16Denaliguy

Pick up trucks are experiencing some of the same issues: http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2016/03/the-mysterious-chevy-shake-is-affecting-pickup-trucks-now-too.html

My new Denali will be in soon but: Back from vacation and here are our experiences with 2 Suburbans and a Lincoln Navigator. We rented a Suburban for a week down in Florida this past week with 2 bad experiences. The first Suburban with less than 5000 miles on it, we had to return to the rental company since the A/C stopped working in the Florida heat. The second suburban we had (15,000 miles on it) for only 2 days when it died at a stop light in 4 lanes of traffic. Started back up but the check engine light came on and when I went to accelerate it bucked and made a loud bang. I let off the gas and stepped back on it since traffic was flying by and it did the same thing, bucked with a loud bang. It was in reduced power mode and we limped a few miles down the highway and into a parking lot. Called the rental company and an hour later they provided a Lincoln Navigator. After 4 Escalades and 3 Denalis with 4 Avalanches thrown in over the last 10 years or so the Lincoln Navigator was a real surprise! As soon as you get in the seats are plush, even the 3rd row seats according to the wife. We were fully loaded with 6 people and luggage and the V6 - twin turbo engine was sweet. Real impressed with the motor at how it performed fully loaded and running down the highway 75-80 mph. The ride was nothing short of sensational. Smooth smooth smooth - no buffeting or booming - no pressure sensations - no hard/harsh ride, quiet ride all around with very little road noise. "Luxurious", "plush", quiet ride with plenty of power. I'm impressed for sure. Back at airport for the return trip home we got back into my Denali and the comments were that we didn't realize how bad the ride was in this if we hadn't ridden in the Navigator. After the new Denali arrives and depending on the ride we are considering the Navigator for our next vehicle. Just like to add that the second Suburban suffered from booming, vibrations and buffeting from 62 to 70 mph. Anything below 62 or above 70 mph was just about perfect. The first Suburban we did not get to drive it enough to experience any issues.

I've driven my Denali now for a total of 9100 miles experiencing the booming, buffeting, air pressure, vibrations, sunroof leaks etc for every mile of those 9100 miles. Been to the dealer(s) for all the TSB's along with dyna matting. It's all still there except for the air pressure. The hood bug deflector reduced the buffeting the most by all accounts redirecting the air flow across the roof. This is my experience on my Denali others may or may not experience this with their own vehicles. Waiting for my new Denali to come in.

Biggest difference in reducing the buffeting on my '16 Denali was the bug deflector for the hood.

What can't be explained is that we still have the buffeting even though the roof has been foam shimmed to the roof bows ,glued to the max and with 2 layers of dynamat STILL has the buffeting and booming, Something is not right with mine anyway. It's more evident in the drivers seat than anywhere else in the Denali. It's too funny when family, friends and the tech's ride in the vehicle and say they cannot hear or feel anything. Then they drive it and say "oh yeah I hear and feel it now, that's not good".

My 2016 Denali has all the bad habits. Been serviced many many times. GM trade assistance in the works.

Emailed 3 of the 5 or 6 publications since they first started running the articles about the issues with the GM suv's and not one of them has either called or replied to my emails!

It's pretty cool to see all these publications and news authorities reporting these issues for the 2015 Tahoes, Suburbans, Yukons, Denalis and Escalades. But, they are missing the reports on the 2016 model years that also have some of the same exact issues. Most are only reporting the headliner fixes and not the PIT5429 bulletin that first addresses some of the other issues such as the harsh ride, noises, vibrations.

According to spokesperson Tom Wilkinson to Autoblog, the company "has been tracking this issue for a while." The problem has a fairly low incidence rate, but when it does occur the issue can be "uncomfortable and annoying for owners." There's no precise cause for the issue, Wilkinson claims, and in some cases, simply balancing the tires or changing the door seals can make it go away. That's the first I've heard about changing the door seals. Is there a technical service bulletin out on that? I've had 6 new tires installed on the rear and all the tires have been road force balanced more than I can count. It did not simply make it go away!

TSB was done by the dealer and they even performed the TSB to the extreme, adding extra glue extra shims just knowing how anal I am with my vehicles. I've dyna-matted all my vehicles anyway, well at least the last 8 (4 Avalanches - Denali - 3 Escalades) and it really makes a difference in the interior noise levels. And now this 2016 Denali. A couple weeks after the dealer performed the headliner TSB and fixed the leaking sunroof, I along with a auto body friend removed the headliner and dyna matted with 2 and in some areas 3 layers of dyna matt (not cheap). I took care of the hood and the wheel wheels myself. I've got my own money and alot of time trying to help out GM, the dealership, and my fellow forum friends in trying to help determine or help alleviate these problem vehicles. There is just something about these vehicles that cannot be figured out. Even the GM field engineer has tried everything and they gave up. Said we got what we got and it won't be fixed until 2018. Not sure where he got the 2018 figure from but that's what we were told. The same engineer unbeknownst to me told the selling dealer that is 4 hours away (that he also services) that he had worked on a 2016 Yukon Denali 4 hours away that he can't fix. So when I showed up at the selling dealership later on in the month while on vacation the service manager told me he spoke to the GM field engineer and was told the same statements that the field engineer explained to me a month earlier about my Denali. These conversations that occurred are nose to nose not phone calls, not emails or texts. Person to person.

No, but I should have. Roof - Dyna matted the entire roof including dyna matting over the roof cross ribs. Wheel wells - removed the 4 fabric wheel liners and dyna matted where ever I could, all exposed metal of the wheel wells themselves. You need to cut and use pieces to try to get all the exposed metal. **** the real reason I removed the fabric wheel liners was that if I did that I could get to the the inner rear quarter panels which seem so flimsy. But you can't. If you try to get to the 1/4 panels from the inside of the vehicle you would have to remove all the moldings. Inside the rear jack compartment there are other electronic pieces of equipment that I would not dare remove let alone all the interior trim pieces. ***** Hood - dyna matted all the areas under the hood liner that had exposed exterior hood metal. Did not dyna matt the reinforcement areas of the hood.

Here's what seemed to help our troublesome 2016 Yukon Denali in the last month, so that at least we can drive it out of town. All the issues but the ear/air pressure are still present but softened a bit: 1) Tire pressure @ 30 lbs 2) Front bug deflector 3) 125 lbs of weight put in the rear storage compartment 4) Dynamat in the 4 wheel wells, hood and the entire roof Just waiting for the new one to come in and we will see how that one drives.

Utility trailer road trip experience with my 2016 Yukon Denali 3 hour drive with a loaded (1000 lbs) utility trailer on country roads (64 mph) and interstates (75-80 mph). No buffeting or vibrations present. Very quiet. Unhooked the trailer at the place of business and drove without the trailer for another 2 hours. Buffeting, vibrations with the sensation that the Denali was on very small rubble strips. Back to hook up the trailer and loaded up for the 3 hour trip home, no buffeting or vibrations. My 2016 Denali has never been (even after all the work to try to correct the issues) a luxury vehicle to take on long road trips. Around town is just okay (still get the low speed booming) but out of town - forget it. Unless you're pulling a loaded trailer!!! utility trailer unloaded - bad rhythmic harmonic vibrations utility trailer loaded - perfect snowmobile trailer unloaded - bad rhythmic harmonic vibrations snowmobile trailer loaded with 1 sled - noticeable rhythmic vibrations snowmobile trailer loaded with 2 sleds - perfect 28 foot V-nose construction trailer unloaded - perfect 28 foot V-nose construction trailer loaded - perfect Airflow over the Denali definitely could also be a factor. I did notice a difference when I installed a bug deflector on the hood. Not a big difference but better.

All buffeting, vibrations and air pressure issues will be resolved in 6-8 weeks when my new Denali will be delivered!! Keeping our fingers crossed for a new 2016 non-issue Denali. Ordered this one without a sunroof.

Drive shaft and rear end gears were checked and all within GM specs. 2 of my smaller trailers with a lighter tongue weight would cause a rythmic harmonic vibration between 47 to 63 mph. This larger trailer I did not get out of storage until our vacation so I cannot give a before and after dynamat. We dynamatted the Denali ourselves. The booming noise is at low speeds when hitting a bump or expansion joint sounds similar to a low end thump from a subwoofer. buffeting is at higher speeds and sounds like the rear windows are down or a helicoptor overhead.