WHman Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Hi all, I hope Im not asking a question thats been answered many times, but Ive got bad rear shocks, the tires have cambered in significantly and the car drives super wonky, Ive pretty much figured thats what is the problem, so now im looking for the right struts, now monroe makes a product with the number 79166, are these the proper rear struts for this vehicle? theres not much ive been able to dig up on a proper fitting replacement for the rear struts. Thanks all for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 The strut you need is discontinued. However there was a long post some time ago using a different strut from Monroe that had the same specifications, we were able to fabricate a working rear strut complete with the correct mounting bracket that also had to be fabricated. Marck at East Coast Reatta had contacted Monroe and had a run of 500 #71966 struts made but that is also now sold out. He was selling them for $499.95 a pair plus freight. I have one extra set of the fabricated rear struts available. My price is $375.00 with freight. Contact me if interested. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 This last pair of struts are available to anyone who wants them for the same price. Just pm me if interested.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 I just looked at the last time I replaced struts [did both front and rear] on the Red. 12 years and 140,000 miles ago. If the next set I put on lasts that long I'll be 80 and the Red will have 470,000 miles. I don't think either one will happen... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 (edited) On 7/7/2024 at 7:24 AM, DAVES89 said: The strut you need is discontinued. However there was a long post some time ago using a different strut from Monroe that had the same specifications, we were able to fabricate a working rear strut complete with the correct mounting bracket that also had to be fabricated. Marck at East Coast Reatta had contacted Monroe and had a run of 500 #71966 struts made but that is also now sold out. He was selling them for $499.95 a pair plus freight. I have one extra set of the fabricated rear struts available. My price is $375.00 with freight. Contact me if interested. I do have an original set of front and rear Monroes ready to go on when needed. Ride still feels good and no leaks. So if I sell the original Monroe rear struts at $499.00 plus freight which is East Coast Reatta's price are there any takers? FYIW the Reatta is not like a Mustang or Camaro. Parts are not readily available and certainly are no longer cheap. I used to count on 1-2 Reattas and 2-3 Rivs every 12 -15 months at Gibson's my local You Pick, but no longer. If you want parts, buy them now as it's only going to get worse. Heck I even bought a rack and pinion for my parts bin in anticipation of them being discontinued... Edited July 9 by DAVES89 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronnie Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 15 minutes ago, DAVES89 said: FYIW the Reatta is not like a Mustang or Camaro. Parts are not readily available and certainly are no longer cheap. I used to count on 1-2 Reattas and 2-3 Rivs every 12 -15 months, but no longer. If you want parts, buy them now as it's only going to get worse. I know probably a lot of people were shocked when they found out I had sold my Reatta after owning it for so long and having a website dedicated to Reattas, but I did so because of the reasons you stated above. I liked the Reatta just fine and there are some things I still miss about it. But I could see the handwriting on the wall, and sometimes you just have to know when it's time to let go. At some point that is going to happen with all Reatta owners unless they intend to just collect a Reatta instead of driving it quite a bit for the joy of driving like I do with my cars. You are wise to stockpile parts so you can extend the time you can enjoy your Reatta for as long as possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ship Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 10 hours ago, Ronnie said: ....... You are wise to stockpile parts so you can extend the time you can enjoy your Reatta for as long as possible. I've been stockpiling parts for my '91, like Daves89, for a number of years now. I was actually double piling for a while since I owned a '92 Riviera and many of the parts are (were) interchangeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchemist Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 I saw a post by Marck on his Facebook page indicating he was working with another shock/strut manufacturer (not Monroe this time) to produce another batch of rear struts. I too have started to stockpile components and have two sets of rear struts, a set of front struts, caliper rebuild kits, ignition parts, etc. Though, putting on less that 1000 miles a year I may never need them, but there is a lot of emotional history with my car as it belonged to my father and I plan on giving it to one of his grandchildren some day. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 I am actually interested in the set of rear struts. My son and I have been working on a 1990 convertible and the rears are gone. Let me know if you still have them. Thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 I still have the fabricated set available. Please contact me via email if interested at; lemke1044@aol.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wufibugs Posted July 15 Share Posted July 15 I think the dearth of parts for our cars, particularly rear suspension parts, is because many of them only fit Reattas and Allantes, two short and low production run vehicles. Our front suspension used parts that fit several GM products. Surprised to see that someone was able to convince Monroe to do a production run of the rear struts. My attempt to have an aftermarket manufacturer to consider making the rear bushings that fit Reatta's and a few other GM products generated nothing more than a robo reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 16 Share Posted July 16 Okay, rather then complain about the dearth of parts not available, maybe take advantage of my extra pair that is available. Sure they are fabricated but the struts in this kit are exactly the same specs that the Reatta calls for with that cars mounting brackets cut off. Then brackets were found that allows this strut to be mounted on the Reatta seamlessly with the "alignment" groove in the correct location. It is a proven solution. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alchemist Posted July 17 Share Posted July 17 On 7/15/2024 at 7:55 PM, DAVES89 said: Okay, rather then complain about the dearth of parts not available, maybe take advantage of my extra pair that is available. Sure they are fabricated but the struts in this kit are exactly the same specs that the Reatta calls for with that cars mounting brackets cut off. Then brackets were found that allows this strut to be mounted on the Reatta seamlessly with the "alignment" groove in the correct location. It is a proven solution. Dave, between you and I there have been 10+ sets of these struts made. Zero complaints. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 Thanks for the replies guys. I am not sure I understand what or how you are fabricating these struts. Maybe you have a link to some info... You are cutting off the mounting brackets in the process? I was on this site about a year ago when the Monroe production run happened and figured that I had time to buy the new shocks with a production run of 1,000. Where the heck did they all go in a year? That's like 500 Reatta's getting their shocks replaced which doesn't seem plausible. Isn't someone sitting on a stash of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 I have a pair available or you can do a search on this website and find out what to buy, where to buy it, how to cut off the wrong mounting brackets, put a groove in the "new" strut for the mounting bolt. Regarding 1000 struts and where did they go. The Riviera, Allante, Toronado, and Reatta all use the same strut. The Toronado and Riviera struts while the same have an "air shock" feature to them. I am sure that was forgotten in the joy of getting a working strut. That's where they went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 20 Share Posted July 20 One other thing I forgot to mention. When Marck of East Coast Reatta negotiated and then ordered 1000 each of the struts from Monroe, a mistake was made and someone from Monroe allowed Rock Auto to sell off from that 1000 each inventory. By chance I was on the Rock Auto website and bought some of that inventory before it was sent to Marck. I foolishly told others on this site [and the AACA site] and a number were bought by other private owners. This dwindled what was sent to Marck by at least 50 struts. At any rate because I bought from that inventory it allowed me to be able to offer the "fabricated" strut I fully intended to use on my car. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 (edited) On 7/20/2024 at 2:11 PM, Harold said: Thanks for the replies guys. I am not sure I understand what or how you are fabricating these struts. Maybe you have a link to some info... You are cutting off the mounting brackets in the process? I was on this site about a year ago when the Monroe production run happened and figured that I had time to buy the new shocks with a production run of 1,000. Where the heck did they all go in a year? That's like 500 Reatta's getting their shocks replaced which doesn't seem plausible. Isn't someone sitting on a stash of them. Unfortunately too many people here are under the misconception that parts are easy to find like they would be for a higher production car. Ford on a good MONTH makes more Mustangs then the entire 4 year run of the Reatta. That's way there is virtually no support from aftermarket vendors. Just trying to get you guys to realize that Reatta parts are in short supply and drying up fast. Go to the East Coast Reatta website and look at all the parts that are out of stock. You may be surprised... Edited July 24 by DAVES89 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2seater Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 On 7/20/2024 at 2:11 PM, Harold said: Thanks for the replies guys. I am not sure I understand what or how you are fabricating these struts. Maybe you have a link to some info... You are cutting off the mounting brackets in the process? I was on this site about a year ago when the Monroe production run happened and figured that I had time to buy the new shocks with a production run of 1,000. Where the heck did they all go in a year? That's like 500 Reatta's getting their shocks replaced which doesn't seem plausible. Isn't someone sitting on a stash of them. https://reattaowner.com/forum/topic/1271-options-for-replacing-rear-struts-needed/page/6/ This is the very long thread from two years ago. Many creative ideas and details of the various permutations of substitutes created. It will provide all the information needed to make an informed decision, or your head explode🙃 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAVES89 Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 Fabricated set have just been sold. I no longer have any extra rear struts available . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Samakijoe Posted August 4 Share Posted August 4 (edited) Better price on strut................. Please leave me a couple...😉 https://www.thewrenchmonkey.com/products/auto-parts/monroe/71966/ Edited August 4 by Samakijoe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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