RacingTiger03

iTrader: (3)

Is anyone familiar with these?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/STAGG-SHS-4-...#ht_500wt_1202

According to the other part #'s are Other Part Number: MONROE 71290 5867 BILSTEIN F4-BE5-2406-M1 2407-M1
Does this mean this is the same shock!?

also under interchangeable part # it lists the KYB and Tokico.

Just looking for more info about these really, most importantly do they compare or are they the same as the bilstein shocks? The fact that it lists that as the same part # really has me wondering.

VinR1

iTrader: (17)

Wow, only $128+shipping...they must be quality

And NO, theyre not the same as Bilsteins - just means they fit the same application as the shocks listed

RacingTiger03

iTrader: (3)

Yes because you can't buy anything for less than a big name brand and it be a decent quality product lol.
As for "fitting the same application as", what about the interchangeable then? Does that mean that is what they compare directly with?

In this case that seems to be the case. not so much on OVERALL quality but in that quality control seems to be hit or miss, but that can be the case with anything.. the more important question is the hit-miss ratio.

I found a lot of people on the BMW forums were having good luck with these (nice smooth good handling ride), but quite a few had early shock blow-outs and early softening of the rear shocks. With a lifetime warranty, that may not be a big deal, but I don't wanna be crawling under the car all the time. I'm going to continue to save for the bilsteins. I hate re-doing crap unless I have no other option due to budget constraints (ex. I just had to buy a used wiper motor because mine died completely and I need those to work lol).

BMR Tech2

iTrader: (5)

That is a very odd eBay post because it would lead you to believe they are the same as Bilsteins, KYBs, Tokico, and Monroes. Maybe it's one of each? haha I have never heard of them, but they have what appears to be a lifetime warranty.

http://staggshocks.com/

They would match your car nicely. That paint color is sick.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

MHO follows:

I hear quite often that just because something is cheap doesn't mean it's not good. There is inexpensive, there are sales, there are good values..... then there is cheap. How many times have you bought something that was cheaper than it's apparent equal only to realize later that you should have just bought what works? I know I have.

There will always be a market for cheap, poorly built crap because there are always cheap people looking only at price and not the actual value. Why do you think Harbor Freight is so big? It's not because they sell high quality stuff!

And here's something to consider. $379.99 for a set of Bilstein's is great value. That's an average of less than $95 a shock for a proven, durable, known commodity. You can't by decent tires for that price. But then there are those that will always buy El-Squealo brand tires because they are cheap and look the same as a Goodyear, or Bridgestone so they must work just as well, right? Wrong.

If you want to spend your hard earned money on crap that's your call. As for the lifetime warranty. Well, you often hear that but the trick is if it's true. I can name two much better know shock companies that have lifetime warranties, and will do anything they can to not honor it. I can name two that are excellent with warranty service. All 4 have a lifetime warranty.

As for someone thinking that these are great. Well if you have a piece of crap worn out, dead stock shock any shock with any little bit of control is better. For how long? And then what? Even if they warranty failures well, if you fail them all the time costs add up. Shipping, labor, etc, that's not free.

Their website doesn't even have a phone number or an address! Just e-mail. I wonder if you have an issue that you can't resolve by e-mail... what then?

Not that I don't think I've proven my point, but the topper is they actually say, and I quote: "developed to minimize low-speed damping force and greatly increase damping at medium to high piston speeds for imporved (that's their typo not mine) compliance & adhesion". Yeah..... well, low speed control is what stabilizes the car in roll and pitch, too little is bad, and in fact what you want is a good amount of that with only enough high speed to keep the car from being floaty. In short they have it all backward. What they are building is a progressively valved shock, where most of the world runs at least linear, and if they are smart and can afford it, digressive valved shocks so you can get the low speed control, without the high speed harshness.

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

the ebay place will happily declare a lower value for customs. That's fraud, and illegal.... and they post it in public. They'll ship anywhere, but not APO/FPO for soldiers. Probably because then their fraud is a federal offense.

And yeah, that post does make it seem like they are interchangeable as in equal shocks. It reminds me when domain names similar to competitors are bought and then redirect them to their own sites.

z28bryan

iTrader: (7)

You have a point in a ways.. but it doesn't seem to apply to fbody shocks. To this day we haven't seen anything that cheap that wasn't junk. The cheapest decent shock out there are Bilstiens like Sam mentioned.

RacingTiger03

iTrader: (3)

I'm glad to see I wasn't the only one that read it that way lol. Also thanks for the compliment! I plan on painting or powdercoating whatever shocks I go with a similar color, I just have to figure out how to go about it, because I'm definitely not in love with the yellow/blue bilsteins and that's probably what I'm buying.



Thanks for your input Sam, I actually buy a lot of tools from harbor freight to be honest. That's what my budget calls for as much as I would love to buy only snap-on tools! I've never had any trouble with them either, and honestly my Chicago drill works better than my B&D that costs 2x as much *shrug*
I know there are some things where there is a DIRECT co-relation between quality and price (glasses and tires for example). I was just hoping shocks may be one of those exceptions =/

Sam Strano

iTrader: (41)

Fair enough but B&D isn't exactly what you'd call top of the heap. Anything you can buy in the Wal-Mart tool isle isn't generally mechanic/builder grade.

I fried the motor in old Milwaukee drill (about 40 years old) in the middle of a project. Grabbed a cheap one (in fact an Orange "chicago" one from HF), and on the second hole bent the chuck.

RacingTiger03

iTrader: (3)

OUCH! I never put either through any heavy paces, just an example of brand vs off-brand in simplistic uses. plastic is about the hardest thing I typically drill through (occasionally sheet metal and wall studs). needs, application, budget. They all should be weighted heavily in any purchase.

Shocks are something used very often, and have a DRAMATIC affect on end result. not something you wanna be skimping on if possible < Primary reason I start this thread, to find out if these similar to what the ebay posting reads as, were comparable to the Bilstein! My car isn't a race-car, but it sees some track time, I love curves, and comfort is... well it's not a priority, but it's nice. Obviously DA Koni's would be my choice if budget was not properly weighted lol. I debated QA1's for awhile, but didn't want to give up the street handling which is my primary use anyways *shrug*. this shock decision is driving me insane, I wish I had an unlimited budget for it, then I could re-route my exhaust and get your springs and the DA koni's like I ideally would have lol.

TAEnvy

iTrader: (2)

Just found out the stagg shocks are twin tube shocks, and figured Id post it incase anyone wanted to know.

SparkyJJO

iTrader: (11)

For a cheap stock replacement I don't think my KYB GR-2 shocks weren't bad, but then, I didn't have anything to compare them to except my long-dead 120k mile Decrapons either, so maybe they were crap anyway

leadfoot4

iTrader: (1)

Like Sam has already said, there is a "sale", which provides a quality product at a discounted price, and then there's just "cheap crap" at a low price. And there's also "unknown stuff", buyer beware.


Having said that, I don't see the confusion in the e-bay listing, provided you look at the entire blurb. It quite clearly says "STAGG shocks", whatever they are, and shows a picture of 4 shocks, superimposed over a STAGG logo. It's not uncommon, in the world of pushing products, to use the terms "same as" or "similar to", which is how I clearly read the listing.

On the other hand, how many companies in this world are capable of manufacturing shock absorbers? These may well be made by a reputable company, be of decent quality, but with some funky name, and a lower price, not to "degrade" the company's top shelf brand. OR, they could simply be an inexpensive POS, made by a reputable company, to a lower price point, who doesn't want their name known....

RacingTiger03

iTrader: (3)

See this is the kind of thing I originally had in mind when I saw the shocks. Kind of like NGK makes HKS plugs, and NGK plugs are about half the price of HKS plugs.

sidenote.. I got crazy excited earlier looking at shocks again, saw the price of SA QA1's... then I realized it was per shock lol.