Front Struts for BEST ride quality

[Dirk13]

2017 Tahoe Premier with max tow, 70k miles. The ride kind of sucks. Not the worst I’ve driven but nowhere near as good as my 2022 1500 High Country (standard shocks, not ARC). I see that one of the front struts is leaking so I’m going to replace both. The rear has been replaced with Arnott PASSIVE shocks before I bought it. It sucks they are passive, but they appear to be in decent shape so no need to replace them now.

I’m torn between getting new GM magnaride front struts or getting Fox 2.0 and shock sims. I’m not looking for the cheapest option, I want to do whatever is going to give me the BEST on road ride quality. If I stick with the magnaride I’ll be getting one of the 1.5” leveling “kits” on the market to level it out a little just for looks.

I hate to beat the dead magnaride horse even more. I’ve read a ton of threads, but don’t see a lot of comments on how the ride quality of the aftermarket options compare to a fresh set of GM magnaride struts.

So folks, what say you?

 

[Big Mama]

If you liked the ride of your rig before the strut failure go back with it. I too went passive and it’s awful. I’m putting new Arnott stuff back on now. GM spent a lot of money figuring out what combo works best.

 

[swathdiver]

2017 Tahoe Premier with max tow, 70k miles. The ride kind of sucks. Not the worst I’ve driven but nowhere near as good as my 2022 1500 High Country (standard shocks, not ARC). I see that one of the front struts is leaking so I’m going to replace both. The rear has been replaced with Arnott PASSIVE shocks before I bought it. It sucks they are passive, but they appear to be in decent shape so no need to replace them now.

I’m torn between getting new GM magnaride front struts or getting Fox 2.0 and shock sims. I’m not looking for the cheapest option, I want to do whatever is going to give me the BEST on road ride quality. If I stick with the magnaride I’ll be getting one of the 1.5” leveling “kits” on the market to level it out a little just for looks.

I hate to beat the dead magnaride horse even more. I’ve read a ton of threads, but don’t see a lot of comments on how the ride quality of the aftermarket options compare to a fresh set of GM magnaride struts.

So folks, what say you?

I have read that the front struts need to be calibrated from time to time to maintain ride quality for that generation. This requires a bi-directional scan tool.

My first choice is always GM OE unless I know who their source is for that particular part.

 

[Dirk13]

If you liked the ride of your rig before the strut failure go back with it. I too went passive and it’s awful. I’m putting new Arnott stuff back on now. GM spent a lot of money figuring out what combo works best.

The problem is, I don’t know what it rode like. I’ve only had it for about 4 months and got it as is.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

As mentioned above, the GM suspension is a great suspension, and IMO, going to passive is a downgrade. Full transparency here: Some folks do prefer the passive ride, so to each his/her own. I've had both on my truck and the GM suspension yields a much better ride, IMO.

If you want to upgrade the suspension and get a better performing truck on curves and other road irregularities, add a set of Hellwig front and rear sway bars.

 

[Trey Hardy]

2017 Tahoe Premier with max tow, 70k miles. The ride kind of sucks. Not the worst I’ve driven but nowhere near as good as my 2022 1500 High Country (standard shocks, not ARC). I see that one of the front struts is leaking so I’m going to replace both. The rear has been replaced with Arnott PASSIVE shocks before I bought it. It sucks they are passive, but they appear to be in decent shape so no need to replace them now.

I’m torn between getting new GM magnaride front struts or getting Fox 2.0 and shock sims. I’m not looking for the cheapest option, I want to do whatever is going to give me the BEST on road ride quality. If I stick with the magnaride I’ll be getting one of the 1.5” leveling “kits” on the market to level it out a little just for looks.

I hate to beat the dead magnaride horse even more. I’ve read a ton of threads, but don’t see a lot of comments on how the ride quality of the aftermarket options compare to a fresh set of GM magnaride struts.

So folks, what say you?

Personally I’d replace the arnotts with a set of fox or king coil overs I personally run icons but they are a stiffer shock so if you want the more plush ride king or fox would be the better option. You can “un crank” the coil over collar if you don’t want that 2” lift they come pre set at out the box.

This new truck I got has normal lift struts on it and the ride isn’t terrible but Ive already told the wife a set of coil overs will be in the near future because when I did them on my Tahoe the ride and handling changed Dramatically

 

[Trey Hardy]

Also those dsc adjustable shocks are nice to fine tune them to your driving style and wants for ride quality but it’s one of those things you’ll play with for the first month until you find a setting your happy with then likely to never touch them again so for the price difference on the normal coil overs I couldn’t say they are worth it if your on a tight budget