2001 Yukon SLT question, rear air suspension

[mikeinmobile]

Ive searched and cant find an answer. I looked at a 2001 Yukon SLT yesterday and on the test drive the rearend felt like it was bottoming out a little on bumps. It wasnt severe, just felt really firm compared to other vehicles. My DD is an SUV that rides very smooth. Anyway, I did some web research and found out about Autoride and it made me think about the possibility that some part of it could have failed on this Yukon.

I called the seller back, told him my concerns, and he only then admitted that the rear suspension was having "problems" on the Yukon and he had taken it to a local GM dealer, and that they had told him the air ride was broken, expensive to fix, and just to bolt regular shocks on it.

Im really interested in this SUV, its really clean, 2 owners, low miles, clean carfax, great maintenance records. After some haggling, the seller offered to drop 500 off the asking price due to the rear suspension problem. 112K mi on it and hes asking 5100 minus the 500, now 4600. I think thats a very good deal. I can install arnott? parts to fix the rear suspension

Anyway, my question. If it has rear air ride, Autoride I guess, does that mean it also has front air ride too and it will also need attention, or is the air suspension only on the rear? How can I tell if its on the front too?

Thanks for any help.

 

[Rocket Man]

Only the rear has air shocks but the front has shocks with something called Real Time Damping which is an electric (magnetic) automatic adjustment which is part of the Autoride system. It adjusts when you're cornering, etc. and changes the damping rate. The rears also have this feature along with the air auto leveling. This feature can be disabled using Arnott or other aftermarket shocks but the front rarely has trouble other than the shocks wearing out. Amazon sells replacement front and rear shocks with this feature,and Dorman sells a compressor as well as Arnott. You can also replace the rear springs with heavier ones (the stockers are dependant on air shocks for firmness) if you don't want rear air and then you have to pull the RTD fuse under the hood, remove battery cable for awhile and the system doesn't know there was Autoride. Depends on what you want. I replaced all 4 shocks and the compressor with Arnott stuff for about $700 in parts.

 

[mikeinmobile]

Thanks for the info. Well, I found out it has ZW7. I bought it and its a great running driving truck. Very happy with it. Now just gotta dish out the 262 apiece for the shocks. Hope they last longer than the origs.

 

[Rocket Man]

You might check out Amazon for OE replacements; I heard they have lifetime warranty on some for less $$ than stock ones. With a quick check I see some Monroe's for about $250 with lifetime original owner warranty.

 

[treehan77]

What Monroe shocks on Amazon replace ZW7?

 

[Rocket Man]

Oops my bad...I was looking at these. But looking closer they say except for ZW7 smooth ride. Looks like AC Delco is the only way to go. Too bad, they only offer a 12 month warranty.

http://www.amazon.com/Monroe-40034-...51&sr=1-1&keywords=2001+yukon+zw7+rear+shocks

 

[mikeinmobile]

Update. I ended up buying Moog 81071 rear springs $52.99 set and Bilstein 24-187237 shocks $78.27 each on Amazon for the rear. Installed everything last year and have about 10k miles on the combo.

It sat few inches above level in the rear and hasn't settled much at all if any. The ride is very nice, of course anything was better than the solid mount feel of the bad factory shocks.

I don't tow anything heavy, just a riding mower or Harley on a short trailer, so towing heavier stuff may make it settle lower. Around $200 for this combo makes it a very affordable solution to a bad set of ZW7 rear shocks.