2020 Telluride SX with Tow Package -Popping noise from rear

[David Blakewood]

Have had a popping noise from the rear since about 20k miles, now have 50k. this noise happens when backing up and going slow. My Kia dealer replaced both rear shocks and noise is gone completely. My question is did Kia make an improvement on the replacement shocks that they installed?????

 

[alexdrums]

yes

 

[TheNip73]

Yes - there was a tsb for the issue. Was not the shock itself, but the shock mount I believe. Can be found here in the TSB section.

 

[David Blakewood]

yes

do you or your dealer have documentation on that?- they charged the factory 2,000 bucks for the repair - just concerned that it may happen again and will be on the hook for the 2k -thanks

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[David Blakewood]

Yes - there was a tsb for the issue. Was not the shock itself, but the shock mount I believe. Can be found here in the TSB section.

they replaced the insulators at the top of strut then test drove and said it did not fix it- so they replaced the shocks per tech line from KIA.- I asked KIA to respond to whether or not they improved the shocks but got no reply

 

[David Blakewood]

they replaced the insulators at the top of strut then test drove and said it did not fix it- so they replaced the shocks per tech line from KIA.- I asked KIA to respond to whether or not they improved the shocks but got no reply

Also my dealer did not provide any written info on the shocks being updated but stated he THINKS they did??

 

[David Blakewood]

yes

how did you find out they made an improvement in the replaced shocks?- please respond?

 

[TheNip73]

how did you find out they made an improvement in the replaced shocks?- please respond?

I don’t know if they updated the shock. Just that there was a tsb for the insulator to resolve the “thunk”/popping noise.

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[alexdrums]

I met with the service manager in his office and he told me that. Of course I have no way of verifying this is true, but I would expect Kia/Hyundai to try and fix the issue because they don’t want to have to keep replacing shocks over and over again. I am definitely planing to go back to the dealer and get my rear shocks inspected again before the powertrain warranty expires, and of course you should do the same.

 

[David Blakewood]

I met with the service manager in his office and he told me that. Of course I have no way of verifying this is true, but I would expect Kia/Hyundai to try and fix the issue because they don’t want to have to keep replacing shocks over and over again. I am definitely planing to go back to the dealer and get my rear shocks inspected again before the powertrain warranty expires, and of course you should do the same.

Thanks for the info- I only have 9k before I hit 60k - KIA sent me an e mail that my Telly was in tech line review and asked if I had questions to e mail them. So I did that about the update after it was fixed- to my disappointment I have had no response- thanks again- David

 

[alexdrums]

After I posted yesterday I read Kia is going to discontinue the self-leveling shocks for 2024. That isn’t good news!

 

[David Blakewood]

After I posted yesterday I read Kia is going to discontinue the self-leveling shocks for 2024. That isn’t good news!

someone said they installed regular shocks at the rear for the non tow package at there dealer - this owner did not tow so it did not matter to him about the leveling function - I tow very little and if the noise returns that may be an option

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[alexdrums]

If you install regular shocks, the springs and a couple other parts also need to be changed out. Somebody posted the parts needed in another one of the threads. I also considered that option. In fact, when I ordered my Telluride back in 2019 I specifically asked for the “Tow Hitch & Harness” and not the “Tow Package” (which includes the self-leveling shocks). Because I thought the shocks were kind of weird and I didn’t want them. But when the car arrived at the dealer it had the tow package on there. I was pissed! The dealer gave me an option to decline the car, but also warned me I might have to wait another year for my order. (Yes, I waited an entire year!). So I took it.
But the funny thing is I have come to appreciate these shocks ever since I got the new ones on there. It really rides smooth, and I have a 6 x 12 tandem cargo trailer and it tows that great. But since Kia has dropped the self-leveling shocks from the 2024 model, that tells me they are still having trouble with them.

 

[Sloop John]

But since Kia has dropped the self-leveling shocks from the 2024 model, that tells me they are still having trouble with them.

Some ambiguity here -- another member on another post had this to say about self-leveling shocks being dropped --
Note they’re not doing away with self leveling suspension. They’re just eliminating the stand alone self leveling package that only existed in the first place because they subbed it in for the tow package for 2023 since they didn’t ship any cars with a hitch and harness (tow package includes self leveling plus hitch and harness).

So basically it’s just back to normal… you can add the tow package to an EX or SX… that’ll include the self leveling, hitch, and harness. And of course the X-Line and X-Pro already include self leveling as a part of their packages.