I'm getting all new struts on my car, but I would like to change the rears to save money. they look pretty simple and straightforward.. Just basically unbolt and remove, then install the new ones. Of course, I'm doubting that it could be that easy. Is there anything special that I need to know when installing the rear air shocks? I'd rather save $150 and do it myself if it'* not hard at all.

Very simple if you know how to use a wrench.
1. Raise vehicle and remove wheel. Use a jackstand.
2. Support the control arm with a jackstand
3. Disconnect ELC air tube from shock
4. remove two lower shock bolts
5. Go inside trunk and remove the trim to gain access to remove shock upper nuts
6. Remove the cover, the two nuts and the reinforcement from the top of the shock inside the trunk

When reinstalling torque the bottom bolts to 18 ft-lbs and the top nut to 15 ft-lbs.

I installed my shocks last night...and all I have to say is....WOW! With the new Monroe Max-Air shocks installed the ride is so much better than it had been. The ride is very firm and doesn't bounce at all over bumps (atleast in the rear) but it is in no way harsh. It just takes the bumps and doesn't let you feel them, but the car doesn't bounce as it'* doing it. (as it did before with stock shocks) The stock shocks on mine were so bad that when fully extended, you could push them in with just ONE finger! The monroe'* were extremely hard for me to pull out to their full length to install.. Here are some pictures for comparision...

Stock shock. See all the fluid? The shock was so shot all the fluid was leaking out of it.



a comparison of the stockers next to the Monroe'*.


The Monroe'* are extremely heavy compared to the stock shock. The stockers were extremely light and almost felt like they had nothing to them at all. Over all I am a very pleased Monroe customer. I can only hope the front sensa-trac struts are as good as their Max-Air shocks are! I highly recommend these shocks if you're going to be replacing your rear shocks. The only down side is my rear end now sits about 2" higher off the ground than it used to. My car used to look lowered, but now there'* about a 3" gap between the tire and wheel well. I'll miss my 'lowered' look. lol.

Custom88, Could you make a minor adjustment to the Level Control Sensor? It'* a relatively simple procedure which involves adjusting the actuator arm.

The stock gap is about 3", so it should look just fine....and better for acceleration too.

nice job with the struts. A little off topic but it looks like that rotor is wearing a little uneven almost like hte pad is missing some in the center.

The rear brakes are trashed, I just have to get those replacd sometime soon too. The pads are shot on both sides. The higher stance in the rear did make a difference in acceleration. Acceleration feels smoother and it "feels" faster. It feels like the SSEi now. I always wondered why the acceleration on the bonneville felt faster/smoother. now they're the same. I'm happy.

Just replaced my rear shocks in my 2001 Bonnie SLE. Replaced the stock with Monroe Air-Max. Installation was an breeze. The new shocks made a huge difference. THe car no longer fishtails or skips when going over bumps and the shimmy seems to be gone when driving 120km.

THe stock right shock had no gas left in it, no compression.

THanks for the pics I was going to take some myself but the pics posted in the previous postings says it all.

Thanks agin for everyones help.

A little bit more info (part numbers will be different for 2000+ maybe, but in general.....)

http://www.williamwren.com/struts/elc.html

Here is a link to the Monroe website, you can do a search by your car type and it should give you their related products.

http://www.monroe.com/catalog_lookup...e=ocl_selector

This is the Air MAX Link http://www.monroe.com/products/mp_de...tail=Max%20Air

Mine were product code MA822 which are for the new body types (2000 to 2003)

Like I said, they were very easy to install