Rear Magnaride rough !!

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12lbs boost

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Hi All,

Really enjoying my new 2017 yukon denali . I have a general question about the ride with the magnaride suspension. The truck has 43k miles and the shocks are not leaking and look very good non rusty etc. The connections all look clean and no dash lights re suspension. Generally, the truck rides very well and has nice control, but the rear suspension sometimes is very harsh and almost feels like it's slamming or banging when going over some uneven or bad roads. The front seems fine even with my 1.5 " level. I'm coming from a 2.5 / 1" lifted z71 tahoe with good old billsteins. That truck was a touch less stiff in the rear even with the mods ( I was on 18s and 33s and now am on 20s with 32s still not 22s with low profile!!)

So, any advice for a magnaride newbie? PS my wife's 2016 escalade esv with magnaride on 22s is mich softer! Also don't like that GMC doesn't let us adjust the magnaride like u can on the caddy.

Thanks! Trevor
 

B-train

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Did the rife quality change after your level kit?
 

Jplasse

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New owner (have had for 3 months) of Tahoe with Magna ride and although it had no codes/Check Suspension lights of any kind, I measured wheel gap and Front Right was sitting lower and rode harsh. When I jacked rig up, there was ZERO suspension droop. The front right had locked up and wasn't moving at all... (also noticed by trying to compress suspension by standing on running boards)... swapped out for an Arnott front shock, swapped the coil over, riding like it should.

FYI... Arnott is the Original Equipment Supplier (OES) who made the strut for GM per my research. Had to order direct from Arnott but they were incredibly helpful and the rebound feels identical to the Original Equipment Manufactured (OEM) Left Front shock. Read too much bad about Luftmeister, and wanted to retain Magnaride/not delete because when operating properly, I enjoy the softer/floaty ride on our rough roads.
 

swathdiver

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Hi All,

Really enjoying my new 2017 yukon denali . I have a general question about the ride with the magnaride suspension. The truck has 43k miles and the shocks are not leaking and look very good non rusty etc. The connections all look clean and no dash lights re suspension. Generally, the truck rides very well and has nice control, but the rear suspension sometimes is very harsh and almost feels like it's slamming or banging when going over some uneven or bad roads. The front seems fine even with my 1.5 " level. I'm coming from a 2.5 / 1" lifted z71 tahoe with good old billsteins. That truck was a touch less stiff in the rear even with the mods ( I was on 18s and 33s and now am on 20s with 32s still not 22s with low profile!!)

So, any advice for a magnaride newbie? PS my wife's 2016 escalade esv with magnaride on 22s is mich softer! Also don't like that GMC doesn't let us adjust the magnaride like u can on the caddy.

Thanks! Trevor
Sounds like one of them got stuck and needs replacing. I have read on this and other forums that the systems needs to be calibrated periodically and that is done with the MDI running GDS software on a laptop or with a bi-directional scan tool like one of the one's from Snap-On.
 
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12lbs boost

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New owner (have had for 3 months) of Tahoe with Magna ride and although it had no codes/Check Suspension lights of any kind, I measured wheel gap and Front Right was sitting lower and rode harsh. When I jacked rig up, there was ZERO suspension droop. The front right had locked up and wasn't moving at all... (also noticed by trying to compress suspension by standing on running boards)... swapped out for an Arnott front shock, swapped the coil over, riding like it should.

FYI... Arnott is the Original Equipment Supplier (OES) who made the strut for GM per my research. Had to order direct from Arnott but they were incredibly helpful and the rebound feels identical to the Original Equipment Manufactured (OEM) Left Front shock. Read too much bad about Luftmeister, and wanted to retain Magnaride/not delete because when operating properly, I enjoy the softer/floaty ride on our rough roads.
I've read SO many good things about the Arnotts! My mechanic uses them for MB. BMW, and GM magnaride. They seem like a company that really is forward thinking. Thank you and agree! I read a bit more and saw that there are lots of posts on this topic, so I apologize. :(
 

sandktaylor

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These issues of a rough rear end ride are very familiar to me. My GMC dealership doesn’t seem to have experts to figure it out so I took to a 4 Wheel Parts shop and they found leaking front driver side strut. Took back to dealership with this info and they replaced under my extended warranty. How do I get them to check the other issues you describe above? I have a 2 inch leveling kit on the front and was going to have it removed thinking that it messed with the magnaride but maybe that’s not the case?
 

Doubeleive

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Hi All,

Really enjoying my new 2017 yukon denali . I have a general question about the ride with the magnaride suspension. The truck has 43k miles and the shocks are not leaking and look very good non rusty etc. The connections all look clean and no dash lights re suspension. Generally, the truck rides very well and has nice control, but the rear suspension sometimes is very harsh and almost feels like it's slamming or banging when going over some uneven or bad roads. The front seems fine even with my 1.5 " level. I'm coming from a 2.5 / 1" lifted z71 tahoe with good old billsteins. That truck was a touch less stiff in the rear even with the mods ( I was on 18s and 33s and now am on 20s with 32s still not 22s with low profile!!)

So, any advice for a magnaride newbie? PS my wife's 2016 escalade esv with magnaride on 22s is mich softer! Also don't like that GMC doesn't let us adjust the magnaride like u can on the caddy.

Thanks! Trevor
if the front checks out ok and the rear is stiff then you need to do some testing and be sure the air pump relief valve is working, if the relief valve is not working then it will just pump the shocks up very hard and create a stiff ride.
you can check it a couple different ways.
1. attach a trailer or have a couple full sized adults stand on the rear bumper and start the vehicle, the pump should come on and level you up.
2. leave the vehicle running and detach the trailer or get off the bumper and wait a few seconds and the relief valve should kick on and release some air and re position the height.
therefore softening the ride back to normal.
or
3. start the vehicle and then be close to the read drivers side wheel area and listen carefully, right before the pump kicks on you should hear a short "hiss" as it quickly releases a little bit of air, it does this so there is less stress on the pump when it begins to pump air, it may also do a quick "hiss" right as the pump stops. (*note that this behavior may not happen every key cycle, but normally it should) if you have anything loaded in the rear i.e. tools, equipment etc, remove it first so it is at normal vehicle weight and parked on a level surface
4. you can simply reach under the rear and hand squeeze the shock bladders, they should be fairly firm but not super firm, they should also not be deflated and flat, if they are deflated at any time then you have a leak or the pump is not working or both.
5. if you have a diagnostic tool of any quality caliber then you can talk to the pump and command the various states and check it that way.
 

mb1500

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Hi All,

Really enjoying my new 2017 yukon denali . I have a general question about the ride with the magnaride suspension. The truck has 43k miles and the shocks are not leaking and look very good non rusty etc. The connections all look clean and no dash lights re suspension. Generally, the truck rides very well and has nice control, but the rear suspension sometimes is very harsh and almost feels like it's slamming or banging when going over some uneven or bad roads. The front seems fine even with my 1.5 " level. I'm coming from a 2.5 / 1" lifted z71 tahoe with good old billsteins. That truck was a touch less stiff in the rear even with the mods ( I was on 18s and 33s and now am on 20s with 32s still not 22s with low profile!!)

So, any advice for a magnaride newbie? PS my wife's 2016 escalade esv with magnaride on 22s is mich softer! Also don't like that GMC doesn't let us adjust the magnaride like u can on the caddy.

Thanks! Trevor

Jump on ether side rear running board and look for rear suspension travel. When they fail they lock up and will be very harsh.

Also, whatever suspension programming is in the Caddy is much better than what is in the GMC/Chevy IMO.
 
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