My '03 'Hoe.

[Tom Joad]

The other one went well.
And i did not tried to change the rear one because I don't know where to jackstand it.

 

[Rivieraracing]

Well, what I did last night when changing out the rear one that died on me, I just used a jack on the area I'm pointing to on either pic (be sure to chock the front wheels though) and just jacked up the body of the truck until the back tire was just about to be off of the ground!!
If you don't feel comfortable with that, then jack the truck up and use a jackstand on the area of the frame I'm pointing to in the second pic with the tire off of the ground a bit, and then use the jack under the rear axle to raise or lower it to take the pressure off of the shock bolts!! Either way will work, only took 10 minutes last night to swap the shock and I was taking my time!!
Too bad you don't live my me, we'd have your shocks swapped fast with ample time to drink a few beers!!

 

[Tom Joad]

10 min?? Are you kidding me ?

I'm just back from changing the driver front shock. I did use a rotating disk saw to kill the bolt.
I hope I tighten them enough. lol

I'm checking my tires pressure now.
Thanks for the pics.
I'll do them tomorrow.

Did you swap your air compressor with a new one from Arnott's?
Is it Plug 'n Play or di you have to cut/solder wires to have it fit?

 

[Tom Joad]

This morning I broke my passenger rear shock.
Drove it a few meters then I heard a big noise and the back of the truck went down.
Went I looked at the shock it was completly bent at 90° at the rubber blade place.
Parked the 'hoe and will order a new shock as quick as possible.

Here are the pictures :

This is how it happened.
I first swap the first shocks. I then noticed the end of the truck was higher on the side with the new shock. I thougt it was normal.
I then move the truck 10-20 yards to try it at (very) slow speed and turn it 180° so I could swap the other shock.
Nothing unusual happened.

I swap the other one, noticed that the rear end of the truck was higher than with the previous shocks.

I' start the engine and run in D for 3-4 yards when I pass a small gutter for rain draining which is not deep but the concussion was hard enough so both shocks broke in half.

On a french Forum someone told me it's like they were locked in "full extented" position and then break at the first shock.

 

[Tom Joad]

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[Matt06Yukon]

Always use heat from a small torch on stubborn bolts first before destroying the nut. Heat is ALWAYS more potent than oil/penetrant. Good luck with the Tahoe.

 

[Tom Joad]

Using a torch so close to gas pipes is always hazardous.


Here is the Bilstein shock (made in Germany (I wish I knew that before...-sigh-)


Lower nuts and bolt are to be kept and reused.

The now one where it belongs


The wrench is used to avoid the upper part of the shock turning on itself :


Voilà :

Lower bolt :

the one I cut :

---------- Post added at 09:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 AM ----------

When I changed my rear shocks, they where next to impossible to compress.
I did not noticed it because US Trucks are new to me and I thought that was correct for such a heavy truck.

I swap the driver side rear shock

As you can see, the rear is upper on the driver side.
I too though it was normal and changed the other side.

As you can see from the pictures, the new shock is longer than the older one. In fact it was fully extended and locked that way.

I then run over a small rain gutter and both steel rod broke together.

 

[Tom Joad]

I then email Arnott's and they sent me a new pair of shocks.

Be advised that the new rear shocks are still sold with the electronic device that is needed to fool the onboard computer.
But,n they improved the plugs and now the plugs fits perfeclty the OEM plug from your Tahoe's harness. No need to remove or solder anything.
Arnott's told me that there is such a request for plug and play devices on the front shock that they study making it.


I swap the shocks easilly. But the improvment is very thin. I still feel like sailing when driving my Tahoe.

Loosen the wheel :

Fake *** plastic bolts are available from Rockauto. It's nice for us europeans.

lower screw :

upper screw :

the broken one

new one put in place:
upper first :

then lower bolt :

Someone I talked about the crash ask me if the shock was moving freely.
Answer was and still is "yes".

Let's bolt this :

That's better :

Note that both bolt are 21mm wide.
Once you know how to do it, it's easilly done in one hour.

 

[Tom Joad]

I got my AMPS mount for my TomTom GPS :

Back :

Front:

With the Tom Tom bracket:

With the GPs device:

 

[Tom Joad]

I've driven 600 miles since I replaced the shocks.
It's a (very) little less floaty but I feel more vibrations on dirt roads.

I do not hear my compressor anymore. That's nice. I've heard it once in three months.
Sadly, the bladder part of my shocks not being air pressured anymore, it falls down a little and when my shocks are compressed, the upper metal part of the bladder part hits the upper part of the shock.
That doesn't sound too good.

One more thing i pissing me off. The horn.
Each year I use it for 3-4 seconds then it blew up the fuse.
How can this happens?