2008 LTZ Suspension upgrade advice

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.

JayYoung

TYF Newbie
Joined
Oct 31, 2022
Posts
3
Reaction score
1
Location
Georgia
Greetings all.

I have a 2008 LTZ Tahoe, 185,000 miles, on stock suspension. After spending way too much money on this 5.3, its behaving very nice, and ready for another 100,000 miles. Now I need to address the suspension.

As far as I know, I do not have magnaride, air, auto leveling, or any other electronic wizardry. I would love to have all of that, but I'm not sure its feasible to retrofit. I am seeking advice about the best quality update for my needs. I spend 20% of my driving time in fields and off-road areas. I routinely haul 1000lbs in the back, rarely tow anything. I am looking for the most comfortable ride quality I can achieve. I would like to reduce the harshness of poor quality roads, make the steering slightly more responsive, but also have a system that will last with proper maintenance.

Is it possible to add magnaride/autoleveling air suspension to a 2008 LTZ in which it was not installed from the factory?
Is it prohibitively expensive?
Is there an alternative?

Very willing to hear options and opinions.
 

wjburken

Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 26, 2017
Posts
9,705
Reaction score
26,282
Location
Eastern Iowa
Greetings all.

I have a 2008 LTZ Tahoe, 185,000 miles, on stock suspension. After spending way too much money on this 5.3, its behaving very nice, and ready for another 100,000 miles. Now I need to address the suspension.

As far as I know, I do not have magnaride, air, auto leveling, or any other electronic wizardry. I would love to have all of that, but I'm not sure its feasible to retrofit. I am seeking advice about the best quality update for my needs. I spend 20% of my driving time in fields and off-road areas. I routinely haul 1000lbs in the back, rarely tow anything. I am looking for the most comfortable ride quality I can achieve. I would like to reduce the harshness of poor quality roads, make the steering slightly more responsive, but also have a system that will last with proper maintenance.

Is it possible to add magnaride/autoleveling air suspension to a 2008 LTZ in which it was not installed from the factory?
Is it prohibitively expensive?
Is there an alternative?

Very willing to hear options and opinions.
Post up a picture of your RPO sticker. Should be on the door if your glove compartment. It will have a bunch of 3 letter codes in it. That will help us help you determine what your LTZ has for suspension for sure. I am thinking that the LTZ’s came with AutoRide and AutoLevel. At least my 2009 LTZ did.
 

Trey Hardy

8” fabtech icon coilovers uniballs 24x14on35/15.50
Joined
Jun 12, 2020
Posts
1,966
Reaction score
4,974
Location
Eastern North Carolina
Greetings all.

I have a 2008 LTZ Tahoe, 185,000 miles, on stock suspension. After spending way too much money on this 5.3, its behaving very nice, and ready for another 100,000 miles. Now I need to address the suspension.

As far as I know, I do not have magnaride, air, auto leveling, or any other electronic wizardry. I would love to have all of that, but I'm not sure its feasible to retrofit. I am seeking advice about the best quality update for my needs. I spend 20% of my driving time in fields and off-road areas. I routinely haul 1000lbs in the back, rarely tow anything. I am looking for the most comfortable ride quality I can achieve. I would like to reduce the harshness of poor quality roads, make the steering slightly more responsive, but also have a system that will last with proper maintenance.

Is it possible to add magnaride/autoleveling air suspension to a 2008 LTZ in which it was not installed from the factory?
Is it prohibitively expensive?
Is there an alternative?

Very willing to hear options and opinions.
How much you trying to spend?
I love the ride of my uniball uca helps a lot over bad bumps
My ball joint wheel bearings sway bar links and tie rods are kryptonite and are also really like heavy duty with lifetime warranty
Shocks will be where you see the most difference and it’ll be most expensive
Best and smoothest riding will probably be king coil overs
Next for a nice ride and somewhat cheaper is fox coil overs
I have icons there nice but might ride stiff to some people but I like it as to me it feels more controlled over bumps and curves whoops and all
Look to spend 2000-3000$ give or take I did all my stuff myself it was pretty easy to be honest then go get a alignment
 

Geotrash

Dave
Supporting Member
Joined
Feb 16, 2018
Posts
5,482
Reaction score
12,961
Location
Richmond, VA
View attachment 384140

Here are the codes as requested. @wjburken
Unfortunately your understanding is correct that you don't have the autoride or autolevel suspension. ZW7 is premium smooth ride which means yours has conventional shocks and springs. The bummer is that you can't easily add the factory autoride/level components, but the good thing is that you can upgrade to a better conventional setup without having to disable the automated system in the process. Lots of good threads here on how to do that, and Trey is offering some good input above also.
 

steiny93

Full Access Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2021
Posts
400
Reaction score
336
Greetings all.

I have a 2008 LTZ Tahoe, 185,000 miles, on stock suspension...
I am looking for the most comfortable ride quality I can achieve. I would like to reduce the harshness of poor quality roads, make the steering slightly more responsive, but also have a system that will last with proper maintenance.

Is it possible to add magnaride/autoleveling air suspension to a 2008 LTZ in which it was not installed from the factory?
Is it prohibitively expensive?
Is there an alternative?
I have an '08 LTZ lifted on tracks, same suspension as yours; my build was 100% clearance (I can't have the tracks hitting the fenders) no consideration for ride quality.

Listening to your comments, I'd vote you figure out a full solution (coil overs / shocks / probably replacing a pile of worn bits) and decide if its really worth the effort. You're going to get a pile of cash into a suspension that you will never recoup. Could you get away with replacing some worn bits and maybe a medium upgrade to the shocks to get you far enough down the road and save some cash?

200k suspensions can continually consume cash
 
OP
OP
J

JayYoung

TYF Newbie
Joined
Oct 31, 2022
Posts
3
Reaction score
1
Location
Georgia
Thanks for all the replies. I think perhaps the best option is to replace all the warn bits, and upgrade the factory shocks/struts. I will take a look at the King / Fox setups, thanks for the advice there. I really just want to feel less bumps. While I would have loved to retrofit the factory magnaride option, I do understand that would be quite a large undertaking, and not worth it in the end. If I ever trade trucks, I'll be sure to get those options already installed.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
128,781
Posts
1,805,301
Members
91,760
Latest member
MyCleftNut

Latest posts

Top