This thing floats around like a boat

[HighvoltageDenali]

Hows it going everyone, I am having some horrible ride issues.

I have a 2003 Yukon denali with 115,000 miles. It has a fair amount of body roll and at highway speeds it has a rotational, corner to corner sway. I hope I am explaining it correctly.

The truck rode like this when I bought it with the factory auto leveling and the Z55 suspension. Now for all of the parts I have put on it.

I have Bilstein 5100's on all corners.
Moog Z71 spec coils
Moog sway bar bushings and end links in the front and rear
Moog inner/outer tie rod ends both sides
Moog idler arm and pitman arm
Gm rear track bar
Gm jounce stops.....Z71 part#
I also have airlift helper bags in the coils, which I need to finish pluming and wiring. I have the air line tails up in the wheel well on the driver side. I will be putting the compressor where the subwoofer would be with the better sound systems.

The tires are Michelin latitude tour with 36psi....tire says 44psi max when cold. One thing I noticed is that the torsion bar adjuster are not like anything else I have seen here while searching. The driver side adjuster is turned all the way in and the passenger side has about 4 threads left.

I am completely stumped with how this thing rides, when I have all six seats filled and drive down the highway at 70mph it feels almost dangerous, everyone looks like a bobble head.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[NathanJax]

look at upgrading both sway bars

I also have airlift helper bags in the coils, which I need to finish pluming and wiring. I have the air line tails up in the wheel well on the driver side.

This will help. for now, just fill each bag with 2lbs of air. Do NOT "T" them together as that won't fix any roll.

One thing I noticed is that the torsion bar adjuster are not like anything else I have seen here while searching. The driver side adjuster is turned all the way in and the passenger side has about 4 threads left.

normal

 

[HighvoltageDenali]

look at upgrading both sway bars



This will help. for now, just fill each bag with 2lbs of air. Do NOT "T" them together as that won't fix any roll.




normal

Do sway bars wear out? As far as the torsion bars, it is normal for one side to be maxed out and the other side almost maxed out without the truck being level. I will have to add the ends to the tails I have on the bags and put a little air in them.

 

[NathanJax]

Do sway bars wear out? As far as the torsion bars,

not really, but the bigger/thicker aftermarket bars help reduce roll

it is normal for one side to be maxed out and the other side almost maxed out without the truck being level.

yes.

To get the front even, fill the gas tank half full. Measure the front left/right. You can adjust either side up/down to get it where you want, then you might need to go get an alignment. However, it's common for those bolts not to be even at all. Most aren't

 

[HighvoltageDenali]

not really, but the bigger/thicker aftermarket bars help reduce roll



yes.

To get the front even, fill the gas tank half full. Measure the front left/right. You can adjust either side up/down to get it where you want, then you might need to go get an alignment. However, it's common for those bolts not to be even at all. Most aren't

Thanks for your help.

 

[HighvoltageDenali]

Ok so what are some good sway bars for the money. the Yukon is a secondary vehicle and I don't want to break the bank. I also don't want the truck to be to stiff also.

 

[NathanJax]

The DJM bars are thicker than the beltechs, but are about $50 more. You get what you pay for though. Our site sponsor Tony sells them on his site...

http://www.tbssowners.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=104

 

[dubyagee01]

My 05 did the wandering and a solid alignment done by a reputable shop fixed it. A lot of shops do a "toe and go" but I found a goodyear tire shop that went through the whole nine and fixed mine right up. Mine is stock on GM 20's.

 

[ccapehartusarmyINF.(ret)]

normally when someone says there vehicle floats around like a boat or rides like a 1984 cadillac id say its time for new shocks but sounds like you got that covered

 

[HighvoltageDenali]

My 05 did the wandering and a solid alignment done by a reputable shop fixed it. A lot of shops do a "toe and go" but I found a goodyear tire shop that went through the whole nine and fixed mine right up. Mine is stock on GM 20's.

My father is a mechanic and has a alignment rack and the truck is in pretty good shape.

 

[HighvoltageDenali]

The DJM bars are thicker than the beltechs, but are about $50 more. You get what you pay for though. Our site sponsor Tony sells them on his site...

http://www.tbssowners.com/store/index.php?act=viewProd&productId=104

Thanks Nathan I appreciate all of your help. I have new torsion keys coming next week, planned on leveling the truck anyways so I can stuff some 285/70 17 in there. Once I get that done and realigned I have to get through Christmas and then I will look into replacing the sway bars.

 

[Kraig]

More tire pressure might help.

 

[HighvoltageDenali]

OK so the denali is feeling great. I just got the truck a couple of months ago, when I test drove it I knew the suspension was done. the first thing I had to do was replace the hydro-boost unit since it was leaking. Well I guess the guy I bought it from didn't really tell me how long it had been leaking because when I reached out to him he told me that he would add about a quart of power steering fluid every three weeks and did so for about a year. That's when a lightbulb went on in my head, I ordered upper/lower control arms for the drivers side since those ones ad been covered in power steering fluid for about a year. Well low and behold the truck rides great. I ended up doing the passenger side also just so everything was new on both sides. The only thing I had left was the sloppy 4-ply tires so yesterday I had some nice 6-ply cooper discoverer at-3's put on it and it is even better. Friday I am taking it to my fathers garage and realigning it, probably add a little more positive camber to see if it gets better.