That's a good point, and something I've thought a bit about. I had planned to go with Bilstein B6s in the future, when the car actually needs new struts/shocks, but in addition to the fact you simply cannot get B6 shocks because they won't bother to produce more, I've just now realized they sell Koni Yellows for the car as well - I think those might be better suited to dealing with the diesel's extra weight by being adjustable.
I'd normally go with the Detroit Axle full strut assemblies on my other vehicles, because they're really good and the price is great. I've thought about ordering the Verano complete struts from them, but since I know the OEM parts are different from the Verano and unique to the Diesel, I'm probably going to order the OEM bare struts, along with all new insulators, bumpers, and mounts, then assemble them using my factory springs. (ACDelco doesn't sell a complete strut for the DIesel.) My right-front strut mount and end link are broken (but stable and drivable, just noisy), and I'm nearing 140k on the car. So, since I need tires this coming fall anyway, I figure while I have the strut off, I'll just redo both front struts and end links right before I have the tires installed and get an alignment.
were both bad or decided to do both at same time?
They were not bad at all. The only reason I replaced them was that I was getting a knocking sound in my front end. I took it to a dealer I had do other warranty work for me, while under powertrain warranty, and they said they couldn't find the problem but wanted to "start" with a wheel bearing, even though the bearings were fine on the dial gauge. They said they couldn't guarantee the fix would help, of course at a cost of $400 to me. I said no and left. I knew from the sound it wasn't a wheel bearing because I know how to test for bad wheel bearings and like I said they checked them with the dial. I just put them on to completely rule out bearings because I was going to take it somewhere else and didn't want them to again say bearings. I took it back to another dealer and they said "we noticed new wheel bearings" or something to that effect. Again they said they couldn't find a problem but I insisted that they keep the car until they do. About 2 weeks later they finally decide it's the drive axle tri-pot (end near the transmission). They replace both drive shafts under warranty and the knocking was gone.
What kind of "knocking sound"?
Just a very light knocking or popping sound. It was actually kind of hart to hear, very faint. It would normally happen when just start to brake or just start to turn the steering wheel to the right. - The two spots I noticed it every day was right about when I was just about ready to slow down and turn right onto the on ramp and again into my driveway. Depending on how far I turned the steering wheel and my speed, I could hear the knocking all the way up the on ramp until I straightened the wheel out. What also made it difficult is that it wouldn't happen on level surfaces, only when I was turning right and either going up or down hill which was likely due to the excess downward force on the front end.
Thank you so much! That tip about Buick verano parts being the same as cruze diesel parts is going to save me so much time.
