2015 Tahoe LTZ 3rd owner 75K- 20 inch wheels - We love the ride it after replacing front shocks with revised part number 84176631 for $700
We bought our LTZ from the local Chevy dealer used car lot to replace our 2003 Expedition XLT in part because the 2015 LTZ's reputation of more sports car like handling compared to the 2016 and later GM models that have a reputation for significantly softer handling Admittedly the test drive was short, in traffic, on a smooth road. After we bought it and started driving it the ride was so bad (and the engine was leaking oil) that we basically ended up parking it for 9 months until I had time to deal with it.
I wasted all kinds of time on the internet reading about the harsh ride of the 2015 Tahoe, Denali, Escalade and even came close to ordering 18 inch wheels or trading it in.
When I finally got around to working with the dealer to address the ride and engine oil leak the dealer found both front shocks bad, both were leaking (which I had identified also) and one shock was completely out of oil and locked into an extended position. No wonder the ride was rough! The dealer quoted almost $2400 to replace the 2 front shocks. A little research into their quote showed that price was for replacement of the whole strut assemblies not just the shocks.
If you don't know the front springs and struts on the 2015 and later Tahoe, etc. are assembled into a single unit, kind of like a McPherson strut but not quite as there are both upper and lower A arms. My guess is the dealers don't want to fool with breaking down and rebuilding the strut/shock assemblies. It is possible other parts may need replacement such as the rubber bump stops etc. but in my case all of the original parts except the shocks themselves were reusable.
I'm 62 years old and trying to work on cars less but in this case I decided to just change the shocks myself. My Tahoe has the heavy duty towing package and compressing the front springs was simply not possible with a loaner coil spring compressor from the local auto parts store. The total cost of the job was $736 ($301 each for two OEM Delco magnaride shocks from Rock Auto (use the updated shock GM part # 84176631) plus $134 labor at the local tire store to swap the new shocks into the old strut assembly - thanks to them for doing that in a couple of hours on a busy Saturday). It took me about 4 hours to remove and reinstall the strut assemblies from pulling the truck into the garage to test drive. The rear shocks were fine - with the HD towing package they are not electric. If I had it to do again I could probably do it in two hours - There are only 5 bolts holding each strut/shock assembly in plus one to loosen on the sway bar link. I reused the existing magnaride electrical connectors but those took a lot of patience to disassemble. If I had to do again I would buy the connector kits (part # 22836728) which I think are about $7 per side. I didn't have a service manual so based on the internet research the torque specs I used were 47 ft lbs for the strut towers and shocks, and 17 ft lbs for the drag link. That seemed to feel right during reassembly. Getting the strut towers out was easy (I used an air tool with an 18 inch extension and a deep socket (17mm I think) on the top tower bolts ) but plan to spend some time removing and reinstall the electrical harnesses and clips on the towers. It's all very straightforward though.
Savings from dealer quote - almost $1700.
In the end the dealer fixed my oil leak at no cost under the transferrable 100,000 powertrain warranty by replacing the oil pan (there is a GM SB on that) and the truck now drives, rides and handles like a dream - I love it! - and it does corner like a sports car.
