Options for replacing rear struts needed.

[TripleC321]

Anyone else think the recent announcement from ECRP on having Monroe struts is pretty convenient timing?

 

are they actually new Monroe units or is he partnering with someone here? Something seems odd. 

[Ronnie]

ECRP, as an established company that supplies Reatta parts, may have enough clout and buying power to convince Monroe to make another run of rear struts if a large enough quantity are ordered. I think Marck is sincere in saying he is trying to get them in stock. I expect they will be expensive. Most things that are in short supply are. People with nice, low mileage, Reattas will be happy to get them at any price. The rest of us with average drivers will continue down the path we are on of modifying a strut that will fit at a lesser cost. It's always good to have options. 

 

Most of us here on the ROJ forum have a common goal, trying to figure out ways to keep our Reattas on the road. I'm proud of what we have accomplished so far on finding a solution to the discontinued rear struts. Although I don't think Marck is a member of this forum, my hat's off to him for taking the initiative to try to make new rear struts available. I don't think he is partnering with someone here to make a reproduction strut. If he is it would really look bad on him, his company, and the person on this forum he is partnering with...

[TripleC321]

I’m glad we have options here shaping up that we can use. 
 

I appreciate Mark and the services he provides, but man does he like to acquire a monopoly on anything Reatta related then drive up the price exponentially for it. It just hurts the rest of us. 
 

just seems weird that all of the Reatta and Allante owners clamoring for another production run independently wasn’t enough for Monroe, but the name ECRP is. Even though I think the individual Reatta and Allante owners clamoring out number ECRP’s “clout.” 

[Ronnie]

2 hours ago, TripleC321 said:

just seems weird that all of the Reatta and Allante owners clamoring for another production run independently wasn’t enough for Monroe, but the name ECRP is. Even though I think the individual Reatta and Allante owners clamoring out number ECRP’s “clout.” 

I see your point but there are advantages to being a business vs selling to a buyers group of individuals.

 

1. Monroe is not a retailer and probably only sells wholesale to a business. 2. As a wholesaler they do not collect taxes but somewhere along the line sales tax has to be paid. A business like ECRP has a tax number (so they don't pay sales tax up front) and a business license that allows them to buy from Monroe. 3. IF Monroe would sell to a buyer's group, they would want a point man who would represent the group and handle collecting the money and accepting delivery. Collecting from all the buyers would be like herding cats. I've been involved in something similar and you quickly find that there are a lot of people who talk a good game and say "I'm in", but collecting the money is a different story. 4. The buyers group would have to order a sufficient quantity to justify Monroe making a run of the struts. I suspect that would be a hefty number of struts. Then they would ship to the point man who would need to distribute (ship) the struts to everyone in the group.

 

As you can see, buying from Monroe as a group is much more complicated than buying them as a business who keeps them in stock and collects tax and shipping cost at the time of sale.

 

[DAVES89]

Today I received my Rock Auto order of 4 rear Regal struts. I bought the closeout Monroe struts [which were NAPA]. 3 were correct and one was wrong. It was a wrong strut in the correct Napa box. Already received credit without sending back the incorrect strut. Ordered a Monroe strut [not closeout as they are all gone] so I will have 4 struts. 

 Didn't like getting the incorrect strut but can't argue with how quickly it was handled.

[DAVES89]

1 hour ago, TripleC321 said:

I’m glad we have options here shaping up that we can use. 
 

I appreciate Mark and the services he provides, but man does he like to acquire a monopoly on anything Reatta related then drive up the price exponentially for it. It just hurts the rest of us. 
 

just seems weird that all of the Reatta and Allante owners clamoring for another production run independently wasn’t enough for Monroe, but the name ECRP is. Even though I think the individual Reatta and Allante owners clamoring out number ECRP’s “clout.” 

Marck offers a great service and yes he will charge well for it. He has to as it is how he makes a living. I'm betting the struts he will be offering will be close to $200.00 each. And I state that on the list price for the Riv rear struts I bought from the local Buick dealer that charged me about $125.00 each about a year ago. Kind of weird how that came down. I bought 2 for $125.00 each and then when he found the 3rd one he offered it to me at a better price [I had told him a good friend of mine worked at the dealership when I picked up the first two] so I paid somewhere around $80.00 for the last one.

[TripleC321]

1 hour ago, Ronnie said:

I see your point but there are advantages to being a business vs selling to a buyers group of individuals.

 

1. Monroe is not a retailer and probably only sells wholesale to a business. 2. As a wholesaler they do not collect taxes but somewhere along the line sales tax has to be paid. A business like ECRP has a tax number (so they don't pay sales tax up front) and a business license that allows them to buy from Monroe. 3. IF Monroe would sell to a buyer's group, they would want a point man who would represent the group and handle collecting the money and accepting delivery. Collecting from all the buyers would be like herding cats. I've been involved in something similar and you quickly find that there are a lot of people who talk a good game and say "I'm in", but collecting the money is a different story. 4. The buyers group would have to order a sufficient quantity to justify Monroe making a run of the struts. I suspect that would be a hefty number of struts. Then they would ship to the point man who would need to distribute (ship) the struts to everyone in the group.

 

As you can see, buying from Monroe as a group is much more complicated than buying them as a business who keeps them in stock and collects tax a shipping cost at the time of sale.

Good explanation. Thank you for shedding some light on this process. 

[2seater]

Don't forget there are other E-body cars that used the Reatta style strut as well, unless of course it had the air bladder addition. I hope it all comes to fruition and as stated, yah can't have too many choices. I also think Ronnie laid out the situation well.

[alchemist]

3 hours ago, DAVES89 said:

Marck offers a great service and yes he will charge well for it. He has to as it is how he makes a living. I'm betting the struts he will be offering will be close to $200.00 each. And I state that on the list price for the Riv rear struts I bought from the local Buick dealer that charged me about $125.00 each about a year ago. Kind of weird how that came down. I bought 2 for $125.00 each and then when he found the 3rd one he offered it to me at a better price [I had told him a good friend of mine worked at the dealership when I picked up the first two] so I paid somewhere around $80.00 for the last one.

$500 per pair, they will be Monroe 71966 OEM Spectrum.  I will be offering the modified Regal struts for less.  Good to have options.

[TripleC321]

2 hours ago, alchemist said:

$500 per pair, they will be Monroe 71966 OEM Spectrum.  I will be offering the modified Regal struts for less.  Good to have options.

Crikey that’s expensive. How do you know that’s what the price will be?

[DAVES89]

21 hours ago, DAVES89 said:

Today I received my Rock Auto order of 4 rear Regal struts. I bought the closeout Monroe struts [which were NAPA]. 3 were correct and one was wrong. It was a wrong strut in the correct Napa box. Already received credit without sending back the incorrect strut. Ordered a Monroe strut [not closeout as they are all gone] so I will have 4 struts. 

 Didn't like getting the incorrect strut but can't argue with how quickly it was handled.

The wrong strut I received is a #71565 which fits  Chrysler cirrus. Smaller tube and shaft diameter as well as a shorter tube body. 

Already received credit and no return needed on my part.

 I think I'll just take it to the local parts house and let them sell it if they can.

[Ronnie]

21 hours ago, DAVES89 said:

I bought the closeout Monroe struts [which were NAPA]. 3 were correct and one was wrong. It was a wrong strut in the correct Napa box. Already received credit without sending back the incorrect strut.

I received a damaged shock for my truck and they immediately sent me a replacement and I got to keep the old one. That was good. On another order they sent the wrong parts and when I informed them they said send it back for a refund. When I got the refund they had deducted shipping both ways. That soured me on buying from them.

[alchemist]

First set of struts are done and I have four more sets that will be completed within the next week.  I will let each of these sets go for $275 per pair, plus shipping.  PM me if you are interested in purchasing.  I will ask for a release of liability as these are modified to fill a need where no replacements exist.  As mentioned earlier in this thread, these are new, Monroe brand gas charged struts.  They started life as rear struts for the 1990 Regal, which are the same base strut as the Reatta but with different mounting brackets and missing the pinch bolt dent and sway bar adapter.  All of the Regal brackets were removed, the pinch bolt dimple added, the struts painted satin black (where the brackets were removed, there was no paint).  Each strut will include an A&A clamp on mount for the sway bar as shown.

 

[Ronnie]

Thanks for all your work on the struts and offering them at a reasonable price. They look really good.

[1989reatta79106]

I will take a pair of these please, I sent you a pm. Thanks

[DPS.01]

On 5/10/2023 at 6:34 PM, alchemist said:

$500 per pair, they will be Monroe 71966 OEM Spectrum.  I will be offering the modified Regal struts for less.  Good to have options.

pre-orders being taken now. 

Edited May 23, 2023 by DPS.01

[Ronnie]

It's good to have more options. I think they will sell but my car probably won't ever get the brand new Monroe struts as long as there are cheaper options. My car doesn't have to get the best since it's not show car quality.

[sarookha]

Good work!  Is this going to be a limited run?  If so, I'll want to grab a pair for the future.  If you anticipate ongoing production, I'll wait until the ones I have wear out.

On 5/13/2023 at 1:41 PM, alchemist said:

First set of struts are done and I have four more sets that will be completed within the next week.  I will let each of these sets go for $275 per pair, plus shipping.  PM me if you are interested in purchasing. 

[alchemist]

On 5/23/2023 at 9:12 AM, sarookha said:

Good work!  Is this going to be a limited run?  If so, I'll want to grab a pair for the future.  If you anticipate ongoing production, I'll wait until the ones I have wear out.

Thanks.  I have commitments for three sets, with two remaining and available.  I have been traveling for work much of the past two weeks so my time for conversions has slowed.  Should have some time on Thursday to pick back up.  If I continue after these first five sets will depend on interest and my ability to keep up with this side hustle!

[sarookha]

On 5/24/2023 at 4:10 PM, alchemist said:

Thanks.  I have commitments for three sets, with two remaining and available.  I have been traveling for work much of the past two weeks so my time for conversions has slowed.  Should have some time on Thursday to pick back up.  If I continue after these first five sets will depend on interest and my ability to keep up with this side hustle!

Will you need my old struts as donors, if I go this way?