a strut can effect the ride height.

The bottom perch on the Monroe is postioned lower on the strut-body compared to the stockers and/or the strut is a little shorter....one or the other. This effectively lowers the vehicle...in this case about a 1/2 an inch or so. Not only can you see the difference by comparing the struts side-by-side, you can install springs on both and see the difference.

I installed the S-Techs today with the stock front dampers. Everything is fine now....perfectly even. I think I'll keep the Sensa-Trac shocks on the rear though.

I'll sell the Monore fronts for $50 + shipping for those who may be interested. They were on the car for about a day. I paid $113 for them from Shockwarehouse.com.

dugzillaxb....you have first dibs on them if you want, since you expressed an interest in them.

pdrizzle

Crap, does anyone know if this is the case with the Koni struts?

designed24

I thought my drop looked more than 1 inch (h techs w/ sensatracs) No complaints here though. Sorry to hear about your rubbing.
I have a question, If these shocks/struts are made for the Echo which is 300-400lbs less than xA and xB does that added weight effect the height/comfort/life of the shocks and struts?

RTon20s

Using an Echo strut on the xB will not affect the ride height because of weight. It will only affect the ride height because of the reasons I listed above. All physical dimensions being equal on the strut, the spring is what sets ride height. Now a spring designed for an Echo could very well provide a lower height on an xB because of the weight difference.

As far as the comfort and life of the strut, yes it can possibly be affected. If the design of the strut was engineered very specifically to the Echo it could easily be overloaded. Or the added weight could just reduce the effectiveness of the engineered dampening of the strut. So what does that mean? The car will fill "floatier" or smoother. The strut will compress more easily and rebound more slowly. If the difference between the engineered weight and the applied weight were too great it could lead to a shorter lifespan for the strut. The same goes for shocks.

xA_Factor

I actually wondered this myself. Part of the reason they may give such a smooth ride......other than the fact that they are "Sensa-Tracs".......is they probably have less dampening, given that they are designed for the Echo....which is no doubt lighter.

Would this shorten the life of the damper? Probably....though I wouldn't think enough to worry about.

trndmnky

I have the Koni struts and goldline springs. The Koni's dropped my frontend about another 1/2" lower than the stock struts.

vintage42

The xA only weighs 85 lbs less than the xB, which I doubt is enough to have any effect on the shocks and struts.

The xB weighs 2,425 lbs.
http://scion.jbcarpages.com/xB/2004/index3.php

The xA weighs 2,340 lbs.
http://scion.jbcarpages.com/xA/2004/index3.php

vintage42

The Echo is only 85 lbs. lighter. The SensaTracs are softer because their cylinder walls in the ride height area have grooves to let the oil bypass the piston. Outside of this "control zone" area the walls are smooth to seal the piston and stiffen the action.
http://www.bigbutton.com.au/~hazzada...ages/sensa.htm

"... Sensatrac shocks and struts have a tapered groove machined into the inside housing. While the piston is in the groove, a soft, comfortable ride is achieved, but when the piston travels above or below the groove, during rough roads or severe handling, the valving stiffens up."
http://www.shockwarehouse.com/site/mon_sense.cfm