Quadrasteer Cons????

[68w46]

Can anybody tell me the common problems with Quadrasteer trucks? What were the service issues? I'd like to purchase a used one but I'm not sure what bad things to look for. Why Did GM stop the offering of Quadrasteer?
I'd prefer a non Denali. I don't want or need all wheel drive or all those creature comforts. And the 5.3 would do just fine for me.
AJ

[HawkeyeOC]

The few people that I ran into that owned them seemed to love them. They turn on a dime.

Not sure about service issues but your talking about more unsprung weight on the rear end, more width to deal with, more mechanical complexity. Lack of interest in it was why it was discontinued. A cost premium of 4k in the beginning didn't make sense to a lot of people.

[tama z71]

my dad will never buy a new truck again. thats how good it is

[61BelAir]

as Hawkeye said, they stopped offering them because it was just too expensive an option and not many people ordered them. I've never heard of any problems with them. As a matter of fact I saw one on the road the other day!

[ctaylorzl1]

A guy at my church got a Quadrasteer Z71 when they first came out, it was really cool, but I remember hearing him saying it can be a little awkward sometimes. When he was at Wal-Mart not to long after he got it he was turning into a parking spot and swiped the rear of a car because it turned in so sharp! But then he traded it for a SSR(5.3). That being said, I have always liked the Qudrasteer trucks, but thought they needed to make it avaliable on 3/4 and 1 ton trucks, cause most people who tow alot have trucks bigger than 1/2 tons!

[FamilyTruckster]

Originally Posted by 61BelAir

as Hawkeye said, they stopped offering them because it was just too expensive an option and not many people ordered them. I've never heard of any problems with them. As a matter of fact I saw one on the road the other day!

You're 100% correct but GM hasn't quit on the quadrasteer. They say that once they can offer it at a better price , it will be back again. I've driven them and it takes some practice when you park it because it is so manuverable.

[moosetags]

I own two Quadrasteer Suburbans.

One is a 2005 GMC Yukon XL 2500 4wd Quadrasteer. Her name is Olivia, and I have had her since she had 6,000 miles on her. She was a GM executive car. She now has 80,000 miles on her, and she pulls a 7400# Airstream travel trailer on a regular basis.

The other is Daisy. Daisy is a 2004 Chevrolet Suburban 2500 2wd Quadrasteer. I bought Daisy two years ago when she had 23,000 miles on her. She now has 60,000 miles on the odometer. Daisy also pulls the Airstream long distances on a regular basis.

Neither Olivia nor Daisy have given me a moment's trouble with their Quadrasteer units. I have always had the Quadrasteer units serviced at a GM dealer every 15,000 miles, as recommended. I run both the girls in the four wheel steering mode at all times, and in the four wheel steering trailer mode when towing the Airstream.

I absolutely love the Quadrasteer. That's why I bought Daisy as a back-up tow vehicle. I want to extend the Quadrasteer experience as long as possible. I refer to Olivia and Daisy as my "Trick Suburbans". They can out maneuver a Honda Civic in a Wal-Mart parking lot, and do things with a 25 foot travel trailer that are downright astonishing.

The Quadrasteer option was somewhat expensive. When introduced in 2003, the Quadrasteer option was $4995. Buy 2005, it had been reduced to $1995. In the Silverado and Sierra, it was offered on both the 1500 and the 2500. In the Suburban and Yukon XL it was offered only in the 2500 series as the Quadrasteer unit requires a rear leaf spring suspension. 1500 Suburbans had already gone to rear coils by that time.

Quadrasteer Suburbans are quite rare, but are always easy to spot on the road. They have the five amber front roof marker lights, amber and red marker lights fore and aft of the rear wheel wells on extended splash guards, and and three red marker lights on the rear directly above the center stop light. At first, I thought that all these lights were just a little bling to ID a quadrasteer. I later found out that they are required by Federal Regulations, as a Quadrasteers rear track is greater that 82". That's why you always see these clearance light on dually pick-ups. A Quadrasteers rear track is 5" wider than its front track.

I would really love to see GM reintroduce the Quadtrasteer.

Here is a shot of Daisy at work.

[goochman]

What servicing does the qudrasteer system require every 15k? Grease points or is there some kind differential in them?

[moosetags]

The entire rear differential unit on a Quadrasteer is different. The Quadrasteer differential requires a special synthetic lubricant specified by GM. GM recommends draining and refilling the Quadrasteer differential with new synthetic lubricant every 15,000 miles.

[nailhead425]

It is a good design, the rear axles are Dana 60s so they are plenty stout. The rack has fail-safe return to center feature as well. Pretty good handling, especially for a long truck in a small, eastern city. I've heard they are great in the mountains too, but never experienced it first-hand.

IMO, the last thing I would worry about would be the Quadrasteer portion.
Just service it as requried.

[moosetags]

We have driven our Quadrasteers on many dirt mountain switch back roads, not usually the purview of Suburbans. With Quadrasteer, the Suburban can handle this more like a Jeep Wrangler.

[91 s-10baja]

I love these vids, but they are simply for visibility not reliabilty documentation, as they were when the tech was new...enjoy

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