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2008 Tahoe LTZ needs Shocks and Struts

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Old July 11th, 2012, 2:47 PM
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Default 2008 Tahoe LTZ needs Shocks and Struts

Just found out that my POS Tahoe needs new struts. I already knew that I needed rear shocks and I've been waiting on doing that.

The super fun part is that my neighbor who does the work on both of our vehicles just called me to inform me that his COST on the struts is about $475 each. Now granted, he hasn't done any research online yet, but the dealership said you can only put Chevy struts and shocks on this vehicle because of the air ride suspension.

Is this true? There's got to be a way around this, I don't think it's realistic that the cost of the struts and shocks alone is over $1,000 especially on a vehicle with only 60,000 miles.

And on top of that, not only does the key fob not unlock my doors, but the switch on the doors doesn't unlock them, you have to manually grab the lock and lift it up. Oh yeah, now my auto tailgate isn't working. Do I have a lemon?

I've always been a Chevy fan, but to be honest, I will not buy another one after this fiasco. It should not cost more to fix my Tahoe than it does my SL600 Benz...
Old July 11th, 2012, 2:49 PM
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Yep, the autoride is a super PIA on the LTZ. I will never buy another chevy with it. Probably lucky if I buy another chevy period.
Old July 11th, 2012, 2:50 PM
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Oh....hope your compressor is still functioning too. I just got an estimate and I'm looking at $2500 for rear suspension and a new compressor.
Old July 11th, 2012, 3:24 PM
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While reading other posts on this site, I have discovered the issue with my doors. My door actuators all need replacing - at an approx. cost of $1,200! YIPPEE!
Old July 12th, 2012, 9:47 AM
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Default Yep

my piece of $hit tahoe has been back to the dealer over 20x

THREE door lock actuators.
sat nav voice commands didn't work (ever)
driver's heated seat died
power window failed
bluetooth failure
DeathStar component failure
Squeeks / rattles in driver's door

this $56,000 piece of junk is the biggest disappointment in my life.

NEVER AGAIN will I buy GM. I tell everyone I know to RUN from them.

RUN FAST from this junk.
Old July 15th, 2012, 3:09 PM
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Sorry to hear about your problems with the autoride suspension. After reading the thread i did some research and found a company called Arnott Air Suspensions. They have the rear autoride shocks for $369 a pair. They have a air suspension conversion kit...... convert form the air shocks to Bilsteins. I hope that this helps
Old July 16th, 2012, 10:05 AM
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FWIW my neighbor the auto parts store manager tells me that they now sell front struts for vehicles that have the spring already installed so its truly PnP, No spring compressor needed... I don't know if this also applies to the autoride type.
Old July 16th, 2012, 10:28 AM
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Thanks guys! Yeah, I emailed the one company that advertises on the site to see if any local mechs are good to install around here.
Old July 16th, 2012, 1:51 PM
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Default Local Shops are fine to install Arnott Replacement Air Suspension parts

Originally Posted by bigbake
Thanks guys! Yeah, I emailed the one company that advertises on the site to see if any local mechs are good to install around here.


Hi, Your local repair shop should have no problem installing the Arnott replacement's for your Tahoe. They will be able to buy our parts from WorldPac or parts stores such as O'Rielly or Advanced Auto Parts. The kits come complete with instructions but you can look at our parts and download the manuals here: CHEVROLET - Tahoe 1500 2000-2006 (4x2, 4x4) w/ Autoride Suspension

Regards,

Doug
Old August 1st, 2012, 8:58 AM
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Good news - my neighbor found replacement shocks AND struts that installed will cost me about $850, just a little bit more than the dealership quoted me for ONE shock. I will still have my air ride suspension.

Bad news - finally brought the vehicle in yesterday to get the confirmation that my door actuators are bad, and they are. D'bag in the service dept first, argued with me that he's never seen all 4 go bad, second, wasted time trying to diagnose the issue "we had a hard time figuring out what the problem was" even though I TOLD him what the problem was, third, wasted time checking out my suspension system, even though I TOLD him that was already being taken care of, fourth, charged me $160 for the diagnosis since it took 2 hours when it should have been a quick, simple diagnosis if they just went straight to the actuators. He actually said to me "your door locks don't work." REALLY?????? Isn't that what I told you? Wish I would have made my husband bring it in...

So now I have some person in GM customer service that I need to send the information to and will hopefully put a claim in through them and get this fixed.


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