Ever Seen These?

[Windstartled]

Went to the junk yard with a buddy of mine this morning to give him a hand hauling out a tranny and a windshield for his Explorer. While he was busting his knuckles lying underneath the vehicle I made a bee line for the Windstars having noticed a few new arrivals. Among them was a gray '00 in a rather dismal shape, all covered in dents, scratches and rust spots, you get the picture. There was a familiar logo etched on the doors, it was that of a large commercial property maintenance company. Having little interest in an old beater that had likely been driven hard for a decade I strolled by heading for a more promising prospect. The old guy working on the vehicle next to banged up van told me I had dropped my phone next to the front fender of the vehicle. I got down to pick it up and out of habit I glanced at the steering and suspension parts.

Whoa. Brand-new strut kit, Quick-Strut style, the works. Checked the other side, same thing. Had Quick Struts on my shopping list of new parts, couldn't believe my luck. Who would've thought someone would bother to install new struts and springs on such a jalopy? No idea but someone did. Tie rods were new as well, just like the control arms and sway bar links. I left those for someone else having just purchased these parts new a few days ago. Judging from the appearance of the struts and springs I'd say they have about 10 miles on them lol. Another clue that they were new, they came off real easy, 10 minutes each pried out with a lowly (but long) screwdriver. A whopping $28 for the pair. And they are really new, what looks like frayed spring sheath on the photos is just dust.

Only thing that bothers me a little (very little) is the brand. I have never seen it anywhere before. They look almost identical to both the Monroe Quick-Strut or the slightly more expensive KYB strut kit, it is hard to tell these two apart anyway. Please look at the pics and tell me if you've ever heard of "Evolution" shocks and the logo, couldn't find anything about it on the web. Sorry about image quality they're just phone pics and it's a new phone that I haven't got a clue how to make the flash, zoom and image stabilizer work.

Thanks in advance!

[phil-l]

Sorry, I don't know the Evolution name. But I agree with your estimation of their condition: They look to be practically new. A great find!

And a big "Thanks" to the person who noticed your cell phone. I hate it when I do things like that...

[Windstartled]

Originally Posted by phil-l

And a big "Thanks" to the person who noticed your cell phone. I hate it when I do things like that...

Yeah, I thank my lucky star for that one. Had I not dropped the phone and the old man not seen it I would not have bothered to check that dilapidated van's front end parts. Lesson relearned: can't judge a book by its cover lol

"Evolution" seems to be the name of a model or product line rather than the manufacturer's name, if only I could figure out that logo... at first I thought it looked like a stylized M and V so thought could have been Mevotech but their actual logo does not look like that and neither do their products.

Manufacturing date for the struts is January, 2012 so they are very current. I am installing them this afternoon along with the new Moog control arms and sway bar links. The KYB "economy" parts I had used last time barely lasted a year. I have nothing against KYB they also make great quality parts but those cost more than most other brands including Monroe.

Anyway these junk yard struts really do look a lot like Quick-Struts or the KYB strut kit, and there aren't that many manufacturers who make complete strut kits so perhaps "Evolution" is some in-store brand or something similar. Gonna peel off the sticker and look underneath for kicks.

[Windstartled]

Well well well! There was a second label sticker underneath the Evolution one, it says Unity Strut Assembly and in small print "spec. Monroe 171920 Made in USA" Looked them up and they range in price from $120 to $160 per unit. The Monroe 171920 is just the model# for the Quick-Strut that fits the Windstar, and it sells for the same price as the Unity. So I paid about 10% of what they're worth, needless to say I am very pleased.

[northern piper]

well, as we say over at the garage journal http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/


you suck!!

great find! very nice sir!!