Replace Front Shocks on Hybrid

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Hitechcobra

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Hi Guys,
My first post. I have an 09 Denali Hybrid that has a loud squeaking sound coming from the shocks. It's my wife's car but a few weeks ago I drove it and almost soiled my pants when hitting normal uneven pavement on the interstate doing about 75. The thing felt like it was going to flip from rocking back and forth. I had to slow down to about 60 just to feel safe. Needless to say, we grounded the car that day! A mechanic said the front shocks were completely gonzo.

So being pretty handy, I bought some regular strut/springs with the override resistor. No problem, got out the tools, open the hood and wth!...there's a giant box over the left shock, later found out that's the inverter with lots of unhealthy voltage pumping through.

My question:
Has anyone successfully changed their front shocks? Can it be done from underneath the wheel well so you don't have to mess with the inverter? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
 

Doubeleive

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Hi Guys,
My first post. I have an 09 Denali Hybrid that has a loud squeaking sound coming from the shocks. It's my wife's car but a few weeks ago I drove it and almost soiled my pants when hitting normal uneven pavement on the interstate doing about 75. The thing felt like it was going to flip from rocking back and forth. I had to slow down to about 60 just to feel safe. Needless to say, we grounded the car that day! A mechanic said the front shocks were completely gonzo.

So being pretty handy, I bought some regular strut/springs with the override resistor. No problem, got out the tools, open the hood and wth!...there's a giant box over the left shock, later found out that's the inverter with lots of unhealthy voltage pumping through.

My question:
Has anyone successfully changed their front shocks? Can it be done from underneath the wheel well so you don't have to mess with the inverter? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
not sure how the hybrid is setup other than you have described but it sounds like you may need to remove the wheel and inner splash shield on that side to get access to the top bolts of the strut without having to remove the box on top
 

wjburken

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Welcome to the forum from Iowa.

Please report back on how your strut swap went.
 

BG1988

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Hi Guys,
My first post. I have an 09 Denali Hybrid that has a loud squeaking sound coming from the shocks. It's my wife's car but a few weeks ago I drove it and almost soiled my pants when hitting normal uneven pavement on the interstate doing about 75. The thing felt like it was going to flip from rocking back and forth. I had to slow down to about 60 just to feel safe. Needless to say, we grounded the car that day! A mechanic said the front shocks were completely gonzo.

So being pretty handy, I bought some regular strut/springs with the override resistor. No problem, got out the tools, open the hood and wth!...there's a giant box over the left shock, later found out that's the inverter with lots of unhealthy voltage pumping through.

My question:
Has anyone successfully changed their front shocks? Can it be done from underneath the wheel well so you don't have to mess with the inverter? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
pull the high voltage disconnect (make sure it's all the way out) keep it on your person so no one else can reconnect it



you will have to get a muti meter a GOOD ONE NO CHINA ones to make sure it has no voltage
 
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Hitechcobra

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pull the high voltage disconnect (make sure it's all the way out) keep it on your person so no one else can reconnect it



you will have to get a muti meter a GOOD ONE NO CHINA ones to make sure it has no voltage
Thanks for the good video. I’m going to try and replace them from the wheel wells first.
 

dnt1010

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It is pretty easy to pull the wheel liner. i just did that to change spark plugs on the passenger side. I did not look at the shock connection area.

Ball joints tend to make a squeaking noise and sometimes the sound is hard to pinpoint. if you still have the factory ball joints they will not have a grease fitting so go buy a grease needle and inject grease directly into the boot, she may just be dry??
If the ball joints are dry enough to squeak they probably have some wear and even if you use the grease needle and grease them up you will be changing them out in the near future.............................
 

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