Eric D Plante

When I towed with it it was fine, plenty of power vs my older 04' Z71 Suburban. My 04' Suburban had something similar. I let off the gas on when pulling onto an off ramp and heard the whine. We pulled into Florence SC with an 04' Suburban, pulled out 8 hours later in a 12' Suburban. LOL. I really think the 1/2 ton Suburbans are not the best option for reliable towing for the long run. That doesn't leave me with a warm fuzzy feeling. Having to change axle assemblies to get a reliable setup is kinda pathetic.

OK here is an update: Axle bearings didn't fix the issue. The driver's side oil seal was leaking though. So this meant I had to tear into the diff, wasn't thrilled about that. The magnet on the cover wasn't clean, no big metal pieces though, just silvery sludge. Pulled the center section, bearings looked good. Pulled the driveshaft off the pinion yoke, and found the pinion bearings were shot, WTF!!!!!!!! Picked up a rebuild kit from Advance auto, yeah wrong friggen bearings for the pinion, center section they were fine. Apparently in 09' GM changed the bore dimension and pinion shaft dimensions. WHY???? Order the same Koyo bearings I had removed from the pinion shaft. OH and I had to bring the center section and Pinion to the dealer to get the bearings off, I was getting nowhere real fast trying to press them off with a press. I found out they use a die grinder and and chisel to split the inner races. Once all that was done and I had the correct bearings pressed on the pinion cleaned everything with brake kleen and started to reassemble. Holy smokes that crush sleeve is tough to crush with hand tools. Eventually I got it set to approx 16 in/lbs or rotation drag. Reassembled the rest of it, filled it and all is good now. I am still disappointed that just over 100k the pinion bearings failed. Whats that all about.

I agree, for daily light use its not an issue.

Those are good tips. I'll check this weekend, when its not hot as shit out.

I am fairly confident its the axle bearings but I'd like some confirmation from someone with similar experience.

I did that. I am not getting a vibrations. FYI its just 2wd.

Got the truck with approx 65k on the odometer. I have no previous history so I have to assume the fluids had not been changed prior to owning it, and I have not changed the fluid yet either I had towed it from Sc to Boston, Boston to the white mountains and back once and then about an hour north and back. approx 550lbs no I had a Weight Distribution hitch installed and properly setup. 1 test I was going to perform was put the rear end up on jack stands, chock the front wheels of course. Put it in drive and accelerate to see if I can replicate the noise. Yes its a bit risky and I have to disable traction control, stabilitrack and such.

Some history: Limited towing. total of 5 times maybe with a 32 travel trailer. approx 100k miles Yokohama Geolander AT tires. I noticed about 2 months ago a speed related low frequency howl, similar to driving with aggressive mudders. The noise doesn't change with accelerating vs decelerating. I 1st thought it was a front wheel bearing but the more I listened for it and asking my son in the 3rd row he said it was from right below him. I have no issue with replacing the rear axle bearings, that doesn't mean I want to do them just for the hell of it. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I own a Honda, Suburban and an Excursion, all for specific purposes. I looked the comparable Chevy offering to the Honda Fit I bought, but the price was high for what you got, which seems to be the theme for US automakers. The Suburban, 2012 LT 2wd, has been great for the family car. The Excursion is used for towing only as that's its best use. Seeing the car market dwindle is not surprising for the US automakers as their cars are bland for he most part, with Pre FCA cars having the best attempt at aggressive styling. I still find small compact cars ideal for commuting IF the MPG and reliability are both high. The big 3 have done this to themselves with regards to the demise of the car market, IMHO.

Before my Suburban I had a mini van. The burb is definitely an upgrade all around. That poor van got beat to shit. Plus the towing capacity, which is a necessity for me, was way way to low. I think the SUVs are in a different class then the Mini vans.

You are making an unfair comparison. The 2016 Silverado 15004wd has almost the same specs as the 4wd Suburban does. Does that mean you are also saying that the Silverado is not a heavy duty truck? I just fail to see the relevance of your argument. Of course a 1 ton equipped vehicle will have bigger and better components, that's why it can handle larger payloads.