New Yukon Denali owner with some questions

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

OP
OP
N

Nwhite202

TYF Newbie
Joined
Jul 14, 2023
Posts
10
Reaction score
7
We have a pair of denali's (a '21 and a '23). One is mag ride the other has the air suspension. We also had a regular Yukon (non mag within air) '22 for 3 months while the '21 waited for a turbo.

None of them felt harsh or unstable. The regular yukon had the softest feel of any of them, but
not unstable or had a jutter when driving. I don't really notice a difference between the mag ride and the air suspension in regards to how harsh they are over impacts.

I prefer the mag ride setup, but the air is really nice if you have heavy cargo or towing.
Any idea how I would know if the mag ride was worn out on the air suspension? Would the ride quality be different? Would I see any fluid leaking?
 

steiny93

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2021
Posts
400
Reaction score
340
I'm assuming it is under factory bumper to bumper. If so I'd start with the dealer.
Other option is to get it inspected; start with a suspension place. When suspension wears it gets loose; lift the truck up and start wiggling stuff.

If the air suspension is bad it'll leak and the compressor will run a lot.
We had some magride shocks go bad, they leaked, it was visible on the shocks themselves.

Yes, ride quality would be different, effectively you wouldn't have any damper.
 
OP
OP
N

Nwhite202

TYF Newbie
Joined
Jul 14, 2023
Posts
10
Reaction score
7
I'm assuming it is under factory bumper to bumper. If so I'd start with the dealer.
Other option is to get it inspected; start with a suspension place. When suspension wears it gets loose; lift the truck up and start wiggling stuff.

If the air suspension is bad it'll leak and the compressor will run a lot.
We had some magride shocks go bad, they leaked, it was visible on the shocks themselves.

Yes, ride quality would be different, effectively you wouldn't have any damper.
Update for all who have chimed in:

Brought Yukon to the dealer. They balanced all 4 wheels, added new Michelin tires, did 3 alignments. Yes 3. It was so bad, they asked if there was any suspension work done before I brought it in. I am the second owner so I had no idea. The Chevrolet dealership I bought it from had not done any.

After all that, the truck still rides like absolute garbage albeit straight and without wheel vibration. It feels like there is no suspension at all. Bouncy and extremely harsh over any road imperfections. The entire truck slams everything. The dealer test drove it when I brought it in and didn’t mention anything about the ride being “bad”.

I honestly don’t know what to do at this point. I’ve already dumped $2,500 into this thing in the first 2 weeks I’ve owned it and I don’t want to continue down the rabbit hole even if it’s under warranty. Dealerships don’t care to help.

Do I cut my losses and take the $7k hit if I trade this thing in? Do I continue to try with any dealership to help fix it? Someone talk me off the ledge haha
 

pa31p

Full Access Member
Joined
Sep 24, 2022
Posts
136
Reaction score
180
Could the shocks be leaky/worn out?
 

adventurenali92

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2015
Posts
7,245
Reaction score
8,348
Location
Big Bear Lake, ca
Update for all who have chimed in:

Brought Yukon to the dealer. They balanced all 4 wheels, added new Michelin tires, did 3 alignments. Yes 3. It was so bad, they asked if there was any suspension work done before I brought it in. I am the second owner so I had no idea. The Chevrolet dealership I bought it from had not done any.

After all that, the truck still rides like absolute garbage albeit straight and without wheel vibration. It feels like there is no suspension at all. Bouncy and extremely harsh over any road imperfections. The entire truck slams everything. The dealer test drove it when I brought it in and didn’t mention anything about the ride being “bad”.

I honestly don’t know what to do at this point. I’ve already dumped $2,500 into this thing in the first 2 weeks I’ve owned it and I don’t want to continue down the rabbit hole even if it’s under warranty. Dealerships don’t care to help.

Do I cut my losses and take the $7k hit if I trade this thing in? Do I continue to try with any dealership to help fix it? Someone talk me off the ledge haha
We’ve heard this story time and time again with dealer techs and service departments. Some suck and do bare minimum and some are great and will go the extra mile.

If the ride is as bad as you describe, and it’s under warranty, find a new dealer, read their reviews online and talk to existing customers of the dealer. That can help in finding one with a good service department. Then make the lead service person go for a ride with you in the truck to experience exactly what the problem is that’s happening. That way they can’t tell you “it’s normal and we didn’t notice anything”….
 

NothEastTahoe

Member
Joined
Jul 13, 2023
Posts
72
Reaction score
70
As petty as it can be, you can always tag them on some form of social media and blast them, while a last resort imo, it does tend to work if what people say is to be believed. But my new yukon is the nicest riding vehicle I've ever owned, steady, firm and planted on the road. What you are experiencing is not right.
 

Miami-Dade

Staff member
Super Moderator
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Posts
3,672
Reaction score
4,337
Update for all who have chimed in:

Brought Yukon to the dealer. They balanced all 4 wheels, added new Michelin tires, did 3 alignments. Yes 3. It was so bad, they asked if there was any suspension work done before I brought it in. I am the second owner so I had no idea. The Chevrolet dealership I bought it from had not done any.

After all that, the truck still rides like absolute garbage albeit straight and without wheel vibration. It feels like there is no suspension at all. Bouncy and extremely harsh over any road imperfections. The entire truck slams everything. The dealer test drove it when I brought it in and didn’t mention anything about the ride being “bad”.

I honestly don’t know what to do at this point. I’ve already dumped $2,500 into this thing in the first 2 weeks I’ve owned it and I don’t want to continue down the rabbit hole even if it’s under warranty. Dealerships don’t care to help.

Do I cut my losses and take the $7k hit if I trade this thing in? Do I continue to try with any dealership to help fix it? Someone talk me off the ledge haha
You might want to check out Paramus Chevrolet before you take a hit of 7K bucks. They are good to deal with for service.

Are you dealing with Major Chevrolet in Queens?
 

Forum statistics

Threads
129,237
Posts
1,812,618
Members
92,338
Latest member
ajdahl8660
Top