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167K views 149 replies 87 participants last post by  MoistCabbage 
#1 ·
Well like many of those out there driving around 10 year old Caddies, my new-to-me, 1993 STS had 4 blown shocks.

Not wanting to pay the $900CAN each for all 4 plus install, I bought a set of passive replacement struts from http://www.strutmasters.com
Picked up all 4 for $500US or $800CAN after taxes and duty.

I bought them from strutmasters because GM does not have passive replacement shocks for the rer of the STS, only the fronts.

I had them installed today after driving for about 1 month with the blown setup. I would have done the install myself, but it is too cold out right now where I am, and I don't like spending 7 hours of my day to replaces 4 shocks.

The shocks have been installed and my ride is much, much nicer. The car now corners with confidence, doesn't bottom out and get all jittery over bumps. Sit at the right ride height.

Basically, if you have a problem with the active struts, the Strutmaster replacements are a perfect replacement shock. Installation can be difficult (rust and the air bag suspension make a torch nearly a necessity) but nothing the do it yourselfer can't do. I just chose not to.
 
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#129 ·
Wow this thread is old! Anyways I 've read almost every post and there is lots of good info. I want to know a couple things first. Which setup will be best suited for handling with my New Intrax springs because they are a stiff spring with increased spring rate? What else needs to be replaced when it's all apart(sway bar links, strut mounts, strut bearings, bump stops etc..) Are the rear air shocks still available along with passive struts from an aftermarket. I have a decent sized sytem in my trunk soo the air shock might still be needed if I'm rolling with passengers in the back. I tried Bostonsuspension.com but it came up with page not available.
 
#130 ·
If your stock rubber is in decent condition, just put them back. Mine were fine at over 125k.

The Arnott shock and struts are passive, with dummy solenoids so you can plug in your wiring harness; no error codes.

The struts are passive, the shocks are passive air shocks; just like stock.

These do a very good job of suspension control.

The link below will take you to my web storage, that has a Power Point Slide Show on my installation.

Arnott Strut and Shocks

-George
 
#133 ·
i have a 2004 srx of which we are pleased except for the front suspension very poor upspring resistance cadillac has offered no help and later model srx's have different suspension. i am looking for an after market solution but so far have come up with nothing looking for anyone who has been down this road
 
#134 ·
60K miles past I have 4 all shocks for exchange. that is why I found this forum because I looking for shocks at least for front but I am not sure which one are recommended.
So far I found thet dealer sell for about $500 each the DELPHI shocks (original) but like you see they are not good at all if they was good only for 50-60K miles and they are so expensive not worth that money lol.
I looking for good replacements / after market once if some body can recommend, so far I know someone said he instaled after market shocks in older version 2005 shocks where after 1000 miles light come on that the shocks doesnt hold anaf stability.

I looking for as much best brand are recommended shocks which company designed their shocks especially for escalade and with almost the same manufacturers delphi parameters where sensors will work with shocks as they should.

anybody had same situation please send some info.
 
#136 ·
If anybody is looking.. I'm selling the Boston Suspension Passive Ride Conversion Kit for a SLS for both the front and rear. Everything is still in new condition as I only took them out of the bubble wrap to take pics. I bought them for a 1994 SLS a few years ago, but ended up getting in an accident that totalled the car, so I never put them on. Any reasonable offer will be considered. I paid $425 shipped for them, so you can throw some number out there. I have the installation instruction guide and all connectors that were sent with the original shipment. You can shoot me an email to corneliusg@gmail.com for more info and pics. This kit consists of 2 premium gas struts and 2 gas shocks and the electronics to close the loop of the CVRSS computer( suspension computer )... these are Gabriel shocks and struts.
 
#138 ·
Here is my experience with the passive front and rear suspension conversion system as well as my dealings with the Strutmasters company. I have a 2003 Cadillac STS. I called SM and spoke to a representative named Dustin or Justin. (I could not tell his name for sure because it sounds like his mouth was stuffed with cotton.) I asked two direct questions. I asked if the car would sit level with the conversion as many Cadillacs I see on the road sit abnormally high in the rear. He responded that abnormally "high ride height in the rear was not a problem with this particular conversion". I then asked him about the ride quality itself. He said the ride quality would "be very good".

I received the parts and took them to my mechanic for installation. I picked up the car and immediately noticed that it sits far too high in the rear. I then drove the car and was disappointed to find that it now rides like a truck. Prior to complaining to SM, I decided to drive the car for a while to see if it would settle in. I have put 1000+ miles on the car since the installation and neither the rear ride height nor the ride quality have improved. Prior to the failure of the OEM system, passengers in my car would remark how well it rode. I knew that the passive system would be something of a step down from the OEM ride but expected that the car would ride at least as well as any of the thousands of other cars out there that use passive systems. It clearly does not. The car bounces far too much, especially in the rear. It has the overly bouncy ride of a 4x4 pickup. I loaded 160lbs of salt into the trunk and that did not appreciably help the ride. This is a depressing outcome not only because of the bamboozling that Strutmasters dealt me, but because in this day of computer aided design, Strutmasters could not have come up with something that would at least give me the ride of other cars with factory designed passive systems.

I went onto SM's web site and posted a 1-star review which was not only limited to 1000 characters, but for some reason did not post on their system. Hmm. Could it be that SM censors unfavorable reviews? I sent them an email asking why the review was not posted and they did not respond. The company you deal with is as important as the product they sell and this certainly seems to be some snaky behavior on their part.

I will say that it seems that more/most of the bad ride is emanating from the rear of the car. Perhaps the coil-over system that SM sells is just too aggressive for the weight distribution of a front-drive car but that is not for the customer to have to figure out. It is the question that SM should have been asking themselves before going to market with this half-baked product. I am now wondering if a simple change to a conventional manually controlled rear air shock system would have been a better choice because I do not think the ride could be any worse than it is now. It is so bad that passengers now make unsolicited comments about how the car rides like a truck.
 
#139 ·
My Nightmare - I purchased the Arnott system for my 1998 Eldo about 2 years ago, front & rear. Very happy initially, but after about 6 months the rear started dropping. My mechanic, (installer of system) says 1 rear shock was leaking. Arnott states a lifetime warranty, BUT, I had to purchase 2 new rear shocks & air pump first, so I could still have a car to drive until delivery of new ones. Then upon receipt and installation of replacements, I returned bad rears. They re-imbursed me for the shocks, but not air pump.
Flash forward to today, rear shocks leaking again, pump running contantly and service stablity system light always on. I absolutely refuse to ever deal with Arnott again.
My question to any experts on here is: Since my front Arnotts seem to be OK, can I now just install the rear Strutmasters (passive) and eliminate the air pump? The one (moronic tech) from Strutmasters says no, because the fronts still need the air pump???? My mechanic says absolutely not, there is no air going to fronts, only an electronic wire that will be capped off with the
electronic resistor that comes with the passive rear set, and thus will eliminate the SSS light.
Does all this sound right? Is my mechanic right, or the tech? Will the new rear strutmasters (passive) be compatible with my front Arnott's? Or am I asking for trouble by mixing and matching? Also, will the new rear strutmasters make the rear ride higher than the front? Definitely don't want that old time (raked) look on my eldorado. HELP!!!!!!
 
#140 ·
I know this is an old thread but your mechanic is in the right. There are NO air lines going to the front. Only the rears have the ELC (Electronic Level Control), which is misleading to alot of people because it does not mean they have the "electronic suspension" (aka Active Suspension), but the car electronically senses the rear ride height (from ride height sensors) to turn on the compressor to send AIR to the REAR shocks to compensate for loads.
 
#141 ·
Well, i'm a former employee of strutmasters, this company is awful, and they have ppl that don't even kno how to put hte product together right as parts are always missing out of the boxes in putting the product together, they lie period, i was lied to all throughout training about pay and everything else under the sun, the owner is a :hmm:<, the customer service and training stinks.
 
#143 ·
I don't know who customer123 is, and coming here and claiming to be a former employee may sound fishy, but I've been on this BB for years, and what he/she's saying about Strutmasters fits what I've dealt with. Missing/broken parts, incorrect parts, and endless girls on the phone saying that the wrong part is actually the right part. When they finally agree they need to send replacements, they ship replacements ground, not air, so the customer's car sits for a week waiting on parts. Word of warning: don't throw our your old parts until you are absolutely satisfied with the Strutmasters.
 
#145 ·
I reguraly purchase Arnott Suspenion products, but I heard of strutmasters, stating they were the best... Wrong!

I recevied the front struts and they are poorly constructed made with a garden hose to absorb noise. The struts they state are bolt on with no modifcations, one of the struts came in and the holes were not even drilled to put on the vechile. I called them and told them they were not drilled and was instructed not to drill them, later I received a call from Angelo who is the manager, and stated to drill them because they would not send another set.

After a week I have am a unhappy customer because they rear shocks are coil over spring and are not compressed well and the rear coils are poorly made, so the coils creak when going over any thing in the road, the rear of the car looks like it could tow a boat and the car handles poorly!

I have called strutmasters for over 2 weeks, with no responses, this is concerning because they claim to have a lifetime warranty, but how can a customer receive this, if they don't support you after 3 weeks of your order being placed. I highly stress do not purchase from them, they are great to you when you place your order, but after that good luck reaching these guys.
 
#146 ·
I personally installed my rear arnott shocks and it was a nightmare to install in the beginning but i'm inclined to think the ride IN THE REAR is better. Yesterday I had the front arnott struts installed by a professional and the ride is very stiff and bitter, the car doesn't move at all when I run over a bump, its as if the struts are seized! Has anyone else had this problem with arnott struts??
 
#147 ·
This thread is rather depressing, as there doesn't seem to be a setup that provides consistently high quality or that Cadillac Ride our cars are supposedly famous for. I have a base '97 Deville, and I bought it hoping for a nice mushy floaty ride to waft me along on my 600 mile/ week commutes on craptactular MA roads. The ride is ok but stiffer than I expected, and not that compliant over little bumps. I have minimal wallowyness and the car actually handles surprisingly well for a 4000 lb barge, so I don't think my suspension is shot yet, but I do have some front end noise (clunking, like someone is tapping a cardboard box with a kielbasa, lol) so I've been researching my options just in case I need new struts/ shocks.

We've had 10 pages of very helpful info, but very little in the way of information as to what passive suspension will actually yield a *soft* highway ride. It seems like all of the setups create an excessively firm ride, or have poor build quality, or both. I'm not looking for any sportiness or handling prowess in my DeVille--I have a lowered 2008 VW GTI for when I need to go around corners. I just want a super-comfy mushpot that rides like a limo. Is this possible with any of the available suspension kits on the market, or should I stick with factory parts? Given the amount of driving I do, I'd rather have the best possible ride available, as opposed to trying to save a few bucks.
 
#149 ·
if you want the VERY BEST RIDE -

along with the VERY BEST VALUE -

go with MONROE -
http://www.monroe.com/en-US/

and be sure to retain the ELC -
Electronic Level Control system - in the rear -

if your compressor is shot - install the manual fill kit -
DO NOT LET ANYONE TALK YOU INTO COIL-OVER REAR SHOCKS -

and stay away from strutmaster and arnott -
WAY overpriced - hard riding - very low quality -
 
#150 ·
mrgoodbar67 said:
for those of you who installed these on the 2000-2005 devilles....

can you please tell me where the supplied resistors go?

i cannot find anywhere obviouse where they would go....

the install itself was easy. i just dont know where to plug the resistors in.

Please help.!!!
They plug into the connector that the wire coming out of the original shock/strut was plugged into.
 
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