Vibrations at 70MPH; 2011 2012 2500/3500HD

HaulinBass · May 27, 2013

I just bought a 2013 Duramax 3500 Ext cab long bed. Great truck but it has the shake in the body from 68 mph through about 75 mph. There is no shake in the steering during the 68-75 mph. But... there is a wobble in the steering at higher speed sharp turns like moving through highway cloverleafs.

I dont trust Chevy messing with this truck, it seems like whenever I have a problem with a Chevey and take it to the dealer, they make it worse.

Im going to give them a shot in a few days to see what they do. I will report fixes or continued problems here and on goggle places.

snowplow1 · May 27, 2013

2012 2500HD Duramax, Crew Cab Longbed. Mine had no gear oil in the front housing, it was a mess in there, came GM that way and dealer did not do the PDI ( Pree Delivery Inspection ) Have been fighting with GM on this, which has been month and alot of games on there side, I am about to get a new truck, but sounds like from what I read, I might be going for round 2.

They want me to pay, .25 cent a mile, taxes tags and what not. I am in Pennsylvanina. have read that I should pay .10 a mile and no tax or tags. I think for what I have been threw time and pay loss with my life and family on the road, with the death wobble, that I should pay no more then my monthly payment as it is now. Any help with that!!!!

sdeeter19555 · May 28, 2013

For those with 2500/3500 that have the vibration, has anyone tried the balancing system where beads are put in the tires? I think there is another system too but don't recall details now... dynamically balances the tire/wheel/rotating mass...

Something like this??

http://www.innovativebalancing.com/index.php

I've had mixed results using balance beads in light truck tires...used them in a set of LT265x75r16 Michelins with excellent results, but tried them in a set of 315x70r16 BFG ATs and a set of 265x75r16 Revo IIs with lousey results. The latter I had to have the beads removed and the tires traditionally balanced. I was told by one manufacturer they don't work in tries that small, and another one lists using balance beads in an eight inch trailer tire!

I've also heard guys have good luck with centramatics...but they can have fitment issues.

I have not tried the powder/beads in this truck, for the record...

pm26 · May 29, 2013

Interesting read and I sympathize with your plight. I hate vibration problems and fortunately I have been pretty lucky with my '06 Silverado crew cab Z71 and '09 Impala LTZ. Neither has vibration problems, but the 18 inch tires on the Impala are difficult to balance right. I took several tries on Hunter 9700 force balancer to get them right after they came slightly out of balance after about 20k miles.

I still believe that vast majority of vibration problems are tire related. I have had tires on passenger cars that caused the vehicle to pull to one side (alignment was perfect), had Michelin MXVs with loose belts that caased very unpleasant vibration when hot.

Most OEM tires used on new cars and truck today are of low quality and greatly contribute to vibration problems. Proper tire balancing is also an issue, as most dealerships do not have Haweka lug adapters that would mount the wheel on the balancer the same way it is mounted on the car/truck - by the lug holes, not the center hole. In some cases, the center hole may not be machined perfectly in the center, or it is too small for a large wheel, as in case of my Impala wheels.

I have had good luck with Korean Kumho tires - good quality at a very affordable price, even in larger sizes.

I was able to get P235/50-18 Z rated Kumho tires for my Impala for $ 121/piece shipped free. A good quality Michelin tire in that size is about $ 200/piece. They ride good, no vibration in the car at speeds even over 100 MPH.

GMCDriver1 · May 30, 2013

I have a little vibration between 64-68 MPH and has had it since I can remember. Vehicle has been aligned and it's still there with new tires. 2008 GMC Sierra Duramax 2500 SLT 4X4 now with 57,000 miles I want to say it is probably drive shaft related.

Zrxpilot · June 4, 2013

_{Google "silverado frame beaming". Theres no fix made public that I am aware of. Throw 500 lbs of sand on top of the wheels and see if it goes away.}

_{Im not convinced thats it but it has a bunch of people elswhere convinced. I dont see how trucks that come off the assembly line identically can have an intermittent issue from one truck to the next. It doesnt work that way. Its something that rotates that is out of allignment for whatever reason.}

_{My 05 2500 does the same thing. Ive tried front hubs and rotors, swapping tires, road force balancing, balancing rear driveshaft, new rear wheel bearings.....}

_{Been in to GM twice and varioius other shops in town and nobody has found it yet. I think my issue is the same as everyone elses.}

_{Nothing. Still does it. I just learned to live with it.}

sdeeter19555 · June 5, 2013

I think I mentioned this before, mine does it slightly; it can be road dependent...but there is almost always a out-of-balance tire feel. Its been amplified as of late because I had the tires rotated and balanced, and I'm not sure they balanced to "zero" and the front tires (now on the rear) were worn uneven.

I'm kinda lucky...the roads around here are so rough its hard to notice it at times...

chevz7194 · July 9, 2013

Have this problem also 2007 NBS 2500 6.0. Shakes at 68-75mph. Feels like an out of balance tire like everyone else said. Right now running 265/75 Michilens. Tried tires, balancing, etc. No luck.

Bluwaterbrew84 · September 16, 2013

I am thinking about trading my 2011 F250 in on a 2013 2500HD. I am getting cold feet reading about these vibrations. Are they noticeable at first or do they show up several miles later? Do the 13/14 trucks have this problem or is it just the 11/12s? If so has anyone found a fix yet?

chipjumper · September 17, 2013

Well, the motor in my '01 Suburban 2500 decided to retire so I bought a used '07 NBS Suburban 2500. I have this wobble now for sure. I have had the tires balanced twice. This is really weird. Vibration starts at anything above 68MPH. W T F ???? I figured the new body style Suburban 2500's would still have the older style frames.

ALLANQ · October 11, 2013

2013 silverado 2500hd ext cab 6 ft bed 6.0 gas

vibration from day 1 dealer changed 9 tires roadforced balance,

gm rep with newest vibration analyzer says within gm spec and is normal

and gm is done. last vist to dealer they made vibration worse and gouged

my rims with impact gun they dont like when you complain .

gm cust service say theres nothing wrong with my truck and there isnt

anything to fix hired a lawyer for lemon

trying another dealer current 2700 miles 6 weeks of hell

snowplow1 · October 11, 2013

Ahh, don't listen to Tricia, she can do nothing. Here,s what I did, call the 1 800 number and get some one that you can't understand in another country, that is the American way, and we all need to say something about this. I DID AND WILL CONTINUE with any US made item. WTF. Call me 570-660-0928 Rich or find my number on ebay user snowplow1. anyway after 6 months and NO lawyer, I got a new truck. So far so good. But GM ate the big one.

snowplow1 · October 11, 2013

5 times of everything I am hearing on here, these people are trained to side ball you, talk to me, I fixed them. Rich 570-660-0928

JLLVLLCLL · November 6, 2013

I HAVE TAKENED MY TRUCK TO SEVERAL DEALERSHIPS ABOUT THIS ISSUE. THE LAST DEALERSHIP I HAD IT AT, I RODE ALONG WITH THE SERVICE MANAGER FOR THIS ISSUE AND ALSO ANOTHER ISSUE. THEY HAVE BASICLY DID THE SAME AS WHAT OTHERS HAVS SAID.THE SERVICE MANAGER TOLD ME THAT THIS VIBRATION ISSUE IS CALLED FRAME SHOCK. HE SAID THAT THE SPRINGS ARE SO STIFF, THAT AT HWY SPEEDS THE BUMPS IN THE ROAD ARE BEING INTRODUCED IN TO THE FRAME OF THE TRUCK AND THE FRAME IS ACTING LIKE AN AMPLFIER, WHICH IS CREATING THE VIBRATION ISSUE WITH THESE TRUCKS. I AM NOT SURE ABOUT WHAT HE TOLD ME NEXT. HE SAID THAT GM HAS HAD SO MANY COMPLAINTS ABOUT THE VIBRATION ISSUE IN THESE TRUCKS, THAT THEY ARE PUTTING TORCHEN BARS IN THE FRAME OF THE 2014 TRUCKS TO STOP THE VIBRATION. I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO VERIFY THIS TO BE TRUE. ONE THING THAT I WILL SAY IS THAT GM KNOWES ABOUT THIS ISSUE AND THEY ARE NOT WILLING TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT AND RECALL THEM SO THAT THE ISSUE CAN BE RESOLVED. THIS HAS BEEN THE WORSE RIDING TRUCK I HAVE EVER OWNED. EVERYONE NEEDS TO PULL TOGETHER AS A WHOLE AND CONFRONT GM TO FIX THIS ISSUE. I DO NOT LIKE PAY ING THIS KIND OF MONEY FOR A TRUCK AND GM IS REFUSING TO ACTKNOWAGE THE PROBLEM AND RESOLVE IT, AS THEY SHOULD.

therink · November 7, 2013

As I mentioned previously in this thread, I had this same problem with my truck and fought with dealers for the first 20k miles. I finally involved gm customer service and they put me in touch with a gm engineer who came to my dealer and fixed the problem himself. It ended up being a combination of ultra sensitive suspension as noted above, bad tires and improper tire balancing. They put on new Michelin tires and road forced balanced to within a very tight spec. I have to had a vibration problem since then.

Previous poster: BTW when you type in all caps, it is very hard to read and is known as yelling and not considered good etiquette