New shocks and struts can give an older car that 'new car' feel in ride and handling.

Great advice about using the puller on those wiper arms. It will save folks a lot of windshields, knuckles, and frustrations. :thumb:

 

the best description I can give-- is that it feels like the tire is over-inflated and has a smaller contact patch---

or a tire turning on a very smooth surface...

 

You'll probably find that it rides a bit higher in the front because of the new springs and may be cambered (even castered) just a bit differently. Wouldn't it be interesting to see pre- and post-replacement alignment readings? Give it time - you'll enjoy it.

 

I feel I have this coming up on the Acadia either this fall or next spring. Our 08 actually clunks and rattles pretty good. I think I'd do the rear shocks while I was at it as well.

How do the Gabriel ready-mounts seem in comparison to other brands?

 

I only have about 600 miles on them so far.
But im quite pleased with the feel so far.
Its left to be seen how long they last...

But having done them- and seeing how easy it is---
I can do this job in about 45 min or less-- BOTH sides.

Glad I read the post of the Traverse owner who let me know the Gabriel ready mount kits were available.

 

I replaced my struts and mounts last fall. I replaced the struts again last month. Yes the hard way by compressing and fully dissembling :banghead:. Each side has seen 3 replacements so far. The first replacements were acdelco under warranty and the last two replacements were kyb. I see no difference in quality however the previous kyb replacement had a short life....I blame it on a dirt road that I travel on daily

Next time I'll go with the full Gabriel assembly so let us know how they hold up as the miles accumulate

 

Amazing how the road conditions determine shock/strut life. Here in NC with all the nice smooth roads they last a long time. Now back home in PA with all the rail road tracks to cross where I used to live and pot holes, you were lucky to get 50k out of a set.

 

Just curious and maybe it's because the old strut is dirty, but doesn't the spring look thicker on the original strut?

 

Just did a quick photo interpretation. Appears to be an illusion. (photo interpretation was a big part of my career)

 

Installed a set of Gabriel Ready Mount Struts along with rear shocks @ 50,000 miles due to a leaking strut. Noticed an immediate improvement in ride quality. Ride still feels great after @ 4,000 miles. Only slight modifications needed to alignment setting after installation was completed. Very happy with the Gabriel products.

 

No, the coils on the new unit are smaller than the original. I just did mine a few weeks ago and noticed that. However, the traverse rides much better now than it did. I did the rear shocks as well.

 

No, the coils on the new unit are smaller than the original. I just did mine a few weeks ago and noticed that. However, the traverse rides much better now than it did. I did the rear shocks as well.

Did you measure the coils and document the measurements? :shrug:

 

one of these days ill take out the original struts and measure...
I boxed them up and are way in the back of the garage..

 

one of these days ill take out the original struts and measure...
I boxed them up and are way in the back of the garage..

I'm sure you'll photo-document everything for us, RB. ;D ;D

If you're using something like a dial indicator, try to make all conditions as equal as possible, i.e extension, measurement point, etc.

 

No, since they were sitting next to each other in my garage, the diameter of the coil differences was pretty obvious.

 

Optical illusions are pretty interesting. They're not just a photographic phenomenon.

 

Nice writeup and great pictures. I guess I should look into doing this at 150000 kms it should be on my list of to dos. I've got a weird knock coming from the front end from time to time, only noticeable on really bumpy roads. I'm thinking sway bar bushings but, I'll crawl under and see!

Happy Motoring!

 

Once I put on the ready mount struts and the sway bar links, the noises from my front end went away. I did not do the bushings. The ones I got were way too small, even though they said they would fit. I returned them and decided I would do them later. The noises went away, so I am not going to worry with them now.

 

Rbarrios - still happy with the performance of these struts? I'm always hesitant to use non OEM parts but if you are happy with them they must be good lol I really don't want to deal with compressing springs etc so this seems like a good approach. This job is on my todo list for the fall.

 

Hi.

I also did not want to mess with compressing the struts.
These ready mounts seem to be doing a good job.
I did keep the OEM struts/coils in case something didnt work out.... I could compress and reused on a new set of AC DELCO struts.

But so far so good.
11,500 miles on the new ones.

 

I just replaced my original struts on my 2009 Acadia with the Gabriel Ready Struts, as well.

Decent price from Rockauto.com. O'Reilly's was about $100 more per strut.

I replaced the links at the same time, as well. 95% improvement on noise from the front.

Pretty simple swap for the DIY crowd. Not having to deal with spring compressors is very, very nice, as well.

Tom

 

thanks for the update.

 

Soooo....I attempted to replace my struts and end links today but had to abort because the end links were so corroded I couldn't get the nuts to come off - even after heating with my bolt buster tool. Stripped the end of the bolt where you place the 8mm socket to hold the bolt steady so all I achieved was endless spinning.

Due to time constraints I had to abort the repair and put everything back together. I'm going to regroup either use a power tool or a hack saw (not sure if I can fit either in such a tight space) to cut the links off since I was already planning to replace them. I'll also need to buy some bolts for the end links since any I'm forced to cut will still be a PITA to remove.

Anyone else hacked these off? If so curious what tool you used / would recommend.

 

video online shows electric hacksaw....

 

A Sawzall with a metal cutting blade would work well for that.
I had trouble with mine, but worked the nut back and forth and finally got it off without any cutting. The trick is too work it back and forth and by cleaning the threads with a steel brush. PB Blaster works good too.