Truck has a harsh stiff ride on 2011 Avalanche

[Service1956]

The best way to describe the problem, is that the truck rides as if the tires are overly inflated. Or as if it has low profile tires with little side walls. You can feel road imperfections much more now within the last 6 months or so. Two years ago I put 4 new Michelin LTX Defender tires on it and all was good. As of now,  no excessive bounce. Tires wearing evenly. No excessive body roll on turns. Tracks straight when letting go of steering wheel at highway speed. Front end does not dive down with hard braking. Cannot figure out what is causing this.

[Jsdirt]

I've had this happen with age to a few vehicles. Control arm bushings, shock / strut bushings (if they haven't been changed already), and body mounts (all rubber) stiffen with age. I really notice this in my 33 year old Grand Marquis. Just rebuilt the front end, so next spring, we'll see how much of an improvement that made.

 

Also could be the tires aging prematurely, due to cheap, crap materials being used in their manufacture.

[Doug_Scott]

Check the air pressures in the tires.  Don't know where you are located, but, where I am the winter temps will stiffen up the ride.  Are the tires P or LT?

[Service1956]

Cold temps here in Michigan. They are the P type tires. My first thought would be that the tires are not the problem, being that they are only 2 years old, and the best rated light duty truck tire at the time. Beginning to think that maybe the rubber compound is turning harder.

[Justin101714]

You must have magneride. Replace both front shock absorbers, it won’t be cheap. Gm #25871432. This should fix it. Probably rides like a stagecoach wagon.


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[swathdiver]

1 hour ago, Justin101714 said:

You must have magneride. Replace both front shock absorbers, it won’t be cheap. Gm #25871432. This should fix it. Probably rides like a stagecoach wagon.


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I thought only Cadillacs and Hybirds got the Z95 suspension.  Avalanches would have Z71, ZW7 and Z55 if they follow the SUV naming.

 

Could have a bad shock, stuck or sticking causing bad ride.  Time for new control arms at around 150K give or take.  Crawl under and have a look around.

[Justin101714]

OP, provide the last eight of your VIN and I’ll pull your RPO’s. We’ll find out for sure.


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