Opinion on Shock issues?

9zero1 · January 11, 2019

I have a 2016 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 SLT, 39K miles; recently I have been hearing a clicking/popping noise coming from the front right wheel well. I took it to the dealership to get it looked at, and they come back to tell me my shocks are bad, which it not what I expected to hear. They quoted me $1.1K to install new shocks, does that sound right to y'all? It sounded a bit absurd to me. Of course now I am on youtube trying to figure out if I can do this myself.

How hard would it be - for someone who hasn't done much other change the oil myself and maybe change a belt here and there - to change my front shocks by myself? Or should I just pay someone to do it?

diyer2 · January 11, 2019

You're the one who has to decide if you want to tackle putting on shocks.

Save a lot of money and get a better shock IMO.

TRKLGND · January 11, 2019

Unless you have the Magnetic Ride Control the $1,100 quote is absolutely ridiculous.
AC Delco OEM struts are $190 each So they are saying $700 for labor?!

MRC front struts go for about $750/pair. So... $1,100 would be about right.

Some web sites call them struts and others call them shocks. Maybe because they are a coil over design. Who knows.

Sierra Dan · January 11, 2019

14 minutes ago, 9zero1 said:

I have a 2016 GMC Sierra 1500 Z71 SLT, 39K miles; recently I have been hearing a clicking/popping noise coming from the front right wheel well. I took it to the dealership to get it looked at, and they come back to tell me my shocks are bad, which it not what I expected to hear. They quoted me $1.1K to install new shocks, does that sound right to y'all? It sounded a bit absurd to me. Of course now I am on youtube trying to figure out if I can do this myself.

How hard would it be - for someone who hasn't done much other change the oil myself and maybe change a belt here and there - to change my front shocks by myself? Or should I just pay someone to do it?

Are they Ranchos ??

1K is highway robbery.

You can change the rears out yourself in less than 15 min. No jack required.

The fronts are a different animal, but any good reputable shop will charge about $100 tops for switching them out providing you have them off the truck.

Otherwise expect closer to $250

I recommend Bilstein 4600 or 5100

michigan2500hd · January 11, 2019

I had this issue when I had my Bilstein leveling shocks on but it went away when I put the stock shocks back on the front. Sheet that I installed a soccer leveling kit but the noise is still gone.

Could very well be the shocks but I'd get another opinion and wouldn't let the dealership do the work.. They want ridiculous rates..

9zero1 · January 11, 2019

Thanks for the responses guys. I knew that quote they gave me sounded absurd - just wanted to be sure. I thinking of getting some bilstein 5100's and finding a shop to put them on for me.

9zero1 · January 11, 2019

2 minutes ago, michigan2500hd said:

I had this issue when I had my Bilstein leveling shocks on but it went away when I put the stock shocks back on the front. Sheet that I installed a soccer leveling kit but the noise is still gone.

Could very well be the shocks but I'd get another opinion and wouldn't let the dealership do the work.. They want ridiculous rates..

So would you recommend the Bilstein leveling shocks?

aseibel · January 11, 2019

Have you noticed any difference in ride quality? when you go over a bump does the front end bounce up and down more than one cycle? what if you go push on the front bumper?

I would not be paying my dealer to replace shocks either, I'd go to a local shop I trust to do it for a much more reasonable labor rate. GM dealer only gets to work on electronic crap that requires their computer. All other maintenance can be done by a regular mechanic.

9zero1 · January 11, 2019

4 minutes ago, aseibel said:

Have you noticed any difference in ride quality? when you go over a bump does the front end bounce up and down more than one cycle? what if you go push on the front bumper?

I would not be paying my dealer to replace shocks either, I'd go to a local shop I trust to do it for a much more reasonable labor rate. GM dealer only gets to work on electronic crap that requires their computer. All other maintenance can be done by a regular mechanic.

That is the thing, I have not noticed a ride quality difference at all, which I find odd. If it wasn't making a noise I probably would not have noticed anything was wrong actually.

On my old truck when the shocks went out, I would hit a bump and the front end would bounce up and down for another quarter mile, I am having none of that this time.

michigan2500hd · January 11, 2019

14 minutes ago, 9zero1 said:

So would you recommend the Bilstein leveling shocks?

I should mention that I have the Max Tow package with the stiffer ride so when I say I don't recommend the Bilsteins take that into consideration.

I didn't like them at all as I felt EVERY little seam in the pavement..I swear you could paint a line across the road and I could feel it when I drove over it.

I'm much much happier with the poly spacer kit and stock " black" shocks.

9zero1 · January 11, 2019

27 minutes ago, michigan2500hd said:

I should mention that I have the Max Tow package with the stiffer ride so when I say I don't recommend the Bilsteins take that into consideration.

I didn't like them at all as I felt EVERY little seam in the pavement..I swear you could paint a line across the road and I could feel it when I drove over it.

I'm much much happier with the poly spacer kit and stock " black" shocks.

Yeah that definitely does not sound ideal.

2017Darkness · January 11, 2019

Depending on the exact part number, it should run you $700-$800 including the alignment that the repair calls for. I write service for a Chevy/Cadillac dealer...