‘11 Denali - What’s up with my suspension?

[Rhljs333]

Just recently picked up a 2011 Yukon Denali! Loving it so far...except for an issue with the front suspension. The front end has hit the ground on two separate occasions now, driving slowly over bumps/slight drops where I’ve driven much lower cars without a problem. Last time put a crease in the bumper cover, this time was just a light scuff underneath. It’s been pretty ridiculous...these are situations where, aside from a lowered sports car, I wouldn’t think twice about driving through...certainly not in a large suv. As far as I know the suspension is stock. Drives fine on the street/highway.

Is this a sign of a problem with the suspension? I have to admit that I don’t fully understand the suspension on the Denali. I’ve read about air and magnetic etc. but don’t really know exactly what I have. Have air suspension on my ‘93 Range Rover, but it sounds like the air is more of a supplementary system on the Denali? I took a pic of the service parts ID tag, so I can look for specific codes. Wasn’t sure if all of the Denali’s had the same setup. Hoping you guys can help me sort this out, thanks!

 

[Hi-psi]

If the front is bottoming out & the air dam scraping then that means one or both of these things...

- It's been lowered
- The front struts are completely shot and fully compressing.

 

[swathdiver]

Just recently picked up a 2011 Yukon Denali! Loving it so far...except for an issue with the front suspension. The front end has hit the ground on two separate occasions now, driving slowly over bumps/slight drops where I’ve driven much lower cars without a problem. Last time put a crease in the bumper cover, this time was just a light scuff underneath. It’s been pretty ridiculous...these are situations where, aside from a lowered sports car, I wouldn’t think twice about driving through...certainly not in a large suv. As far as I know the suspension is stock. Drives fine on the street/highway.

Is this a sign of a problem with the suspension? I have to admit that I don’t fully understand the suspension on the Denali. I’ve read about air and magnetic etc. but don’t really know exactly what I have. Have air suspension on my ‘93 Range Rover, but it sounds like the air is more of a supplementary system on the Denali? I took a pic of the service parts ID tag, so I can look for specific codes. Wasn’t sure if all of the Denali’s had the same setup. Hoping you guys can help me sort this out, thanks!

Got a pic of her from the side Jeremy? Do you have RPO codes Z55 and G69?

 

[Rhljs333]

It has both Z55 and G69. I’ll go take a pic shortly. Pretty sure it hasn’t been lowered.

 

[Rhljs333]

Here’s a photo...

 

[Hi-psi]

Ride height looks normal, so probably just severely worn out struts. How many miles?

Your options for the front are:

OEM - Pros (retains all features & factory ride) Cons (more expensive)

Non-OEM - Pros (cheaper, potentially better ride) Cons (lose the adaptive ride)


Personally I just bypassed the adaptive ride with resistors and put a set of KYB's on the front of my Denali. Rides great, not super expensive, and reversible if for some reason I ever wanted to go back to 100% OEM.

 

[Rhljs333]

53k miles. I figured struts might be the issue, but would’ve expected the front end to be a bit bouncy. Also wasn’t sure if it could be electric/related to a problem with the adaptive system rather than mechanical.

 

[mikeyss]

When my front struts were bad on my 09 Tahoe LTZ with Z55 and G69, it rode extremely rough in the front and never bottomed out. It kinda flung/ricochet over bumps. There should be bump stops in the strut to prevent what you are describing. Are there any warning lights or messages?

 

[Rhljs333]

Ride seems fine. I don’t know that it’s perfect since I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I definitely wouldn’t call it extremely rough.

No lights or warning messages.

 

[97audia4]

Id like to get a video of this bottoming out, it would have to compress the springs about 4 inches. Even with blown struts this would be difficult.