02 Escalade wobbles on country roads...wtf?

[Keymaster]

Just bought a 2002 Escalade a couple of weeks ago. Has 124,000 miles on it, but I got a good deal on it. It runs great and by what I've read, it has the auto ride air suspension on it (compressor cuts on start-up and cut-off). I just noticed the other day that when I'm on a country road that winds from left to right and up and down hills, it has a weird wobble that kinda scares me a little at speeds over 45 mph. I'm assuming it's just the shocks that are worn, but I'm not exactly sure since I didn't know if there were additional components that go with this auto ride system.

I've read additional posts on how you can replace the special factory shocks with regular after-market shocks and just install resistors on the connectors to keep the Caddy from throwing a code. That definitely sounds like the cheapest way to go. I'm not interested in raising or lowering the vehicle, just making it more stable and comfortable, of course!

I'll be honest, I've never changed a shock on a vehicle in my life. Does my particular setup make it more difficult, or should I be able to purchase the shocks and install them myself. I'm fairly mechanical with most things but I don't want to get in over my head. I'm not really sure what this whole "auto ride" is supposed to do. I hear it come on when I start it up, but I've never had it on any other vehicles, so if I have to disable it I don't mind.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Sepiroth]

Welcome to the forums. You will find a lot of useful info on here. There are some of us with autoride. I can not help you with that as I do not know much about the system.

I can let you know that replacing the shocks on these things is relatively straighforward.

Throw up some pics of that bad boy in and out.

 

[Sepiroth]

You might also want to check your front hub bearings and tires to be sure they are good and balanced.