2006 Buick Lucerne F41 Suspension Replacement

[Blue Heaven]

Fellow Lucerne Owners,
The F41 Suspension on my 2006 car is in need of replacing. I am looking at installing a KYB Strut Plus package all around, if indeed there is such an animal. I like the F41 air suspension but it is at the end of it's life with 170K now on the clock. I do not know if I could replace these components with a care 20 years old. I have been told this suspension is crazy expensive to replace but have not yet tried to secure OEM GM parts. As the F41 was also utilized on Cadillacs, there may be some additional supplies to pull from. For those that have previously addressed this issue, what is your opinion on a replacement? Thanks, Blue

 

[WalmartTech21]

the shocks themselves are still available OEM (but stupidly expensive at $600 a piece at your local GM Dealer, RockAuto has them for $258 for the passenger side, and $278 for the driver side.) the Compressor is available aftermarket but OEM is discontinued. RockAuto does sell KYB Strut Plus rear shocks ($132) as well as their SR Series Air shocks ($98)

 

[Blue Heaven]

the shocks themselves are still available OEM (but stupidly expensive at $600 a piece at your local GM Dealer, RockAuto has them for $258 for the passenger side, and $278 for the driver side.) the Compressor is available aftermarket but OEM is discontinued. RockAuto does sell KYB Strut Plus rear shocks ($132) as well as their SR Series Air shocks ($98)

It appears the F41 suspension has too many parts to economically replace, even if they had them all. I have used KYB Strut Plus arrangements on other cars with success. I haven't found the complete set at Rock Auto yet, but will see if I can find locate them again. Part numbers always help me if you have them. Thanks for the feedback.

 

[Buick City Bert]

Hello Blue, 2 years ago I replaced the struts, and rear air shocks on my wife's 2008 Lucerne, with KYB due to the 100K on the original components.
I saw KYB as a higher quality replacement line.

The KYB SR4211 Strut-Plus, that I used upfront had the top plate bearings fail after only 2 months of driving.
The guys at the alignment shop told me that they saw these failures regularly, regardless of brand, suggesting that all the aftermarket replacements used the same source for the top mounts. While I used the pre-assembled components to save time, in fact I had to go back to the OEM struts and retrieve the top mounts, replace them onto the KYBs and yes, get another alignment.
That solved the problem, ugh.

The rear air shocks were not the best quality either, beginning to rust under the boots at the bottom of the shock within months of install. The OEM's were superior in every way, and I wish I had left well enough alone.

Also, the warranty is useless, requiring the struts be shipped to KYB and await a ruling on whether it was covered or not before replacing.
Basically taking the car off the road for a couple months.

Bless you on your journey, Bert

 

[Blue Heaven]

Unless someone has a better idea, I guess I'll try to roll on with the current worn in OEM suspension. Thanks to all for feedback.