Capybarbro
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Jul 26, 2026
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2018 Tahoe Premier 6.2L RST with Magneride.
I bought the truck with 76K miles on it and from what I remember it rode fine no complaints. Well last month (~113,000 miles on truck now) I took it in for the annual state inspection and they said my shocks are leaking. From that moment on, it "broke the glass" for me and I couldn't focus on anything except for how harsh the ride was.
Last Thursday I replaced all the shocks with OEM. The ones I pulled out were leaking like a sieve and I thought, wow the ride is going to be so much better with fresh OEM magneride shocks. Low and behold, the ride didn't change at all still has stiff and bumpy as it was. So I took out my trusty Foxwell NT510 Elite to recalibrate it. There is a setting in there titled "Suspension System Mode" and mine was originally set to "Sport". After I recalibrated it, it is now defaulted to "Normal" and I can't figure out how to change it again with this scanner.
I feel like this may have softened up the ride slightly but not enough for me to rule out placebo. If I didn't know I had switched it from sport to normal I likely wouldn't have felt any difference. On the scanner I can see the live mA going to each shock and they all hover around 0 to -10 mA while stationary and then jump all around to positve numbers with the front being similar and the back being similar. Everything appears to be getting and receiving commands as it should.
Before I replaced my shocks I was contemplating bypassing the system and putting in regular gas shocks. My father has a '25 High Country Suburban with 52,000 miles, also with magneride. I took that for a spin before deciding what to do. His ride was soft and nice and I thought, yeah OEM magneride is the way to go.
Lastly, I found this Car and Driver Article that talks about spring rates. Ironically, the Tahoe in this article is SPECed out EXACTLY like mine down to the dealer installed Borla (minus the dealer installed Brembos and mines black). Here's the spring rate quote from the article "Chevy backs off on the suspension’s spring rates, softening the fronts from 610 to 560 pounds and switching the rears from a variable-rate spring (250/445 pounds) to fixed 245-pound units". Visually, my rear springs do not appear to be variable-rate. It looks like the same coil pitch all the way up and down the spring.
I know the High Country is the plush model and the RST is the sporty Tahoe, but how can I get close to that ride quality?
1. How much tuning can be done within the software and what the process?
2. Would going even softer on springs help?
3. Is there more than a ride height calibration?
4. Is there another issue I'm not even considering? I saw there was another fella with a rough ride post talking about throwing the kitchen sink at his front end and I'd rather not do that, my bushings look fine and nothing has play.
Old Shocks-
I bought the truck with 76K miles on it and from what I remember it rode fine no complaints. Well last month (~113,000 miles on truck now) I took it in for the annual state inspection and they said my shocks are leaking. From that moment on, it "broke the glass" for me and I couldn't focus on anything except for how harsh the ride was.
Last Thursday I replaced all the shocks with OEM. The ones I pulled out were leaking like a sieve and I thought, wow the ride is going to be so much better with fresh OEM magneride shocks. Low and behold, the ride didn't change at all still has stiff and bumpy as it was. So I took out my trusty Foxwell NT510 Elite to recalibrate it. There is a setting in there titled "Suspension System Mode" and mine was originally set to "Sport". After I recalibrated it, it is now defaulted to "Normal" and I can't figure out how to change it again with this scanner.
I feel like this may have softened up the ride slightly but not enough for me to rule out placebo. If I didn't know I had switched it from sport to normal I likely wouldn't have felt any difference. On the scanner I can see the live mA going to each shock and they all hover around 0 to -10 mA while stationary and then jump all around to positve numbers with the front being similar and the back being similar. Everything appears to be getting and receiving commands as it should.
Before I replaced my shocks I was contemplating bypassing the system and putting in regular gas shocks. My father has a '25 High Country Suburban with 52,000 miles, also with magneride. I took that for a spin before deciding what to do. His ride was soft and nice and I thought, yeah OEM magneride is the way to go.
Lastly, I found this Car and Driver Article that talks about spring rates. Ironically, the Tahoe in this article is SPECed out EXACTLY like mine down to the dealer installed Borla (minus the dealer installed Brembos and mines black). Here's the spring rate quote from the article "Chevy backs off on the suspension’s spring rates, softening the fronts from 610 to 560 pounds and switching the rears from a variable-rate spring (250/445 pounds) to fixed 245-pound units". Visually, my rear springs do not appear to be variable-rate. It looks like the same coil pitch all the way up and down the spring.
I know the High Country is the plush model and the RST is the sporty Tahoe, but how can I get close to that ride quality?
1. How much tuning can be done within the software and what the process?
2. Would going even softer on springs help?
3. Is there more than a ride height calibration?
4. Is there another issue I'm not even considering? I saw there was another fella with a rough ride post talking about throwing the kitchen sink at his front end and I'd rather not do that, my bushings look fine and nothing has play.
Old Shocks-
