In addition to my last post, I have narrowed my selection of replacement shocks from my current MA811 to the following below. The Extended, Compressed, and Travel of each are very similar. The upper stem will need too be extended with some threaded rod like I've mentioned, but the lower eye mount is where it gets tricky.

MA726 - The problem is the spanner bushing, 1/2" ID and 1-1/2" sleeve adapted to a 10mm ID and 1-5/8" Sleeve. simply does not exist unless made on a lathe. Not impossible to do, just impractical for most. This would also require a spacer washer to take up the 3.175mm gap in the sleeve. A suitable one is below


MA777 - Same problems as the 726, but easier to overcome. it has a 12mm ID and a 1.5" sleeve. Using the 12mm to 10MM reducer sleeve, and the spacer washer below will get the perfect Fit. Out of the two solutions, I am confident that the MA777 is the better of the two



***This is the size washer needed to take up the sleeve gap for both shock model#s: It is a 3mm thickness, 10MM ID, and 19MM OD. Plenty of tolerance for a 1.5" sleeve width. https://www.grainger.com/product/GRA...00mm-O-D-5RE90

 

After more research, of the MA809 and MA777 and of my own car, I also believe the 777 is the most reasonable Monroe air shock solution, and here's why:

In an above post, @Odysseylite604found that the 809's air fitting on the shock, in facing the tire, was too close for comfort to the tire and ultimately removed the 809s in favor of stock OEM shocks. I'm ruling out the 809.

My own data shows that, on my '07 GD base with 14", 185/65R14 tires, there's only a finger's width spacing between my tire and my shock, and similarly, between the shock and the inner wheel well. I assume that the space between tire and shock is further reduced by wider tires, such as the 55 series tire on a 15" rim, and the MaxAir shock, which at first glance (eyeballing it...), appears fatter in diameter than stock Honda shocks. Can the upper portion of the MaxAir shock be twisted 90 degrees, so the air fitting faces the rear of the car? If so, this solves everything, and the 809s seem the clear choice. I suspect not, but I've yet to get my hands on a MaxAir shock.

The 726: noted above in the thread by @Bassguitarist1985 , having 1/2" lower mounting hole, it would require a custom fabricated sleeve, which seems impractical... even more time consuming and expensive. The MA711 has a similar issue, with a 7/16" lower mounting hole. And the MA793 is discontinued.

Additionally, I went thru the entire Monroe catalog and cross-checked all current MaxAir models against Monroes' OEM replacement shock (5605) and the discontinued MA811 (specs pulled from a prior post in this thread). I searched Monroe's MaxAir current models for upper and 10mm or 12mm lower mount as a baseline:



My questions:

• Does total extended length of a shock translate to affecting the car's static ride height, or is the ride height unaffected by extended shock length?
• In other words, since the 777 is a shorter, extended length than both the 811 (1.5" shorter) and the OEM replacement (by .53"), will the 777 sag the rear end by 1.5" over the 811, and thus somewhat not be a solution to saggy rear ends that some complain about?
• With a compressed length of 3.6" shorter than the OEM replacement, will the 777 risk bottoming-out the tire against against the wheel well or inner fender? @Bassguitarist1985 hasn't mentioned any such issues with his 811s, but the 777 compresses a further 1.125" more than the 811s.
• Is there a different air shock solution, such as Gabriel or another manufacturer, that might be a better solution?

I have no real world experience with anything but OEM shocks on my car... but could certainly use something to help with carrying loads/towing. I'd greatly appreciate any input and clarification! Thanks everyone.

 

I also just e-mailed Monroe's support (Contact Info - Contact Form :: MONROE® SHOCKS & STRUTS), asking them to release a MaxAir shock with:

• S4 upper mount
• LS7 lower mount
• Similar specs to the MA809 or an OEM replacement solution

If many of us make such a request, Monroe may release an improved product based on making a product better and popular demand.... I've seen it happen before with other products.

 

Thank you for the tag. No issue with the static ride height. I measure 26 inches from top of wheel well to ground OEM. The MA811 does have a shorter compressed length, but adding the bump stop to the upper stem brings the compressed length closer to OEM compressed, thus why I have not had issues bottoming out. I do keep 20 psi in my shocks when not towing as a little air cushion. It does increase the ride height about an inch but to no consequence I can see. Its a more spongy ride overall.

Im still going strong on the MA811's. Though to prepare for when they do need replacing I'll likely order the MA777 to have on hand. Ill do a video and pictures and update this thread then. I have not looked further into Gabriel shocks. Not sure if they have a comparable replacement.

 

Email sent to Monroe requesting MA series OEM replacement.

I will order the MA777's tonight and post fitment results after they are installed.

 

Check out my main thread. Just installed the MA777s. Some clearance issues with the frame rails. The shock itself is almost 70mm wide on the upper sleeve compared to about 58mm of the MA811. As a result it knocks against the frame rail. I put some foam padding behind it and that stops the clunking sound for the most part, but not perfect.


Not the best picture but the clearance is greatly reduced

No clearance issues with the tire using the MA777s


The MA809, while the air fitting isn't where I want it to be, it can likley be overcome with a wheel hub spacer, a 25mm/1"...i am tempted to get them to compare and return the one I dont use...but only if the diameter of the upper sleeve is under 60mm. Any input???

Bass

 

The MA809, while the air fitting isn't where I want it to be, it can likley be overcome with a wheel hub spacer, a 25mm/1"...i am tempted to get them to compare and return the one I dont use...but only if the diameter of the upper sleeve is under 60mm. Any input???

Bass[/QUOTE]

Oh man, no bueno with the 777 rubbing against the frame. With the amount of vibration, I can't imagine the foam will last too long between the shock and the car body. And with the 809s... adding 1" spacer seems extreme... you might have tire rub issues with the inner fender lip... might need to roll the fender? Don't know. I can also imagine needing stiffer springs to counteract the additional fulcrum-like leverage of having that wheel further out. I needed to add spring stiffeners to a car where I added 1" shims because of bad wheel offset, and the tires still rubbed the inner fenders over bumps.

Brainstorming... is it possible that Monroe or someone might rebuild your 811s? What about heavier springs and stock shocks? Have you tried the Air Lift 1000 spring bags? I have a set and they are awesome for helping carry extra weight and fight against sagging rear ride height. But they can't deliver as high a PSI range as the Max Air shocks.

 

Hey,

I ordered the MA809s off Amazon, they will be here Monday. I'll report back on fitment. Fender rubing may be an issue, will have to see exactly how much clearance we are dealing with. The rears have 1.5 negative camber, so the top of the tire tilts in. Moving it out by 25mm may not have any impact.

Also doubtful anyone would rebuild the old ma811s.

Lots of variables, waiting on parts, will report back.

 

Too close without hub spacer to the tire

Spacer adds needed clearance. Plenty of clearance to frame rail too with smaller ma809 shock



Hey, more details to follow. 100% success and function with the MA809s. No fender rub issues either.

 

Fantastic! Does there seem to be any negative sudpension effect from moving the tires out 2" total due to the wheel spacers?

 

Hey! I actually used 25mm spacers, or 1" spacers. In reality, if one where to get a 0.5" spacer set, that can work as well. There are some modifications required regardless of what you use. You don't need 2" spacers, thats excessively too much.

These are the spacers I used: Be prepared to cut the lugs which are 35mm long, down to 25MM which is the length of the rear lug studs.

A half inch spacer would give you ample clearance too: The only issue here is you will need to replace the OEM studs with those longer 35MM studs.

So far no clearance issues with the tire. The full compressed length of the 809s is longer than the 811s, and with the extended rod on top with the bump stop. I dont see how it can bottom out.

More details to follow.

 

More details on my main 2017 Mod thread.

 

Found a set of 811s... NOS! Install was super easy, now that I look back on it. Took a lot of time since I've never done air shocks before, and I had to order some tools, such as a breaker bar to loosen the lower shock bolt. ,But now that I've done it once, it would take me only two hours probably to do another car start to finish. I found brass valve fittings at a local commercial air supply place and did a separate filler for each shock, which is what I wanted. I made a bracket for the filler valve from $0.98 strapping I bought at Home Depot for securing lumber, such as in framing a house. See pictures. I cut the strap in half and used the holes to secure to the bumper corners. One hole used my mud flap screw, another used an m8 bolt and fender washers and locking nut. The valve was secured with large washers, as the hole diameter was too large to bolt in the 2-piece valve assembly without washers. I LOVE the ride quality of the system. I also have a Progress rear sway bar and with 25psi, the rear feels virtually square and planted around corners. Fantastic! Thanks to Bass and others for their helpful DIY posts

$0.98 strap in Home Depot building suppiles... cut in half.

Bracket painted with primer and installed. Leveraged mud flap screw.

Metal valve fitting installed... one one each side of the bumper per shock.

Inside the bumper... metal valve fitting with air line taped to the bumper.

Air line from the shock, taped to the inner wheel well.

Looking at the ground... airline routing inside the wheel well to the valve fitting.
and input!

 

I’m just confused as to how you add the 3/8 Rod to extend the upper arm

 

these pictures help? Its a female to Femail 3/8" threaded coupler with some nuts to lock it in place.



I went 77 mm exactly. To account for the stem stud that attaches it to the shock. The OEM is about 75. Mm.

Overall length of the threaded rod

 

Thats fantastic😊 thank you so much for taking the time to reply

 

My MA811 Monroe Max Air shocks finally died. I replaced with MA777s.... they have similar compressed, and extended spec as the OEM replacement. Except you need a 12mm to 10mm spacer for the lower mount. 12mm to 10mm spacer/bushings are a PITA to find. I used 12mm OD to 10mm ID sleeve bearings from Grainger, part # 786Y65 x2 per lower mount and part # 786Y68 x1 per lower mount to make the 1.5" lower eye mount length work for the 10mm stock Honda lower mount bolt. I have only a hundred miles or so on the new shocks, but everything's working nice. I understand the MA700 also has similar specs, but would need a standard to metric spacer, which likely means custom fabrication, drilling out a standard size OD to a metric ID.