I am at a crossroads here with my 98 4Runner. It's new shock time and I can't decide between Gabriel Ultras or Monroe Sensa-Tracs. I'm not looking at Ranchos or anything else on the "higher end". I just want a good shock absorber mostly for pavement with an occasional weekend off-road skirmish. Any insight from anybody?
1998 4Runner shocks
- Thread starter acfyffe
- Start date
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1998 4Runner shocks.
I decided to go with the Monroe Sensa-Tracs and I must say that I am completely satisfied with them. The back end no longer "hops" when I take a sweeper on exchange ramps on the highway. The back literally sticks now. No more white knuckle off-ramps! I drove about 80 miles off-road in 4 wheel drive last weekend and was very happy with the response on the washboard gravel roads. Almost no side to side "walking". I also blazed a few virgin trails of my own through the trees, encountered some hidden ruts and bumps back there in the deep brush and was very pleased with the abuse the shocks took and not to mention the ride quality. My next purchase WILL be Sensa-trac complete strut assemblies for the front. They are about $140 apiece at my local parts store.
I decided to go with the Monroe Sensa-Tracs and I must say that I am completely satisfied with them. The back end no longer "hops" when I take a sweeper on exchange ramps on the highway. The back literally sticks now. No more white knuckle off-ramps! I drove about 80 miles off-road in 4 wheel drive last weekend and was very happy with the response on the washboard gravel roads. Almost no side to side "walking". I also blazed a few virgin trails of my own through the trees, encountered some hidden ruts and bumps back there in the deep brush and was very pleased with the abuse the shocks took and not to mention the ride quality. My next purchase WILL be Sensa-trac complete strut assemblies for the front. They are about $140 apiece at my local parts store.
I think I am going to try a set of these in a couple months. I have heard nothing but great reviews so far.
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Send me a message about your thoughts on the Sensa-Tracs after you install them and give it a drive. I was immediately pleased with them especially since the ones I removed I believe were factory original (1998). I've put about 1000 miles on them since the change out. I do have to say that the top nut on the old shocks was interesting to remove since it was rusted solid. Had to clamp the top nut with vise-grips and spin the metal dust shield with channel-locks, basically destroying it but shearing off the top nut/stud. They were going into the trash anyway.....
sooner02r1
New member
Blah! I would look into Bilstein 5100 shocks at the minimum. Rancho is hardly high end, I have them on the rear of my truck and they are horrible. Look into Fox, Icon, Sway A Way or King if you want high end. Stay away from any of the Auto Zone shocks if you plan on your tires ever touching soft surfaces.
Gig'Em891
New member
I'm considering the Tokico Trekmasters. Don't know if new coil springs would be any better, but definitely need new shocks with factory Tokicos on there now in my 2001 w/101K. Those Monroe Sensa-Tracs sound pretty good though. What kind of soft ride do you get when driving around town, and in local neighborhood, shopping center areas? I'm not looking at sipping Martinis or anything, but I'm tired of bracing and holding on through generally rough road surfaces, and loosing my ash. I'm really looking for softy-soft, with no lift. Looked into the OME "comfort" line as well. Something tells me that with the truck setup we got going on here, there's no way that "soft" would = loss of firm road control in a family-centered, city ride, which is what I'm after, if I can get it.
WHORERUNNER
New member
Hey ACFYFFE did you install those monroes in the front. If you did, did you do just the shock or quick strut.
