New 2013 vibrates at 40mph+ and dealer claims NORMAL

[blevenson]

Last month while getting an oil change my dealer made me an offer on my 2009 GMC 1500 SLE Z71 Crew with 70k on the clock that I couldnt refuse, so I traded it on a 2013 GMC 1500 SLT Crew and Im starting to seriously regret the decision.

 

The new truck has the 20" Chome Clad Wheels and high performance suspension package. I had wanted to keep my old Z-71 17" wheels and the brand new tires I had just put on the truck, but the dealer convinced me it couldnt be done as it would mess up all the sensors and require re-programming the computer for the smaller wheels which GM wont do. To compensate they gave me a 5yr wheel/tire warranty on the 20s and said I would love them (truck had everything else I wanted and they wanted to move it making it financially worth my while).

 

The problem: I just turned 2k on the new truck and there is a noticable vibration (I was trying to convince myself it wasnt there until my wife said "why is the truck shaking?") at 40mph and above. I took it in to the dealer (this is the 4th truck they have sold me since Dec 2008) and asked to road test it with the service manager. He gave me his "best vibration guy" and off we went. His conclusion, yes it vibrates, but its normal. This opened a long conversation on the rediculousness of 20" wheels on pickup trucks where I was told that these OEM wheels will not balance out perfectly and there is nothing they can do - this is normal for the truck to vibrate. I was told, "its not like after driving for 30 min your wrist hurts, so the vibration isnt bad"

 

Long story short, they agreed to Road Force all 4 wheels and tires and re-balance, but they make no promises. The truck goes in tomorrow, and if this doesnt fix it, they are telling me its normal operating condition for the truck, nothing more we can do.

 

I'm not accepting that this vibration is normal, this is my 4th GMT-900 Crew, and the nicest one so far, and the vibration was not normal in my prior trucks. Is the issue the 20" wheels? Can they really not put smaller wheels on a truck equipped with 20s from the factory?

 

Also, unrelated (I hope), I drive almost exclusively highway miles, and I averaged 19.2mpg in my old truck with the 5.3L with 3.42s over 70k miles. The new truck im only seeing 16.7mpg with the 5.3L flexfuel and 3.42s - Same roads, same gas stations (Mobil). Is this one not broken in yet with only 2k miles on it? Are the rediculous 20s costing me 2.5 mpg? They are less than 0.1" difference in overall height from my 17" wheels

[JrocK817]

I had the same vibration problem with my SS and the 20's. It started after I had new tires installed... after about 3 times back to the shop that installed them, I got my money back and went over to the dealer. They got it done right after about an hour.

 

The only reason they told you you couldn't swap wheels is because of the commission I'm sure.. The only thing they would have to do is re-cailbrate the speedo, which they could have done in about 15 min.

[hodges25]

I had a vibration like that too, still do actually. Had all 4 road force balanced by the dealership, found one bad tire. Still does it afterwards, just not as bad. Took it back again and they say nothing is wrong, yes it is vibrating but they can't find anything............

[Hawaiian06]

I had the same type of vibration on my 2009 crew cab (with 18inch rims) right out the door. The dealership balanced and rotated the tires and claimed that was the best that they could do. I ended up taking the truck to a reputable tire dealer and they were able to identify one tire whose road force was out of specs and another that was marginal. I took the spec sheet to the dealership and they replaced the two tires without any further hassles. I only wished that they had been up front about the problem when I purchased the vehicle (the salesman acknowledged the vibration during the test drive).

Since the tire replacement, I have not had any further problems with vibrations and the truck rolls as smooth as glass.

[GMCustomerService]

Keep me posted BLev. Feel free to contact me as well if you need additional assistance. Thank you.

 

Tricia, GM Customer Service.

[citydriver]

There's a problem, there is nothing NORMAL about a vibration. I have a '13 HD Crew Cab Standard Box with the facrory 20" wheels and tires with just over 4500 miles on the odometer. The only vibration I've ever had was when I forgot to clean the ice/snow out of the wheels after a storm passed through. Do you feel it in the steering wheel? Or the whole truck? Will they let you take another truck out for a test drive? If that one does not vibrate, have them put the wheel assemblies on your truck and drive it again. The only issue would be the Tire Air Pressure Sensors, they can ignore this for this test and could be easily reset. If the vibration is still there, they will have to look at the driveline. I do realize that this is alot to ask of a service dept. but they sold you the truck and should take care of this if they value their reputation and your return business.....good luck.

[kstruckcountry]

Take it to a different dealer. Yours is full of shit. Have the new dealer loan you a set of 17" rims and run them to see if that fixes the problem. If it does, see if they'll trade you. My truck originally had 20's that were fine they're just not my style. 17" rims will work fine on your truck, and you don't need to change the speedometer, it won't even be off. All they will have to do is reset your tire pressure sensors.

[blevenson]

The vibration is in the driver's seat (and the passenger's seat for that matter), not in the steering wheel. You can watch the passenger seat vibrate going down the road if no one is sitting in it.

 

Is there an actual printout that they will get when they road force the tires tomorrow? Is it acceptable to ask for this printout?

 

This dealership has alwasy been extremely responsive and helpful in the past, I just dont like that they are claiming "normal operation" before trying anything....

Edited February 20, 2013 by BLev

[Big Whiskey]

If you can feel it in the seat, but not in the steering wheel, it's probably one of the rear tires....and as stated above....it's not normal. There's a tire out of balance...or one of them has a bad belt...or a rim is bent...something like that. They should make it right. Also, the thing about going to smaller rims is BS. You can run 17", 18", or 20" rims on your truck....regardless of what came on it from the factory. All they would have to do is either switch your current TPMS sensors to the different rims....or re-program the new sensors to your truck (which would take about 5 mins). Good luck. Let us know what you find out.

[00Silverado4x4]

One quick question. Does it have rear drum or disc brakes? I only ask because there has been several threads of rear wheel vibrations coming from the drum retaining washer from the factory interfering with the wheel to axle mount.

[Chris]

If it's a 5.3 its drums

[Shaners]

My 2013 Avalanche has the 20" wheels but has a different rear suspension than your truck. It rides super smooth (no vibrations) and I have no complaints.

[SouthCo]

Sorry to hear and as others have said it's not normal. My 2010 came with 17"s and I put factory 20"s on. No vibrating. And yes you can go to 17"s without messing with the speedo. Dealer is dumb to say that. The wheel size doesn't matter. The overall diameter of the tires does. Like you said it's less than 0.1" difference so why would your speedometer be affected? Hope they get it fixed.

 

 

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[blevenson]

Well the dealer called this morning as I was pulling into their lot - the tech who was supposed to do the work got an engine job yesterday that he didnt finish and they dont want to use a different tech on my truck as he was the one who roadtested with me, so we have re-scheduled for a week from Friday... wait and see.

 

On a different note, since the overall height of my 20" tire/rim combo is within 0.1" of the 17" spare, can I use 4x4 while running the spare without damaging the truck, or do the 20s fall into the oversize category in the manual where it states not to use 4x4 while running the spare?

[SILVERADOSC540]

Not normal, not cool. I'm running 22's and have no vibration. As for the spare, same diameter and your okay.