Makes No Sense To Me.......

unclemark · October 19, 2011

I have an 01' GMC 2500 4x4 non HD with the 6.0 gasser in it. Ive been having a driveline viberation coming from the front end like a tire is out of balance but thats not the case aswell as a hollow sounding thud coming from under the dash on the drivers side when driving over bumps, bad pavement etc but not the same pop as with a bad intermediate shaft. Turned out the thud was the steering column lowering bearing, it had some play in it where it slides into the steering column. I replaced it as well as the clock spring( dont ask how that happened) and the thud went away as I expected but the viberation is gone too, I drove about 10 miles and no shake. I dont understand how the bearing could have caused the viberation since it realy does nothing more than gives the shaft a surface to ride on and stay centered right. Anybody got any ideas or thoughts as to why that bearing could be responsible for the shake? And when did GM stop installing steering column locks. Mine dont have that and I guess I just never noticed it before. Thanks for you input.

Sierra6.0 · October 20, 2011

it realy does nothing more than gives the shaft a surface to ride on and stay centered right.

You said it yourself. The slop in a worn bearing prevents it from keeping centered and allows the shaft to move off-axis in directions the bearing is designed to prevent it to move. Thus you get vibration.

I let an idler pully in my jeep go for so long it actually started to make a grinding sound you could hear from a block away. When I removed the belt there was so much side-to-side play, I was lucky I didn't throw the belt.

unclemark · October 20, 2011

it realy does nothing more than gives the shaft a surface to ride on and stay centered right.

You said it yourself. The slop in a worn bearing prevents it from keeping centered and allows the shaft to move off-axis in directions the bearing is designed to prevent it to move. Thus you get vibration.

I let an idler pully in my jeep go for so long it actually started to make a grinding sound you could hear from a block away. When I removed the belt there was so much side-to-side play, I was lucky I didn't throw the belt.

Right but this is a viberation that would shake the entire truck, I could see if it was a constantly rotating shaft and hte bearing was bad but this would do it going straight with the shaft not moving as well as when turning.... I dont know, it just doenst makl sense to me.

seasled · October 25, 2011

I have an 01' GMC 2500 4x4 non HD with the 6.0 gasser in it. Ive been having a driveline viberation coming from the front end like a tire is out of balance but thats not the case aswell as a hollow sounding thud coming from under the dash on the drivers side when driving over bumps, bad pavement etc but not the same pop as with a bad intermediate shaft. Turned out the thud was the steering column lowering bearing, it had some play in it where it slides into the steering column. I replaced it as well as the clock spring( dont ask how that happened) and the thud went away as I expected but the viberation is gone too, I drove about 10 miles and no shake. I dont understand how the bearing could have caused the viberation since it realy does nothing more than gives the shaft a surface to ride on and stay centered right. Anybody got any ideas or thoughts as to why that bearing could be responsible for the shake? And when did GM stop installing steering column locks. Mine dont have that and I guess I just never noticed it before. Thanks for you input.

hope this link works

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=123942&st=0&start=0

~sea

unclemark · October 29, 2011

I give up, I guess I just wont drive in the speed range. Bought a set of "E" load range tires and got rid of the the p-metric set that was on it. All the balljoints are greased and in good working order. The universal joints are good, no slop in them. The front axle shafts are in good order with the boots being intact. I just cant figure it out without starting to just replace things arbitrarley. Rechecked the alignment and made sure the new tires were balanced perfectly.

wavery · October 29, 2011

Check your tie rod ends.

seasled · October 29, 2011

click here

ok if that does't work, in "keyword search"type in " violent front end shake"

wavery · October 29, 2011

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=123942

try this

For some reason, I can't get your links to work.

The error returned was:

Sorry, the link that brought you to this page seems to be out of date or broken.

seasled · October 29, 2011

in search topic type in "violent front end shake"

~sea

txab · October 29, 2011

in search topic type in "violent front end shake"
~sea

Try this:

http://www.google.com/search?q=violent+fro...images&tbs=

ALWAYS use Google to search this site. This site's search engine SUCKS!

wavery · October 29, 2011

How does that issue have any relevance to unclemark's truck?

unclemark · October 30, 2011

No mine is not a violent shake at all, more like an out of balance tire not a death wobble. Its got a grimlin hidin somewhere in it just wont show itself as of now. I might dig into it some more tomorrow.............