k2500 Autoride
 

New to the forum and yes I checked the "search" for autoride and shock replacements, but still confused.

I recently bought a 2001 K2500 8.1 litre and it has LS Autoride. It only has 120,000 miles and I'm assuming shocks are original - at least it feels that way on bumpy roads. I want to replace them and was looking at $1,300 just for the 4 shocks - parts only. My question is - does this car have a compressor? - I'm leaning towards no as I never hear it kick on like my sisters 2001 Tahoe with the self leveling kit in the rear but I'm not sure. Also, I was planning on getting rid of the autoride and going straight shocks and a friend (Mercedes mechanic) I spoke with said that I will get "error" codes on the dash and may cause more damage to the suspension by not using the autoride shocks. There seemed to be differing opinions on the "search" threads. Does anyone have concrete knowledge regarding this system and recommendations?

Thanks in advance for any help with this.

I have a 2002 K2500 Suburban with the 8.1L and Autoride.

Autoride was a mandatory option when you got the 8.1L.

On the 1/2 ton Suburbans, autoride includes an auto-levelling system with a compressor and sensor. On 3/4 ton Suburbans the autoride is only the automatic shocks, no auto-levelling.

If you replace the autoride shocks with regular shocks, you will get error messages, but the suspension will work fine.

I still have my original autoride shocks at 207K miles. They still seem to work, when I switch to tow/haul, you can feel them stiffen up. However, they are probably somewhat worn.

There are kits for the 1/2 ton Suburbans to replace the autoride shocks with regular shocks and also plugs to put into the connectors that originally plugged into the autoride shocks. These plugs fooled the system into thinking autoride shocks were present. Probably just a resistor to simulate the electrical load of an autoride shock.

I have not found a kit listed for the 3/4 ton 8.1L Suburbans. You could probably find a shock that fits (like the ones on 3/4 ton Suburbans with the 6.0L engine and no autoride) and make an electrical adapter to avoid getting error messages (or use the ones from the 1/2 ton kits, they are probably the same).

Steve