Be Careful When Replacing Front Strut/Shocks

swathdiver said:

Let us know how long they last. We haven't seen much life from the Monroe struts.

We build ours from scratch with GM OE parts.

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waterman said:

Hello,

What brand struts do you have? My 2015 Denali has a leaking front strut

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B-train said:

I would recommend just going to an online GM parts store and ordering per your vin number. Replace in pairs the strut, and mount if it seems bad - I've never replaced a mount on mine with over 160K on it though.

Your other option is car-part.com for low mileage auto salvaged items. If you don't want to keep the autoride system up front, you can look for front struts from just about any GM truck or SUV and swap them out. Then install the resistors to keep the light off. This is your cheapest option, but you can also get the exact struts you have now to plug and play.

Also to note: 2007 - 2020 are all the same. The parts catalog will say differently, but it's just a change due to a new model from 2015 on. I put 2019 struts with 40k on them in my 2008 Denali with the resistors, they fit perfectly and ride great.

The aftermarket stuff doesn't seem to hold up from my experience. I only stick with OEM now for the most part.

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waterman said:

Hello,

What brand struts do you have? My 2015 Denali has a leaking front strut

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2Cool2Fool said:

I decided to replace both from struts on my 2016 Yukon. This is the third time I've replaced these combination spring/shock assemblies on Yukons or Tahoes, but I ran into a problem that hopefully will prevent you from having the same problem I had.

I bought a pair of after-market (OEM replacement 'QuickStruts) from NAPA - because I couldn't find the combination units available online from Delco or GM. The first one installed with no problem. However, the second unit had a manufacturing defect that I didn't discover until I tried to install it.

Here's what I learned (the hard way): One of the top mounting studs MUST perfectly align with the center of the lower shock mounts. The attached picture doesn't show it exactly because of the perspective of the photo - but if those two points points don't light up closely (+/- a couple of degrees), the installation will be all but impossible. So when you buy your new strut assemblies - open each box of each and check the alignment.

When I called my local NAPA store, fortunately, they had two of the same assemblies in stock - and they sent a driver to my house on Saturday with both units - one of which was fine - and swapped it for the defective unit.

I hope this saves someone a significant hassle.

View attachment 444620

2Cool2Fool said:

I decided to replace both from struts on my 2016 Yukon. This is the third time I've replaced these combination spring/shock assemblies on Yukons or Tahoes, but I ran into a problem that hopefully will prevent you from having the same problem I had.

I bought a pair of after-market (OEM replacement 'QuickStruts) from NAPA - because I couldn't find the combination units available online from Delco or GM. The first one installed with no problem. However, the second unit had a manufacturing defect that I didn't discover until I tried to install it.

Here's what I learned (the hard way): One of the top mounting studs MUST perfectly align with the center of the lower shock mounts. The attached picture doesn't show it exactly because of the perspective of the photo - but if those two points points don't light up closely (+/- a couple of degrees), the installation will be all but impossible. So when you buy your new strut assemblies - open each box of each and check the alignment.

When I called my local NAPA store, fortunately, they had two of the same assemblies in stock - and they sent a driver to my house on Saturday with both units - one of which was fine - and swapped it for the defective unit.

I hope this saves someone a significant hassle.

View attachment 444620

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Anyone used to be able to purchase new and/or OEM Reman's from Arnotte Industries in Fl but now you have to go through a vendor/Reseller but either way, they are great to work with and I've refitted 3 of my SUVs over the years with their Reman and New GM products. They have never let me down and we love the OEM ride. You can still find their products from other vendors.

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