Brand new OEM Magnaride concerns

[Kobot]

This is more of an informational post for those that will be replacing their worn Magnaride struts and shocks with OEM.

Over the past few months I noticed my ride quality decrease severely. The ride began to feel like a low rider’s hydraulics or a carriage ride as some others have described. Every bump and crack in the road could be felt. Even bumps and imperfections on familiar roads that I didn’t notice before. It had become a chore to drive the truck.

I considered magnaride delete with Bilstein but I didn’t want to lift the truck. I also considered Arnott active units after mostly good reviews but some bad seeing as they don’t seem to last as long or ride quite as well as OEM. After this research I chose to replace the dampers with the OEM BWI.

I ordered the OEM dampers from RockAuto (where I usually order OEM parts) and received them within a couple days. Being in Chicago with cold weather still lingering, I went to work replacing the parts as soon as the weather broke. I replaced them myself and a had a local shop swap the springs over to the new struts once I had them off. The front strut connectors were an absolute PITA to dismantle and remove from the old strut wiring but nevertheless I made it work. I made sure the rears were tightened up with the body weight on to time the bushings and careful not to damage any connectors or wiring. Everything went smoothly.

I’ve been driving with the new dampers for over a week at this point. Initially I had concerns thinking I made the wrong choice. I had notice wheel travel over bumps and uneven roads had definitely returned which is great. However, I noticed sharper impacts were still a bit harsh. I was worried it was updated shock valving or that somehow something was wrong with the install. I had debated having the bump stop/auto level recalibration done but I wasn’t sure that would solve the issue as it doesn’t seem to be common. I had only seen the issue mentioned by someone on the forum with an 07-14 gen truck.

TLDR: I’m happy to say that I’ve put about 100 or so miles on the truck and the OEM Magnaride dampers have softened up and it now rides how I remember when I bought it with 30k miles on it. The OEM dampers seem to have a short break in period before the ride is completely comfortable. I have changed struts/shocks on previous vehicles (this being the first with MRC) and never noticed the break in. For anyone replacing their struts and shocks with OEM and noticed the ride is a little off, be patient and it should settle in just fine.

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Thank you for your write-up on your shocks replacement and the break-in period. Our collective knowledge base has been increased.

And, yes, I've been told the the Magnerides can stiffen up tremendously, when the need replacement.

 

[Kobot]

UPDATE: Ride height trim reset is a must!

The difference between the worn struts and new struts is major. After driving for a while with the new struts, I started to feel like something just wasn’t right. Some impacts were still just too harsh. I added a Hellwig rear sway bar shortly after the new struts and thought that may have somehow been the culprit. It was not. I have read countless times that many do not reset the ride height trim after strut replacement including dealerships so I didn’t think it was necessary. There was also no noticeable difference in my ride height with old vs new.

I decided to pick up a bi-directional OBD device in order to perform the trim reset. After setting up the device, the procedure takes less than a minute and that includes navigating to the appropriate menu. I did it during a trip to the gas station and made sure the tank was about 60-70% full. The difference was immediately noticeable as soon I left the gas station driveway. Everything is much more cushioned and I believe the struts are now working as they are supposed to. I didn’t check the strut readings before the reset but I assume they were operating at a more energized state than they needed to.

 

[West 1]

I replaced my rear shocks about 4 months ago, ran into a problem this past weekend. I lifted the rear axle up to change the rear axle fluid, I put the frame on jack stands and lowered the axle down to full extension. Well it pulled the air shock line off the shock on the driver side? I replaced the compressor at the same time I installed the Arnot new rear shocks. The new compressor air lines routed a little different from the factory even though I bought a AC Delco compressor. The line mount in the new compressor shortened the air line to the shock by about 2" and that was enough to pop it off when the rear axle was lowered down while the frame was supported with jack stands. I drilled a new mount hole for the air T and mounted it closer to the shock. Problem solved but I never expected that to be needed.

 

[ReaperHWK]

I also noticed my new magneride shocks needed some time to adjust…….