I'm wanting to replace my POS factory struts and shocks.SEARS has a special on these;struts installed for $25.00 and shocks installed free.Total price out the door,$530 and change.Is this a good deal? Also,is it required to get an alignment after replacing the struts?

 

are you getting all new coil overs or just the shocks for the front? what brand for the front and rear. the price for install is very good. but they might be marking up the parts to cut down on labor costs. i dont think you would need an alignment, but it would be a good thing to do just incase it is out.

 

If replacing the whole coil over,yes you should get an alignment. If replacing just the shocks, which is all you really need to replace, no an alignment isn't necessary, although if you haven't had one for a while it would be worthwhile.

 

Front struts-$149.95 each plus $25.00 each to install
Rear shocks-$73.99 each installed free
$497.88 plus tax= $532.73

 

That sounds just a little on the high side, but it really depends on the brand. Here's my thoughts on struts/shocks....

1) Koni- Excellent for racing applications- overpriced for street applications
2) Tokico, QA1 & Bilstein- A very good shock for street/strip applications. If you are running very stiff tires on the street (such as Bridgstone that are 100% steel belted or tires with profiles shorter than 50 series), these provide the extra give that you need for both comfort & stability
3) KYB- A very good shock for street/strip applications. If you are running a softer tires on the street (such as BFG that are a mix of steel & nylon belted or tires with profiles not shorter than 50 series), these provide the extra stiffness that you need for both comfort & stability. The GR-2’s are the equivalent to the Edelbrock IAS automatic adjusting units. Overall, stiffness between the Gas-a-just and the GR2’s are the same, the difference is the GR-2's valving which stiffens things up from a oem setting to that of the Gas-a-just units.. Best shock for the $/best price typically found at Performance Suspension Technologies (PST) and typically about 1/3 less than Bilstein.
4) Gabriel- A very nice good quality HD OEM replacement type unit.

 

Monroe Sensa-Trac struts and Monroe Reflex shocks.
Advance wants $99.95 each for the struts and $43.66 each for the shocks.
$287.22 plus tax= 307.32

$532.73
-307.32
--------
$225.41
Dayum,thats alot of frickin' money to install them!

 

you would save yourself alot of money if you just installed all of that yourself.

 

If you got the tools and space to do it yourself I would. Atleast if you did it yourself you could go with a higher quality strut/shock

 

Go to Rockauto.com . Type in your trucks info and they will list all of the struts/shocks that will fit. Write down your info and then search the internet. Amazon .com has great prices and free shipping. I got a quote from a local Ford dealer to install my struts and align for $150.00.