ok i own a 99 STS w'90k miles. The rear shocks and compressor are out. Waranty covered the compressor but not shocks. Cadillac is charging me $1735 for parts & labor! WTF! Is there any cheaper way out of it.

Yes, the passive replacements from Arnott Industries, Boston Suspension or Strutmasters. I think all three of those companies sell kits for the late model STS.
And what kind of cheap warranty did you get that doesn't cover shocks and struts! :bonkers:

I could be mistaken, but shock anad struts are usually a "wear & tear" item and thus are excluded form most coverage at 90,000 miles.

I think I would go with the retrofit type option instead of the factory replacements for that price.

I could be mistaken, but shock anad struts are usually a "wear & tear" item and thus are excluded form most coverage at 90,000 miles.

I think I would go with the retrofit type option instead of the factory replacements for that price.

CORRECT!

IIRC even the GMPP excludes shock, struts and brakes...

There is a current thread on GM passive struts and shocks. Read it for more info and another option.

[QUOTE=csbacchus]I could be mistaken, but shock anad struts are usually a "wear & tear" item and thus are excluded form most coverage at 90,000 miles. QUOTE]


The warranty I have on my STS covers "wear and tear" items, including the shocks and struts.

thank you guys. i will be looking into these aftermarket options. Hopefully there not as harsh on the wallet as Cadillac.

12
1998-2000 Seville: This kit is for a set of 2 rear self adjusting rear air shocks new mounting hardware, instructions and electronics to suppress the service ride control message.
$275.00


is this the best option?

Who is that from? Put a link on it or give some info.

its 4m boston suspension

We used Boston struts and weren't thrilled with them, but there are people very happy with them.

Did you check GMpartsdirect.com?

ok i own a 99 STS w'90k miles. The rear shocks and compressor are out. Waranty covered the compressor but not shocks. Cadillac is charging me $1735 for parts & labor! WTF! Is there any cheaper way out of it.
Your keister hurts after a Caddy repair? Welcome to Caddy World.

If the rear shocks put a hurt to you, you really ain'ta gonna like what happens when the FRONT struts start acting up!

Regards,
Warren

For passive replacement, the aftermarket options seem to consist of Strutmasters, Arnott Industries, or Boston Suspension. Each claims to bypass the ride control system's safe mode (90 mph limiter). Not wanting to seem biased, I'd suggest you run a thread search on these individually and develop your own opinion before purchasing. It seems that some folks haven't had the best luck there. Entire kits seem to be in the $400-$600 range for all four corners. Obviously you'd need to pay for installation if you arent a do-it-yourslf type. I'd guess that would set you back $200 - $300 at a suspension shop.

Other passive options are available for less money, but you'll need to trick the ride control computer to avoid RSS codes. Krashed has a clever idea whereby he recommends carefully removing the damping valves from the top of the original struts/shocks, bagging them off and tying them out of the way to avoid codes. He says this is working for him.

If you want to stay factory, buy the shocks from GM parts direct and save some $$$. Two rear OEM air shocks (GM part #s 22064872 and 22064873) should set you back about $432 each with shipping/handling. Any suspension shop should be able to install these for well under $100 - it's about a 60 minute job - max - with shop facilities and air tools.

The warranty I have on my STS covers "wear and tear" items, including the shocks and struts.

Does this include your tires too?? Never heard of such a thing.

A few months back I put the Boston Suspension struts on the front of mine. I went the extra $50 for the "Luxury Ride" struts at $325/pair. No complaints, and no DIC messages.

Regards,
Warren

Im a do it yourself type of guy. o think the best bang for the buck is the Boston route. Im not expecting the GM feel but i think i will go ahead and pass on it if it cost so much. It also wouldnt make to much sense to drop so much $$$$ on my ride if the value of it is droping rapidly. You guys have been allot of help. Thank you.

ah crap never mind

I used gaberial hijackers in my 99 sls bought them from auto zone the cost was 65 dollars for the pair.

Just FYI, you could keep $750 of that $1,735 by buying the struts from someone like GMPartsDirect and doing the work yourself.

Another thought...

Just let them put the new air compressor on the back and THEN assess whether or not you want to put new struts/shocks on it. If the ride is still good/controlled and the struts/shocks aren't leaking, they're likely fine. It's not often the rear shocks fail, and probably not with the compressor.

Just let them replace the compressor and then reassess.

Another thought...

Just let them put the new air compressor on the back and THEN assess whether or not you want to put new struts/shocks on it. If the ride is still good/controlled and the struts/shocks aren't leaking, they're likely fine. It's not often the rear shocks fail, and probably not with the compressor.

Just let them replace the compressor and then reassess.

Yeah I second that, I pulled my rear shocks when I redid my whole suspension at 112k miles on my 98 ETC (the front struts were toast) and they still worked just fine w/no leaks but I replaced them w/Arnotts since I bought them :) Arnott sells new OEM compressors for your car for $215 plus installation shouldn't be more than $300.

If you have a floorjack, jackstands, allen wrenches, extensions, torque wrench and some large open end wrenches this job is really easy, takes about 20 minutes each side since there's only 1 bolt and 1 nut to remove. (I did each side in 30 min including removing sway bar link and control arm bolt, dropping lower control arm, and swapping springs)

If you have to replace them buy one of the aforementioned kits and take it to a suspension shop and get another opinon/estimate but tell them you're supplying the parts. I think I was quoted $230 in labor for the rear suspension by itself including shocks and springs which is really high. I really think you should be able to get this done for under $500 including the price of the shocks but not including compressor...

I think he said they're going to warrant the air compressor. So that should be no out-of-pocket to him.

I'd still like some more information though. What are the symptoms. Sagging in the back end, especially when loaded? Back end bottoming out? Compressor runs constantly? Shocks don't hold air and "leak down" after some time?

The struts and air shocks on my '97 are still original to the car (156k miles). They don't feel like new dampers, of course, but they're not dangerous either. They give a real nice ride I think.

To have a garage say the rear air compressor is bad ALONG WITH both rear shocks (of which, they'll get paid to install the shocks), that makes me suspicious. I would personally have them install the compressor, decline the shocks, and then figure it out. If you decide you want/need to replace the shocks anyway, you're not any worse off than you are now...and you may just find out that the shop was "wrong" about the shocks being bad.

sorry didn't see he mentioned the warranty.

I'm wondering if a shop couldn't just disconnect the air lines to the compressor, hook up a regular old air compressor for say air tools and pump some air into em and see if they leak, just gotta make sure they don't over pressurize...