I just received my new Monroe shocks for my '02 LS430, 88k mi.
I opened the boxes to take a look at them. All four have almost no resistance when trying to compress them and rebound very slow.
This doesn't seem right; however, all four do it.... so, maybe it is?

 

That is correct. The Monroe shocks are not stiff so they compress easily, however, when coming back up it should be slow as that is the rebound to help control the car from bouncing all over the place when going over bumps.

 

Resistance is a function of the rate of compression. Try to compress them real fast and you'll feel the increase in resistance.

 

There is almost no compression no matter the speed of force. However, there is quite a bit of rebound resistance when pulling it out that increases with speed.

 

i wouldn't stress about it. A shock is basically a spring dampener. As long as you're getting resistance while it coming back up (rebound) then that will prevent your springs from oscillating. Stiffness of the road will be dependent on the rebound and the spring rates. If you look at most if not all of our coil over options they all control the rebound rate via dial.

 

I put monroe quick struts on my Maxima and never liked them, wish I had spent more and gotten KYB's....(KYB's would have required compressing the springs, but, I put KYB's in the back and did compress the springs). To make matters worse, on one strut, 2/3 of the bolts were stripped at the strut tower....had to cut off the tops with a Dremel....I don't trust Monroe....although, the hood and trunk struts on the LS430 were replaced with Monroes, so I am ok with those parts...