Pepeag

We have owned a 2013 Silverado 150 extended cab 5.3L 2WD and 20" Good Year Wrangler tires for 22 months. The 6-speed auto was a vast improvement over our 08 Sierra 4-speed.. Just after our first tire rotation and wheel balance, we got onto the highway and noticed the front end shaking. We immediately returned to the dealer and had the wheel balances checked. It was determined that the load force on one front tire was considerably out of specs. It was not noticeable on the rear, but we have Firestone Ride-Rite air bags on the rear for hauling a cargo trailer. The service department suggested replacing the tire (at our expense). We didn't give it a thought that it should have been covered under warranty and we paid for a new tire. That basically took care of the severe shaking. But we have noticed that it was not a really smooth ride even on a newly paved blacktop. We replaced the Sierra tires with Bridgestone and had very good results. If we replaced the tires on the Silverado, we would go with Michelin. So, this forum has brought up a couple of questions. Is it worth the gamble to move "up" to a '14 or '15 Silverado or Sierra and get a 4WD and all-wheel disc brakes or wait until GM gets their act together? If we do decide to trade, will it be with the same dealer who neglected to suggest the tire should be under warranty? One other thought that came to mind on front end shaking. On our '08 Sierra, we had a problem with the front brake calipers. On light braking, the front would shudder slightly. On downhill braking, the shudder was more pronounced. We took it to the dealer before a long road trip hauling a fully loaded cargo trailer. We were told there was nothing wrong with the brakes. On a steep decline in the hills around Chattanooga, even though we had trailer brakes, the front end shook violently-so much so that we thought the bug shield was going to break off of the hood. Believe me, that was a white knuckles ride to the bottom. The dealer at the other end of the road trip said that GM had a bad run of rotors/pad that would warp with heat of braking and resume near normal when cooling. They replaced both rotors and pads at no charge. We had perfect braking after that. The reason that I bring up brake rotors is that if the pads are too close to the rotors and the rotors are warped, they may be engaging enough to cause the shudder similar to a wheel balance. With the new integrated braking systems, this could be a problem. As for Dodge and Ford, we have had both in the past. The '02 Dodge Quad cab was extremely bad on gas and had engine sludging faults and cracked dashboards that Chrysler did not view as a problem. Ford has its own problems.