GMC ENVOY 2006 Strut Replacement Help

Jkb242

Original poster
Member
May 19, 2019
239
CLT
Looking for a guide for replacing fronts struts on the Envoy. Pictures or video would be a terrific help. Would very much appreciate tips on checking control arms for wear.

Thanks!!
 

hockeyman

Member
Aug 26, 2012
726
Google: Struts Envoy
Three video's on the first page. The video from 1AAuto is 18 minutes long and an awesome walkthough.
 

Jkb242

Original poster
Member
May 19, 2019
239
CLT
Thanks very much but do not see the links to the video
 

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
  • Like
Reactions: mrrsm

Dreccomel

Member
May 14, 2016
36
NY
I had to look a lot of videos to felt comfortable to do the job. They're all great, but a bit misleading. The GM service manual only recommends a three step process. I have attached a photo directly taken from the service manual & the front suspension service procedures.
Step one, lift the vehicle and remove the tires.
Step two, loose the bolts (I suggest) from bottom to top (the manual say to do the reverse but if you do when you remove the nut attaching to the strut yoke the shock will fly-out possibly causing injury).
Step three, after you remove the nut that attaches to the strut it's basically done.
 

Attachments

  • Capture+_2019-06-12-01-38-18~2.png
    Capture+_2019-06-12-01-38-18~2.png
    1.5 MB · Views: 14
  • 2004 SUSPENSION Front.pdf
    1.3 MB · Views: 17

Jkb242

Original poster
Member
May 19, 2019
239
CLT
I had to look a lot of videos to felt comfortable to do the job. They're all great, but a bit misleading. The GM service manual only recommends a three step process. I have attached a photo directly taken from the service manual & the front suspension service procedures.
Step one, lift the vehicle and remove the tires.
Step two, loose the bolts (I suggest) from bottom to top (the manual say to do the reverse but if you do when you remove the nut attaching to the strut yoke the shock will fly-out possibly causing injury).
Step three, after you remove the nut that attaches to the strut it's basically done.
Thanks very much for your reply. There is an adobe file attachment next to the capture image in your post. I am unable to open it but can you tell me if it is indeed an attachment or something else. I have adobe acrobat and read these files often but could not open this one.

I am like you searching for all the info I can find to properly make this repair but as you stated found several inconsistencies. I would not ever want to remove the large top nut as the instruction mentions since it would cause the strut to violently exit its assembly under the pressure of the spring. Hard to believe that this would be in the manual. I am planing to replace the entire assembly and NOT remove the spring.

Any videos you found especially helpful you could refer me to?

Thanks again!!
 

Sneakycyber

Member
Oct 30, 2017
23
Ohio
Thanks very much for your reply. There is an adobe file attachment next to the capture image in your post. I am unable to open it but can you tell me if it is indeed an attachment or something else. I have adobe acrobat and read these files often but could not open this one.

I am like you searching for all the info I can find to properly make this repair but as you stated found several inconsistencies. I would not ever want to remove the large top nut as the instruction mentions since it would cause the strut to violently exit its assembly under the pressure of the spring. Hard to believe that this would be in the manual. I am planing to replace the entire assembly and NOT remove the spring.

Any videos you found especially helpful you could refer me to?

Thanks again!!

I was able to open the file in Adobe Reader. It is an attachment.
 

Dreccomel

Member
May 14, 2016
36
NY
I'm sorry for the late response, I didn't get the alert about your question. Anyway, I'm sorry to say that there's no single video. I had to watch all and read the attachment before I felt comfortable enough to do it... you really do not have to take that many pieces off in order to do the repair as the many videos indicate.

What I can say, is that once you have done it you're set.

There's three set of nuts when you see the strut from inside the engine bay. DO NOT TOUCH THE CENTER NUT, the outaide nuts hold the strut in place and just need to be backed a bit. The main concern is the bottom nut that attaches to the joke in the bottom. For that bolt you will nead an special tool.

The bottom bolt nut holding the yoke to the strut is a 24MM. The bolt holding the strut to the yoke is a 18MM. The upper bolt nuts I believe are 15MM.

I was able to access the upper nuts just fine on the passenger side but you will need a swivel soket but if you don't have one a wrench will do just fine through the wheelwell.
When removing the strut assembly from the compression clamp use some oil to help you get it off. I hammered in a screwdriver after removing the bolt from the bottom spreading the clamp and gently tapped the top of the clam with a hammer to get it off the strut and came out just fine.

I got to admit that for me, removing the 24MM nut/bolt was the most difficult part of the job because at the time I didn't had a socket for it. I had to use a crescent wrench with a hammer to get it off.
 

Attachments

  • Capture+_2019-06-15-10-47-03~2.png
    Capture+_2019-06-15-10-47-03~2.png
    888.9 KB · Views: 13
  • Capture+_2019-06-15-10-47-29~2.png
    Capture+_2019-06-15-10-47-29~2.png
    1 MB · Views: 14
  • Capture+_2019-06-12-01-38-18~2.png
    Capture+_2019-06-12-01-38-18~2.png
    1.5 MB · Views: 11

TollKeeper

Supporting Donor
Member
Dec 3, 2011
8,045
Brighton, CO
That video, I would only say that I would lift the front end on both sides. The reason he had a hard time taking off, and putting back on, the lower strut bracket is because the stabilizer link was still pushing up on the control arm, because the other side of the vehicle was on the ground. Other than that, I dont see any issues with that video.
 

Dreccomel

Member
May 14, 2016
36
NY
That video, I would only say that I would lift the front end on both sides. The reason he had a hard time taking off, and putting back on, the lower strut bracket is because the stabilizer link was still pushing up on the control arm, because the other side of the vehicle was on the ground. Other than that, I dont see any issues with that video.

Good call, that explains a lot... thanks 👍😊
 

Forum Statistics

Threads
23,271
Posts
637,476
Members
18,472
Latest member
MissCrutcher

Members Online