Topic: Napa Gas Grande Fleet Warrantee Tested...

[H8PVMNT]

Maybe 4-5 years ago I swapped out my non-functional rancho adjustables for some big, yellow, generic looking Napa Gas Grande Fleet shock absorbers. These are supposedly re-badged Monroes.  Part Number 76687. They are 31" extended and have a full 13" of travel.  I am running these front and rear on the 4runner.

They are intended for the rear of a super duty ford so they are almost always in stock.  This is especially nice if you live in BFE Montana where you can't get anything in a reasonable amount of time. They are gas charged and the valving is just about right for a leaf sprung Toyota.  I didn't want to like them as much as I have, but they have been one of the better shocks I have ran over the years.  I'm not saying these are better than the high end stuff but I have gotten more miles and years out of them than anything else I've ran, including bilstiens.

In my area we have a substance called bentonite in the soil that seems to eat up shock seals. You are lucky to get a year out of a set of shocks. We are always on endless miles of dirt and gravel farm roads. Between that and -20 below temps you end up doing better with a lame metal dust cover than you do with rubber boots.  With rubber boots you get a chunk of dirty ice trapped in there acting like a bump stop.  This also hammers on the seals.  If you run a bare shaft it will get sand blasted within 6 months.

I was greasing the 4runner last night and noticed one rear shock was all gooey.  I took it off and sure enough it was all soft.  I took it into Napa today to test out the warrantee.  The owner of the store knows I have them on the wrong vehicle but he also knows they don't top or bottom out and the shock body wasn't smashed or anything.  He had one in stock and handed it over free of charge.

So the lifetime replacement warrantee is in fact good on these.  They are a made in USA product which is kind of nice too.

[BoG-ToY]

thats pretty cool, I also like metal can for certain things
I live near the dunes and mud and same story goes, boots just fill with crap.... and same story on sand blasting the chrome shafts,,,

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

If you download a Monroe application guide PDF the first two digits of the part number are different but they are the same shocks as the Monroe Gas Magnum. Then you can get the L1 or whatever ends you need and the extension and compression.  They can cross reference part numbers.

[H8PVMNT [OP]]

The other one in the rear went leaky and limp last week.  Happy to say I got another free replacement today.  We figured it out and these lasted somewhere between 70K and 80K miles in the rear position and my fronts are still good.  I would guess the nasty road spray coming off the front tires gets to the seals faster in the rear.

So anyway yes, pretty good shocks, fairly cheap, yellow .  Valving just happens to line up well with leaf sprung Toyotas for a nice controlled ride, reminds me of Emu Nitro-Chargers I've had.  13" stroke! They last a long time and have a good lifetime warrantee.

If you don't need anything too pimp, try them!

[Cheesemaker]

Nice! 

I have the Mtn Ryder series from Les Schwab, lifetime warranty also.  Its always the bushings that go bad for me, especially the lower bushing in the front shock.