2001 front struts recommendation

[Gilmour]

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) vs. AcDelco struts.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Gilmour.

[maxwedge]

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

[Gilmour]

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.

[maxwedge]

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

[BoB393]

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!

[Gilmour]

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

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