autoride conversion, unresponsive alc comp, general questions regarding repair

[denalilex]

hey all -
i’m new here - well, first time poster - long time lurker. which - btw - thanks for having assisted me in the many projects/repairs i have already completed on my truck. ***sorry for the length… i’m no cliff notes extraordinaire***

a little back story -
i was given this truck for free after having come home to PA from CA to visit for my twin brothers funereal… no where in my plans was the one where i’d be staying. but one thing led to another & i did & i wound up leaving my 2015 tahoe in california. low & behold - being truck-less for months , & knowing a thing or 2 about cars myself - someone was going to just give up on this & offered it to me so i took it.
that being said - the problems are many. but as i know my way around cars - labor charges are not of any concern to me & it’s many, many times more affordable for me to embark on than someone else.
& worst case is - i’m back to where i was & there were no promises it’d be perfect anyway.

it is a 2007 gmc yukon denali 6.2L v8… & it has all of the standard 07 year/model issues that you would think of when thinking of this truck. but the one i’m posting here about today is the auto ride / z55 suspension. this truck does run & drive very well. most of what’s wrong are the parts & systems that are not even supposed to last nearly this long & i have no issue with repairing as they have done their job & then some.

i don’t know how many previous owners this truck had so as for previous work - i have no clue. i’m blind on that one. i can only tell you what i’ve been able to figure out myself.

i do know it was converted to delphi gas shock absorbers in the front & the auto ride has been deleted / tricked because on my scanner it throws no codes. when it should because my compressor isn’t working. the only code i get is a short to ground. … rear driver is torn in half. so that’s bad. the fuses all work. the relay i plan to pull today to test.

if the front is converted would it typically be assumed the rears are as well? & would it make any considerable difference to convert back to stock z55? or is the gas conversion a suitable system? & in order to get this working again - any pointers on where i should begin? i plan to replace both rears as they look old & dated. i plan to also replace the compressor. with this system i’m assuming it is powered by the same compressor that powered the z55 system? the same stock compressor is still under the truck, i’ve taken a look at it but have yet to pull it. sorry, i’m not too familiar with the air ride systems. i’m teaching myself as i go. any tips would be super appreciated. & anything that ive left out that you need to know - please ask … i will answer any questions.

this is considered a rebuild. upon scanning it there are 55 codes currently so there are quite a few projects … so really, any suggestions about typical issues with this truck etc etc. thanks again!


lex
*sorry for the novel, everything seems
relevant & im bad at summarizing*

 

[adventurenali92]

It is probably converted to passive shocks and the compressor may well be burned out. It’s very common in these rigs. It’s not the cheapest route, but if you’re looking to go back to the Z55 setup, it’s a great system and arnott suspension makes the best rebuilt air shocks for these rigs. You can get a passive air shock or a direct auto ride electronically dampened(like OEM) shock from them. They can be had from rock auto for a decent price with I believe a warranty as well. Arnott also does compressors as well that will replace the factory one in the same location. I’ve heard lots of guys running into issues with the arnott compressors. I personally am running a running a dorman brand compressor on my Z55 setup and it has worked flawlessly since I installed it in the truck in 2016. I had a cheap set Chinese arnott knock off shocks that is don’t know wet eonock off s until they got delivered and the air bladders blew in less than a year. I am now running genuine arnott passive air shocks and they’re excellent. They perform well and have not had any issues since I got them. I’ve heard suncore makes a decent Z55 replacement setup but I don’t have any experience with that brand.

 

[Doubeleive]

typically when the air-ride is deleted/disabled then resistors are used to "trick" the system into thinking everything is fine
these can be built into the replacement shocks used or will be a plug in harness
you can go either way either keep it disabled or put it back to normal
if you do the work yourself and buy the air pump, rear arnotts, and new shocks for the front struts to put it back to air-ride/auto-ride then parts is going to be around $1100 (roughly) unless the front struts were changed and rear springs changed then you are looking at a little more.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

I recently completed the conversion back to the Z55 suspension, and I am glad that I did it. I installed a complete new front suspension, including upper and lower control arms, ball joints, and all parts related to the entire strut assemble, including new springs. In the rear, I replaced the shocks and springs, and the compressor. I also replaced the yaw sensor and the electronic suspension control module.

If you have a Tech 2 or equivalent scanner/programmer, it will be helpful to the project.

Ask any specific questions that you may have, and I will attempt to answer.

 

[13UpInSmoke]

I recently completed the conversion back to the Z55 suspension, and I am glad that I did it. I installed a complete new front suspension, including upper and lower control arms, ball joints, and all parts related to the entire strut assemble, including new springs. In the rear, I replaced the shocks and springs, and the compressor. I also replaced the yaw sensor and the electronic suspension control module.

If you have a Tech 2 or equivalent scanner/programmer, it will be helpful to the project.

Ask any specific questions that you may have, and I will attempt to answer.

Not to Hijack this thread but where did you get your front struts from? Did you get the whole strut/spring assembly or separate. Having a hard time finding the complete strut /spring as my strut mounts were toast on the old ones when I went with the dumb shocks up front.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Not to Hijack this thread but where did you get your front struts from? Did you get the whole strut/spring assembly or separate. Having a hard time finding the complete strut /spring as my strut mounts were toast on the old ones when I went with the dumb shocks up front.

I purchased each and every component separately in the strut assemblies, including the top strut mounts. I went with all original GM or ACDelco parts, except for the springs, which are no longer manufactured by GM for this suspension. For the springs, I used an equivalent Moog spring.

I used a combination of vendors that included RockAuto, GMPartsGiant, and GMPartsDirect. I did not buy anything from a GM dealer.

 

[2016ppvtahoe]

I had tons of problems out of the suspension in my 2008 Yukon Denali!! After I bought it I realized the suspension was shot!! I mean complete wore out and the compressor was burnt up, all the struts shocks were completely trashed… I converted it over to the standard style of strut/spring stuff… however I kept having transmission issues and throwing a bunch of communication codes po700 and a bunch of others… come to find out the suspension control module above the spare tire was shorted out and messing up the canbus system… it was throwing the truck into limp mode while driving down the highway!! Anyways when I figd out what the problem was I removed the little fuse in the fuse BOx that goes to the suspension control module… (the small fuse, not the big fuse to the compressor) and VOILLA no more issues… truck ran and drove like it was supposed to… I figured I didn’t need the module any longer considering I’d already bypassed the autoride with conventional shocks and struts.