2001 front struts recommendation

Hello all ,

2001 lesabre Custom (~87K Miles), Since i bought this car (half a year ago) i suspected the front struts to be worn, so i cant really tell if this issue has worsen or the ride was better than before or just to live with it, the only compare i can make is to my wify 1998 GMC jimmy and my previous 1993 Regal. -and the Jimmy & Regal are way too smoother than the Lesabre.
While driving in town, i need to slow <15M in order not to rub the road with the plastic in bottom of the bumper when passing a slowing bump, and each bump in the road i feel it in the car with a rattle in the dash board - making me thinking "this is not how it is supposed to be" ....specially after assuring no loos components on the front and the ball joints seems to be OK & all 4 wheels were replaced.

Currenlt, i am considering front struts & strut_mount replacement, and need your help on deciding what to put there.
My highest priority is soft ride, and not to feel each bump inside the car. I don't care much about performance (turning performance).

Currently I cant seem to find the pros n cons of Monroe SENSA-TRAC (71685 (http://catalog.monroe.com/monroe/shockSelector.do#)) vs. AcDelco struts.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Gilmour.

Ride height will not be affected by struts, I like KYB myself, don't like Monroe.

The ride hight seems OK, it's just "dropping nose" when i drive over a speed bump...

Couldn't find KYB around, got a quote for Monroe:

Pair of struts: 280$
Pair of strut mounts : 260$ (keep in mind that the prise > x2 here around ...)

which brings me back to my question, will the Monroe give a "soft" ride?
and, is there a "scientific" way to tell if the strut mounts or bearing need to be changed? - due to their high price, is visual inspection enough to determine their condition?

Thanks,
Gilmour.

Bouncing the car will tell if you need struts, the mounts usually require inspection when the strut is out.

I put the Monroe Sensa-trac in my 03 and have been happy with them.
And yes I think they are soft, defiantly not a performance strut.
But than again a Limited is not a performance car!

Thanks for all the replies, i replaced the front struts with Monroe Sensa-Tarac, inspected the strut's mount (they were fine), put it all back together,
Very hard to tell if the old struts were bad - i didn't see any oil leak or something, but they were extremely "soft" , i could push the strut all the way down in my hand in less than 1.5 sec. (meanwhile kept the old (original i guess) in my storage).

here is what it did solve and what this job didn't:

I don't have the noise dropping after going over a speed bump, so no more scrubbing the bottom of the car :p

What it didn't solve:
1) I still hear a "bang" on bumpy road or if i pass a speed bump at ~10miles speed , this "bang" mostly coming from the passenger side suspension. - any advice where else to look?
2) I am not feeling a Buick ride, (maybe i am comparing too much to the old 1993 Regal I had), with this 01 Lesabre i still feel evry tiny little rubble while driving in terms of bumping noise and ride feeling :mad: