Stopped on the way home from work yesterday and got 2 Monroe SensaTrac shocks for the rear of my car (1992 Grand Am) and 2 Monroe SensaTrac struts for the front. Took the day off today to put them on starting with the rears.
Got the first rear shock out of it's box: would not extend without unscrewing it about 7 times. Push it back in and it locks up again. Bad shock. Got the second rear shock out of it's box: it was dripping oil down the side - leaking from the shaft. Bad shock.
It took all four back to O'Reilly's. Two out of two bad left me not wanting to even look at the fronts.
Went across the street to Auto Zone and got Gabriel Gas Ryders. Got the rears on. The Gabriels were not defective and give a good ride. Bore and stroke seem to be about the same as Monroe.
Monroe front= $75.99 ea. Gabriel front= $45.99 ea. Rears are the same at $19.99 ea.
Lesson learned: never again will I buy Monroe shocks.