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Spring Clamps Reduce Rear Vibration


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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...

After reading all 15 pages I'm beginning to wonder if my vibration issue really has anything to do with the 22" Fuel Wheels and Tires on the truck. Purchased the truck new in March of last year, vibration issues began at about 4K miles. Everyone plays the blame game, after multiple trips, lots of time and gas wasted still shaking.

 

Tires have been rotated more often than recommended, rebalanced 3 times by the shop that did the lift for the Dealership. In fact the 3rd balance was done today with some change but still NOTHING like what it should be.

 

I'm going to check the torque on all the rear suspension tomorrow. Sounds as though some have had luck with U bolt clamps on the leafs, will be trying that also.

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  • 1 month later...

Well, I replaced my rear axle U bolts with grade 8 9/16" torqued to 130 ft/lbs and there is still an intermittant vibration at around 75 mph. Also tried the spring clamps with no change. The new Michelin LTX's seem to have done the most good for the ride and handling but it's just a better ride through all speeds. Really tired of messing w/ it so I'm about ready to give up and just live with it. I've spent a lot of time and my own money since the dealer says normal.

 

I may try new rear shocks yet but that will be it. Looks like an early trade-in on this $45,000 vibrator!

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Well, I replaced my rear axle U bolts with grade 8 9/16" torqued to 130 ft/lbs and there is still an intermittant vibration at around 75 mph. Also tried the spring clamps with no change. The new Michelin LTX's seem to have done the most good for the ride and handling but it's just a better ride through all speeds. Really tired of messing w/ it so I'm about ready to give up and just live with it. I've spent a lot of time and my own money since the dealer says normal.

 

I may try new rear shocks yet but that will be it. Looks like an early trade-in on this $45,000 vibrator!

You should send an email to the CEO of GM, more likely they don't care, but they should be told how you feel about your defective truck.

 

Best of luck

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  • 4 months later...
  • 2 months later...

My truck just started this vibrating mess at about 47k miles. I noticed it does get worse with less fuel in the tank (near 1/4 tank) but as soon as I fill it up, the vibration is nearly non-existent. Does anybody have any further updates as to a true fix for this issue? No vibration when towing. Smooth as glass.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I had a professional shot build me a thicker wall non swedge type straight driveshaft with spicer joints and there is no difference. Also had the rear axels replaced that were also out of round, torqued u-bolts, spring clamps every which way, 3 seperate sets of wheels and tires, shimmed the rear end both ways up to 4 degrees, replaced shocks, alignments, more wheel balances and so on all with no luck. I believe its a transmission or torque converter issue.

 

Also my 2015 standard cab 5.3 liter work truck has the same exact symptoms.

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  • 1 month later...

Before adding the spring clamps, check the torque or your U-bolts. I suspect that many of them were either not tightened properly from the factory or they have came loose over time due to loctite not being applied.

This could be the reason why so many people don't start noticing these vibration issues until after they've driven it for a while. It could start at 1k miles or 20k miles. It just depends on how tight they were and how long it took them to work loose.

I suspect many of you will find that the U-bolts are currently torqued to less than 50 when they should be at least 80. Before you tighten them, make sure to add some loctite.

Obviously there are going to be other sources of vibration just like every other vehicle ever made but the U-bolt issue has a good chance of being the main culprit.

Another easy way to tell if your U-bolts are loose is because the bottom support spring will not be perfectly lined up with the other two springs. Loose U-bolts can lead to leaf spring runaway. Once you hit one small imperfection in the road doing 60 mph, they will not be able to recover. They will sit there and constantly vibrate doing nothing for all other upcoming road imperfections. If your vibration happens at 70+ Mph, your U-bolts may be just loose enough to pick up road vibration causing the leafs to vibrate and then in turn sending it through to the frame.

This is why I believe spring clamps helped many people on there. There vibration issues stemmed from loose U-bolts that mostly went away after installing the spring clamps. The spring clamps are in a way doing one of the U-bolts jobs (keeping the springs tightly together.)

All I know is that my '16 Crew had a very slight vibration once I hit 70. It was no where near what some of you guys are going through. My vibration is so suttle that if I don't think about it, I won't feel it. Yesterday, I checked my U-bolts and they were sitting at 57 foot pounds. I tightened them to 85 and the slight vibration is completely gone. I feel like I am truly driving a Cadillac now.

Good luck. If you don't have shudder issues causing vibration then you need to concentrate on the rear suspension. That's where most of the problems lay in my humble opinion.

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk

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  • 4 months later...

Good info there! I checked mine and they were very loose, I would guess around 35 ft lbs. My truck was always glass smooth until my last tire rotation. While a tire was out of balance I also developed a "rough road" feel after the re balance. It never felt super smooth on nice new road surfaces. I tightened all to 80 FT LBS and it feels much better. Not all completely gone but better.

 

I have never owned a truck or trailer that the axle bolts backed off on.....

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I posted this back when I got my 2015 in the shake thread. The leaf spring clamps moved the speed at which the wobble/shake happened. It moved from something around 66 to 75. I was much happier as I drive 66 to 70 all the time on the roads around here. I tried in front, behind, very tight, slightly tight and everything effected it. Nothing made it go away. To tight the truck was rougher riding and the shake was worse.   

 

Drive line was fine, u-bolt were tight but I had a lift kit on my truck. I changed those a few days after I bought it. 

 

2015, RCSB, 4x4 3" Leveling Kit

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Know the Real Causes of Vibration related comebacks, GM Bulletin does not fully explain the importance.

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Condition 1: 1st Order Tire Suggestions (Freq 11-14 hz at 60 mph or 97 km/h)

Measurements

  1. Remove the tire and wheel assemblies from the vehicle and perform the Road Force Variation (RFV) measurement. 

Important: Prior to taking any measurements, the assemblies MUST all pass a center check.

Note: Rule of Thumb for vibrations.

 

Use a Low Taper Collet that fits correctly in back side of wheel and back cone assembly. Use a finger plate that uses lug holes in wheel to mount wheel to balancer. This mounting process will help ensure wheel is properly mounted before balancing assembly. (Mounting errors are the cause of 60% vibration related comebacks.

  1. Document the before and after Road Force Variation (RFV) numbers.
Road Force Specifications
P-Metric tires on passenger cars 15 lbs (6.8 kg) or less
P-Metric tires on light trucks 15 lbs (6.8 kg) or less
LT – tires on light trucks 15 lbs (6.8 kg) or less

Note: These numbers are lower than what is currently published in service information as some vehicles react to parts that are near the high limit. These numbers SHOULD NOT be used if you do not have a tire speed related disturbance.

Repair:

  • For any assembly that has an out of balance condition (greater than 0.25 oz), remove the weights and correct the condition utilizing normal balancing techniques.
  • For any assembly having RFV measurements beyond the specification above, vectoring the tire on the rim should be utilized prior to tirereplacement. If this does not bring the assembly within specification, the tire should be replaced.
  • If assembly is calling for more than 3oz Static while balancing, deflate tire and spin tire 180 degrees on wheel and reinflate. Re-Check Static reading and if under 3oz proceed to ProBalance.

Additional Notes on Balancing:

Use a COATS Direct Drive Balancer with ProBalance Technology for smoothest ride. ProBalance ensures ALL Residual unbalance vibrations are reduced to under .10oz Static (Hop or up and down vibration) and Dynamic (Shimmy or wobble side to side vibration).

  • Always perform a centering check.
  • A Hunter Balancer/Road Force Balancer should not be set to “Smart Weight.”
  • All tires need to be balanced under 0.25 oz (both static and dynamic).
  • When using the Hunter – Balancer/Road Force Balancer, removal and remounting to the tire balancer should be performed to re-check balance and verify that results are repeatable to 0.25 oz or less.
  • Check Wheel Runout.

 

Important: When replacing tires, the road force should be checked before a test drive and after a test drive (min of 10-15 miles or 16-24 km/h). Road force on new tires will change dramatically after being warmed up (as much as a 20 lb reduction). After the test drive, the tire’s road force should be checked. If acceptable RFV cannot be achieved, first try vectoring the tire on the rim before an alternate tire is utilized. Also refer to the Information in the latest version of Corporate Bulletin Number 13-03-10-002: Diagnostic Tips for Difficult to Resolve Tire/Wheel Vibration Concerns. Some more information is needed on how to check the assemblies for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th order RFV.

 

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  • 1 month later...
On 11/6/2016 at 9:42 PM, EspoMan said:

Mine has the shakes between 70mph-80mph. Going back to dealership on Friday.

Whatever happened? I know it’s been awhile since.

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  • 2 months later...
On 2/18/2016 at 8:56 PM, ic3man5 said:

 

Mine didn't have a vibration at really any speeds but the handling over bumps was awful.

My 2018 Silverado 2WD had terrible bump handling, when I put in my 2.5" lift to level it, that problem went away. now you can go over bumps with out slowing, as a matter of fact you can actually go faster. off road the bucking action stopped. 

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