Monroe Air Shocks- premature failure warning!

Growlerbearnz

Growlerbearnz

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I've heard of two Monroe MA708 shock absorbers failing in the same way now- the lower pin sheared off. In both cases it seems the pin was overtightened and/or old mounting bushes re-used.

This shock is overtightened- note the length of exposed thread on the pin, and the pancaked bushes:

tootoght.jpg
The shock absorber needs freedom to pivot in the mounting bracket. Tighten the shocks that much and you'll end up with this horror show:


Borked.jpg
Borked2.jpg

It must be said that the lower pin doesn't seem to be very well attached. On better quality shocks the pin would have additional weld holding it to the shock body. Better quality shocks also cost more than $67 and can't be pumped up with air. What are you gonna do? EDIT: Maybe Gabriel shocks? See below.

Here's how my shocks are mounted. I've used the new bushes which came with the shocks, and tightened the nut until 2-3 threads are exposed beyond the nut.
The nut isn't a self-locking type, so I've used a little Loctite to keep it in place.
ShockLower.jpg

Note that when installed, both bushes were equally compressed. The top bush is more compressed in the photo because the shocks are pumped up to 40psi.
 
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This is good to know, thanks! Now I have to go check on mine to see how much I've torqued them down.

I love my Monroe air shocks but am curious about Gabriel air shocks and if they may be better quality? They look sort of similar but are a bit more expensive. Below are some that "could" work based on the compressed/extended lengths and the comparison with Monroe.

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/gab-49203
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/gab-49613
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/gab-49199
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/gab-49173
 
The Monroe MA708s are intended for a Chevy Camaro or Pontiac Firebird 1970-1981. Working backwards from there, the equivalent Gabriel would be 49135 (Here at SummitRacing).

I'm not sure about the quality difference. They look really similar, though looking at the reviews the Gabriels have better air fittings.
 
The broken weld looks very similar to my failure... pretty clean break. Which in my mind means not much penetration/actual weld. But mine have been fine for the last ~8 months since I reinstalled them correctly.
I still have one replacement, which I will install if another fails. After that, maybe I'll look at the Gabriels or something else.
 
sk66 said:
The broken weld looks very similar to my failure... pretty clean break.
Click to expand...
Do you still have your broken shock? I'm just wondering what's inside the unit directly above the pin.

I'm wondering if I could get away with welding the pin to the housing- just a couple of MIG welds to reinforce it. If there's oil above the pin it's a terrible idea, but if there's just air in there (and the oil-filled portion is higher up) it might be possible to weld it.
 
Growlerbearnz said:
Do you still have your broken shock? I'm just wondering what's inside the unit directly above the pin.

I'm wondering if I could get away with welding the pin to the housing- just a couple of MIG welds to reinforce it. If there's oil above the pin it's a terrible idea, but if there's just air in there (and the oil-filled portion is higher up) it might be possible to weld it.
Click to expand...
No oil came out that I am aware of...
 
Good news for people wanting to buy these Monroe Air Shocks. Looks like there has been un upgrade of the build quality to these things. I just received the same rear air shocks that you guys used for my L300 Build. I ordered the "Monroe MA708" from "Rockauto.com" in the states. I was very surprised when they arrived after only 8 days to Australia... very fast... The first thing i noticed, after reading about the lower shock mount shafts breaking off, is that there is a new weld around the base of mine. Im guess that Monroe has heard about the problem and rectified the issue by adding a full lap weld around the shock base to the shaft. On the earlier models, the lower shaft was only spun/friction welded to the shock body. Now you can clearly see the shaft has now been welded around the base.... A big improvement that should stop these shafts snapping off. A lot better build quality coming out of the factory Monroe shocks!
IMG_1104.JPG
In the photo below, you can clearly see the difference in one of the earlier models of these shocks. The shaft is spun/friction welded and this is the area that has failures. Now with the added welding, i imagine this issue has been corrected.

IMG_1110.JPG
 
Mine broke off at the top after about 8 months. Not much holding them there. (I think the shock was too close to the frame because of its larger diameter and I replaced the bushing which may have contributed too) I threw them away and went with standard shocks.
20200407_150738.jpg
 
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The top will break if the shock body is touching the frame, look for any signs of contact. You might need to add some washers to space the shock away from the frame.

Hey @Datward, is the top of these new shocks also welded?
 
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