2017 Tahoe 4x4 Suspension is gone!

[Madcircle]

Hello. New to this forum. Did a little searching here before I posted, but I am NOT a big Car Guy, and some posts confused me. So I thought I would start fresh.

Love my 2017 LT Tahoe. But the past 4-6 months, the suspension seems shot. Very hard, feeling every pothole, crack etc on the roads. I came here to look at options of kits or replacements, but I keep seeing posts regarding codes, and automated adjustments to the shocks.

If anyone here is around, and feels like helping out, that would be great. My short game is to fix the suspension, end game is to start "converting" to a psuedo-Z71 (which I should have bought originally).
Thanks guys!

 

[Madcircle]

I should add that I have 65,550 miles on it. 4x4. Use mostly in city and Highway with some ski trips to Sierras in CA.

 

[Tahoe14]

LTZ and Premier came with the magneride which is a special shock system. You should be able to go to Rockauto auto parts online and order shocks specific to your vehicle. If you want to convert to Z71 shocks you will have to find out what shocks they came with. Maybe look online for a Z71 2015-2020 and get the VIN number and then contact a GM Dealer for the part number. Install is fairly easy, probably a YouTube floating around that will show you how just do a Google search. Good luck.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

IMO, your best option is to replace the stock suspension with stock OEM parts. The Z95 (MagneRide) is a great suspension, it is an 'active' suspension, but it is expensive. You can save some money by purchasing those parts from RockAuto.com, GMPartsDirect.com, and GMPartsGiant.com.

Lots of folks on this Forum convert to a passive suspension, and they will chime in on their reasons for doing so.

 

[BlaineBug]

What is the difference between a Z71 suspension and factory non-mangaride?

 

[Madcircle]

LTZ and Premier came with the magneride which is a special shock system. You should be able to go to Rockauto auto parts online and order shocks specific to your vehicle. If you want to convert to Z71 shocks you will have to find out what shocks they came with. Maybe look online for a Z71 2015-2020 and get the VIN number and then contact a GM Dealer for the part number. Install is fairly easy, probably a YouTube floating around that will show you how just do a Google search. Good luck.

Thank you very much! I have a trusty mechanic, so I will take it to him. I just wasn't sure if I had this "Air Suspension" that could be fixed with a code.

 

[Oh Kee Pah]

@Madcircle - any updates?

There are many options to go with for "converting" towards a z71 setup. I'm guessing you do NOT have the rear air suspension, and almost positive that you do NOT have magneride suspension (front and rear).
Happy to help. Reply or ping me...

 

[WillCO]

I came here to create the same thread, but might as well pile on yours.

My 2016 Tahoe is an LT with the mechanical suspension. It's approaching 100,000 miles; I've had it from new. Generally speaking not much has gone wrong with it.

It's springtime in Colorado as I write this, which means among other things that the roads are full of unfilled potholes and damage from the freeze-thaw cycles through the winter. While the truck hasn't ever been a paragon of road isolation technology, I feel sure that what I am feeling this year on all this road damage is way worse than it has ever been before. Not only do I feel every imperfection in the road, but now I feel the downside of the live rear axle much more than I recall, as the truck shudders horribly any time I roll over something diagonal, like an expansion joint on an overpass.

I-70 in Summit County seems to be in especially dreadful shape this year. Since the ski traffic is gone you can actually drive the speed limit, and driving 65MPH over some of that road has my truck hopping around so much that it feels frankly dangerous.

A) looking for validation that a truck with 100,000 miles on it might need new shocks (probably don't need much validation there).

B) Plan A I guess would be to replace with OEM, but if I'm into it I wonder if there are any especially enticing upgrades. I'm not into raising it or lowering it beyond the trivial.

Any thoughts welcome.

 

[twister]

OP- I know it was over 3 months ago, but without seeing the truck in person, I’m assuming your shocks were worn out. When you said you were interested in Z71-like suspension, if you were just referring to the off-road look and capability, there’s definitely no need for the cost or hassle of an active suspension. There are plenty of options to make the suspension do just about anything you want, either with factory parts or the aftermarket.

WillCO- yes, you need new shocks. It sounds like you have been happy with the suspension until now, so I can’t imagine you need to do any more than put fresh shock and struts on it to be happy once again.

 

[wilto]

Any updates on the above?

I purchased a 2018 Suburban LT a few months back and this is the next item on the list because it is pretty rough.

New oem shocks and struts should be the fix right?