2006 Yukon XL Denali front end issue? uneasy feeling

[Stimpy911]

So I just took my newly purchased 2006 Yukon XL Denali (129,000 miles) for its first couple hundred miles trip. I honestly felt uneasy driving it as the speeds increased. I had to hold onto the steering wheel with both hands. It felt like I was being pushed left and right for no reason. Hard to explain other than it did not feel safe at times.

I am going to bring it to the shop and see if anything is wrong with the front end?

Any ideas pop to mind?

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[Byoung1330]

My Tahoe was like that. But I do have it dropped on 24s. But I replaced my pitman arm. Idler and bracket. Lower ball joints. upper control arms. Sway bar links. Bushings. Wheel bearings. Tie rods. Pretty much everything u can change an it feels good an tight now.

 

[Tonyrodz]

I had a similar problem when I swapped my rear Nivomat shocks with regular kybs, but used the Nivomat rear springs, which are too soft for standard shocks. Swapped with lowering springs and Bilsteins solved my problem. Do you have ZW7?

 

[Stimpy911]

I had a similar problem when I swapped my rear Nivomat shocks with regular kybs, but used the Nivomat rear springs, which are too soft for standard shocks. Swapped with lowering springs and Bilsteins solved my problem. Do you have ZW7?

How do I tell? My mechanic put new air ride shocks on back. Never drove with the original shocks so I can't compare. I also have a service air ride warning on as well.

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[Tonyrodz]

How do I tell? My mechanic put new air ride shocks on back. Never drove with the original shocks so I can't compare. I also have a service air ride warning on as well.

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Most likely you don't have it then. In your glove box there's a sticker with your rpos. It would say ZW7 in there. Do you know what the psi in the air shocks is? I assume they're hooked to your built in compressor. Do you hear it kick on at all? That could be burned out--they do tend to burn out. Just in case check your fuses first. I'm not sure which fuse it is tho.

 

[Stimpy911]

Most likely you don't have it then. In your glove box there's a sticker with your rpos. It would say ZW7 in there. Do you know what the psi in the air shocks is? I assume they're hooked to your built in compressor. Do you hear it kick on at all? That could be burned out--they do tend to burn out. Just in case check your fuses first. I'm not sure which fuse it is tho.

The compressor kicks I . I am not sure what the PSI is. I'll check the glove box. I have owned it about a week now.



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[OR VietVet]

I would get that inspected by a qualified tech and replace parts as needed and get aligned. How are the front tires wearing?

 

[Stimpy911]

I would get that inspected by a qualified tech and replace parts as needed and get aligned. How are the front tires wearing?

I'll find out when I take it to that tech haha. They don't look too bad.

We were in a bad rollover last year in our 2010 Denali. When I had my drive the 2006 her PTSD kicked in and she started crying because of the way it was handling.

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[Fless]

Definitely get the alignment checked. Incorrect toe will have it wandering all over the place, for one thing. And cause abnormal wear on the tires.

Which reminds me, it's time to have mine aligned again. No issues, just want to make sure she's good.

 

[OR VietVet]

Definitely get the alignment checked. Incorrect toe will have it wandering all over the place, for one thing. And cause abnormal wear on the tires.

Which reminds me, it's time to have mine aligned again. No issues, just want to make sure she's good.

Yes, alignments are maintenance and not a repair.

 

[Fless]

Yes, alignments are maintenance and not a repair.

Decent tires are not cheap, either.

 

[Tonyv__]

My Tahoe was like that. But I do have it dropped on 24s. But I replaced my pitman arm. Idler and bracket. Lower ball joints. upper control arms. Sway bar links. Bushings. Wheel bearings. Tie rods. Pretty much everything u can change an it feels good an tight now.

I had a set of 24s that pushed me around. Had to use 2 hands often. Got rid of them and bought another set of 24s and then went with 20s with mud tires. Haven’t had the problem since my first set of wheels. Weird problem.

I would like to think they were off balance but I had no wobble at high speeds

 

[OR VietVet]

Sometimes the bigger the tire the more it grabs at undulations in the road.

 

[Stimpy911]

Update

The shop said everything looked good up front. Still have to check on an alignment.

I was talking about the air ride system and if it would be worth replacing. When I bought it, I had the back air shocks replaced with new ones. Mechanic today said there was already a conversion kit installed? What does he mean?

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[George B]

Update

The shop said everything looked good up front. Still have to check on an alignment.

I was talking about the air ride system and if it would be worth replacing. When I bought it, I had the back air shocks replaced with new ones. Mechanic today said there was already a conversion kit installed? What does he mean?

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You need to get the alignment checked before you can call the front end and related components good. The mechanic might be confusing the factory air ride with a conversion??

 

[Fless]

I was talking about the air ride system and if it would be worth replacing. When I bought it, I had the back air shocks replaced with new ones. Mechanic today said there was already a conversion kit installed? What does he mean?

If I were you I would ask your mechanic what he means. We could guess about it all day.

 

[Rocket Man]

Yes, you need to find out what’s going on with the rear shocks. If you have factory self leveling and it’s been converted to regular shocks, you need to change the springs to Z71 springs because the self leveling shocks have an air bladder which makes up for the softer springs. If you are just now getting the service suspension message, I suspect your mechanic swapped the shocks to regular ones and isn’t familiar with the factory air system. But like said, it’s all a guess until you find out EXACTLY what shocks he installed, brand and part numbers. And ask him if the air compressor is still operating correctly. Beyond that, at 126k it’s probably time for a complete front steering/ suspension refresh. Also check your sway bar endlinks especially the front ones. And check your front jounce stops, they’re an integral part of the front torsion bar suspension. They look like bump stops; if they’re deteriorated buy new ones and use a small pry tool to pop the old ones out.

 

[adventurenali92]

Like he said above it’s probably time to start some front end steering component and/or suspension components. I had to replace sway bar bushings up front and pitman arms when I bought my 2006 xl Denali at 74k on the odometer. In January at just about 135k I had a front leveling kit put on to accommodate taller tires that I scored a sweet deal on. When they had it up on the rack they noticed the pitman arms were shot. So unfortunately I had to replace those again but went with the better quality parts this time around. Bad Pitman arms can cause wandering like you’re describing. I would also have ball joints, tie rods, and control arms checked out as well.

 

[OR VietVet]

Like he said above it’s probably time to start some front end steering component and/or suspension components. I had to replace sway bar bushings up front and pitman arms when I bought my 2006 xl Denali at 74k on the odometer. In January at just about 135k I had a front leveling kit put on to accommodate taller tires that I scored a sweet deal on. When they had it up on the rack they noticed the pitman arms were shot. So unfortunately I had to replace those again but went with the better quality parts this time around. Bad Pitman arms can cause wandering like you’re describing. I would also have ball joints, tie rods, and control arms checked out as well.

Hopefully you do mean the pitman arm and the idler arm, right? There are no 2 pitman arms on that vehicle.

 

[adventurenali92]

Hopefully you do mean the pitman arm and the idler arm, right? There are no 2 pitman arms on that vehicle.

We didn’t do idler arms. I know that.