Ride quality question

[jalexa5834]

2015 GMC Yukon XLT

 

It used to ride like a caddy! Now, at 145,000 miles, more like a log truck on rough roads. I can feel every defect in the road. I found that the front shocks were leaking so I replaced them with OEM. (They are not magnaride or anything special, just plan shocks) Didn't notice any bump 'rebound' even before changing the shocks and none now either. My question revolves around the bump 'jounce'(?) that is housed within the strut. To me, it looked a bit smashed. Do they normally look like that? Does the vehicle actually set on those while going down the road or just when you bottom out? Out on a smooth highway, everything is good. But, hit a road that maybe has some wear and tear on it and you feel it in the seat and steering wheel as well. I was kidding my wife about hitting some train crossings a bit 'hot' for my taste and I can't help but wonder if that somehow affected the ride. Any suggestions/ideas appreciated!

 

Thanks!

[davester]

maybe post a pic of them?

I know on gmt800 trucks, the jounces on the front end were part of the suspension, and needed to be replaced when they wore out.  They were not bump stops.

 

[jalexa5834]

@davester Thanks. As ignorance(?) may have it, I had to reassemble so my wife could use her truck. I didn't think to take a picture... Anyway, those jounces aren't expensive and while it's no fun to take that stuff apart, it's not too bad.

Do you know if the vehicle 'rides' on the jounces, or are they just there to absorb the harder bumps? I did feel a difference with the new shocks, for sure. Just the overall ride isn't what it was.

[garagerog]

jalexa, just to rule out tires, you haven't by chance swapped out the factory rims and tires for larger diameter custom wheels with lower profile tires or gone from P rated tires to LT tires sometime in your Yukon's lifetime have you?

[davester]

Sorry, IDK the details of your suspension setup, so I can't say one way or the other.

The full service manual at alldata.com would have the method to set the ride height to stock, and I know it varies (for my '04, was measure the height of some part, for my '12it was measure the angle between two parts of the suspension).

 

For the gmt800's, the jounce is just slightly compressed for stock height.

[jalexa5834]

On 9/26/2025 at 4:43 PM, garagerog said:

jalexa, just to rule out tires, you haven't by chance swapped out the factory rims and tires for larger diameter custom wheels with lower profile tires or gone from P rated tires to LT tires sometime in your Yukon's lifetime have you?

@garagerog Ya know, I was actually thinking about the tires the other day. While I've still got the stock wheels that came on it, it is about due for a tire replacement. They don't have much life left. Ya think them being worn about out would affect the ride that much? I haven't noticed it when it was time to change the tires before. 

[garagerog]

I doubt tread depth would make any measurable difference in ride quality. Just supposition on my part but I would almost think that older tires would ride better than new ones due to degradation in the tensile strength of the steel belts in radial tires, but by no means should someone put off buying new tires when the tread depth is questionable or age of the tires dictates.

[CarFan1]

Can you pay the stealer to give you a diagnostic.  That might let you focus on the right direction.