73Vetteman
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- May 30, 2015
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It seems there is great confusion regarding the above terms. To make it more confusing, your vehicle can have 2 of the systems at the same time.
Premium ride appears to me to be just an advertising gimmick. Someone chime in and correct me if I am wrong.
Autoride, or magnaride utilizes electronically controlled shock absorbers frequently combined with slightly softer springs but at the same ride height. Top of the line vehicles such as LTZ Tahoe and Yukon Denali have that system and it was not available on lower option models. The processor for that system controls how stiff the shock action is by controlling the magnetic particles of the oil inside the shock.
Autolevel or ALC is part of the optional trailer tow option. That option replaces Standard rear shocks or the Autoride rear shocks with air leveling shocks. Linkage rods attached to rear control arms send a signal to the controller to raise the rear of the vehicle if a drop in height is detected such as when the vehicle is loaded or trailer attached. Air pressure is released after the load is removed to lower the vehicle back to normal height. Vehicles with both Autoride and Autolevel will then have magnetically controlled shocks in the front only and air controlled shocks in the rear. Vehicles with standard suspension with the trailer option will have standard shocks in front and air controlled shocks in back.
When lifting or lowering a vehicle with the Autolevel option, the length of the linkage rod has to be adjusted in order to calibrate the controller so it inflates the shocks when the vehicle is lower than the new chosen height or deflate when the height is higher than the chosen height. I purchased 3" long all threaded 1/8" bolts from Home Depot and after cutting the heads off screwed the end caps off of the original rods to make the rods adjustable. A 1 /16" adjustment in the length makes a significant difference in vehicle height calibration.
Premium ride appears to me to be just an advertising gimmick. Someone chime in and correct me if I am wrong.
Autoride, or magnaride utilizes electronically controlled shock absorbers frequently combined with slightly softer springs but at the same ride height. Top of the line vehicles such as LTZ Tahoe and Yukon Denali have that system and it was not available on lower option models. The processor for that system controls how stiff the shock action is by controlling the magnetic particles of the oil inside the shock.
Autolevel or ALC is part of the optional trailer tow option. That option replaces Standard rear shocks or the Autoride rear shocks with air leveling shocks. Linkage rods attached to rear control arms send a signal to the controller to raise the rear of the vehicle if a drop in height is detected such as when the vehicle is loaded or trailer attached. Air pressure is released after the load is removed to lower the vehicle back to normal height. Vehicles with both Autoride and Autolevel will then have magnetically controlled shocks in the front only and air controlled shocks in the rear. Vehicles with standard suspension with the trailer option will have standard shocks in front and air controlled shocks in back.
When lifting or lowering a vehicle with the Autolevel option, the length of the linkage rod has to be adjusted in order to calibrate the controller so it inflates the shocks when the vehicle is lower than the new chosen height or deflate when the height is higher than the chosen height. I purchased 3" long all threaded 1/8" bolts from Home Depot and after cutting the heads off screwed the end caps off of the original rods to make the rods adjustable. A 1 /16" adjustment in the length makes a significant difference in vehicle height calibration.