Shake or Vibration Issues

[pm26]

Just becuase they balanced the wheels does not mean they balanced them correctly. My local dealer "balanced" one of my '09 Impala hweels so bad that it was 1 ounce out! This was discovered on another Hunter 9700 balancing machine in a different location. The wheel was rechecked about a day later and it was still properly balanced. The problem is often not the machine, but the operator and how he mounts the wheel on the balancer. With some wheels, like my Impala 18" wheels, it is better to use a centering cone on the outside of the wheel. If you use a cone on the inside, you may not cetner the wheel properly. Ideally, they should have a lug hole adapter that holds the wheel in the same position as on the car/truck. these adapters are available from Haweka, but they cost about $ 1,500/set so few dealerships have them. This is how they balance wheels at the factory. Using proper adapters.

[BringTheRain403]

The other thing that can hurt the balance that a bunch of the minimum wage jackasses do is put weights all over the wheels trying to get it to balance rather than move the weight they just put on. When I used to change tires I would spin the tire to zeros on the inside and outside of the wheel with one eight on each side.

 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

 

[GMCustomerService]

I know this is going to look suspicious being only my third post but I wasn't sure what forum to join at first. I have noticed a shake or vibration in my new 4x4 crew 5.5 box 5.3 truck it seems to come and go and has been a pain to pin point what makes it happen. I can feel it in the steering wheel, seat and sometimes the gas petal but mostly in the steering wheel. It seems to be most noticeable going up or down hill with very light acceleration but can do it on level ground at cruise speed too. And the fun part is it doesn't always do it to make it more of a challenge to diagnose it.

 

Brought it to the dealer last week and I thought the mechanic was going to think I was crazy but he did feel it too which was a relief also the service writer test drove it after they balanced and rotated the tires and he said its slight, but he felt it too. We scheduled it to come in tomorrow and are opening a warranty claim. I have very little faith that its going to get fixed because of the nature of the vibration and it being so new that there probably isn't any info out there on what it could be. I really don't know what they can do tomorrow other then make phone calls. If I had to venture a guess I'm going to say its in the transmission or possibly the engine.

 

We also have a 2012 equinox and on the same roads there's no vibration at all.

 

Also I have the z71 and man does that thing ride STIFF! Every repair strip in the tar is felt hard! Anyone know if it just takes some miles to get the shocks broke in (2600 on it now)? My 04 was a z71 too and rode much, much softer then this.

 

I would really like to get this figured out because it, along with a few other

smaller things is preventing me from loving this truck.

Hello,

 

I am sorry to hear that you are experiencing a concern with your vehicle. We strive for you to love you vehicle. If I can be of assistance to resolving your concern, please let me know.

 

Sincerely,

 

Jennifer T.

GM Customer Care

[blevenson]

I feel your pain - took me 1000s of miles to get my 2013 to ride smooth

see: http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/150488-new-2013-vibrates-at-40mph-and-dealer-claims-normal/page-5

 

I realize this is the new truck, and could be many things, but after my expereince I would want to be very comfortable with the tires being correctly balanced before I let the dealer start tearing things apart.

 

What brand of tires came on the truck? My goodyears were swapped to bridgestones (after trying about 3 sets of Goodyears) and my issues went away like magic...

 

My vibration was very similar to what you describe, would come and go depending on road surface, and even if they got it right, would always reappear at about 2k miles from last balance with the goodyears. Do you know what the Road Force numbers are for your wheel/tire combos right now? On the GMT-900 trucks spec is around 24lbs and mine had to be in the <12 range for the issue to disappear. I have about 6k on the bridgestones now and they have been great/finally allowing me to love my truck.

[joemc]

Just bought 2014 1500 4x4 extended cab with 5.3. the truck has a vibration around 45 to 50 mph. returned it to the dealer two times. first time they said tires were not balanced but it still did not fix the problem. the second trip that swapped tires and rims and still no fix. the service rep. is checking with gm but so far no solution. i suggested checking drive shaft for balance but dont think they felt that was the problem. they also drove several of the vehicles on the lot and i was told they have the same problem. i've got a 79 ford 4x4 with bias ply tires that rides smoother hope they find a solution soon.

[Silver space ship]

Joemc, I couldn't believe your post I couldn't type it more word for word of what's going on with me. I actually thought I wrote the post util I saw the ford part at the end.

[crushNchowda]

Mine also has vibration at highway speeds up to 80mph, I haven't brought it to the dealer yet because I'm actually trying to find a new truck to replace it with (I want the 3.42 gears). The passenger's side seat shakes noticeably- they shouldn't have a problem noticing it. I have 4x4 crew, 5.3, w/ 3.08 gears and the craptastic Goodyear fuelmax tires 265/65/18

[ibleedgreen]

Check your pinion angle! It was off from the factory on my 2014 and my buddy's too!! I wasn't too worried about it because we both lowered them anyways. Still playing with different degree shims to get the ride the smoothest but as of now it's still better than from GM.

[jdvaughn]

Are you sure the pinion angle was off? It may have been preloaded such that when there is weight in the bed or on the hitch that the pinion angle is most correct since the vibration would be noticed more with the load. therefore with no weight in the bed, the angle may be slightly out of line....just a thought.

[ibleedgreen]

Are you sure the pinion angle was off? It may have been preloaded such that when there is weight in the bed or on the hitch that the pinion angle is most correct since the vibration would be noticed more with the load. therefore with no weight in the bed, the angle may be slightly out of line....just a thought.

Could be but I would rather it be the opposite way since my bed is unloaded more than it's loaded. Donno

[jcr3]

I have the same vibration problem with my 2014 silverado it starts shaking around 70mph and up I have taken my truck to the dealer 4 TIMES! Ill try and keep this short but this has been going on for 2 month now and they cant figure it out. Ok lets see fist they said it was

[jcr3]

Opps accidentally pressed reply. Ok first the dealer did a road force test on the tires and said one was bad they change it. Still the problem continues then they said they didn't balance the tires right. Then they said the drive shaft was the problem so they ordered another drive shaft and made it worse so they ordered a 2nd drive shaft. So I picked up the truck 3 days ago and it is still vibrating. Yes you bet that by now I am very pissed off. So I just dropped it off again today for the 4th time see what they come up with now. Unfortunately now I fell like maybe I made a bad choice buying this truck.

[GMCustomerService]

I have the same vibration problem with my 2014 silverado it starts shaking around 70mph and up I have taken my truck to the dealer 4 TIMES! Ill try and keep this short but this has been going on for 2 month now and they cant figure it out. Ok lets see fist they said it was

Oh no!

 

I am sorry to learn that you are experiencing an issue that your vehicle shakes. I understand that you have taken your vehicle into the dealership for this issue. Have you had a second opinion from another dealership for this issue? If not, I am happy to assist with locating another dealership in your area. Private message me if I can be of any assistance.

 

Safe travels,

 

Jennifer T.

GM Customer Care

[Silver space ship]

Well today I had a GM engineer come look at my truck he said it felt like other 2014 to him and gave me an explanation of what I was feeling, had to do with the the 6 speed and how when you accelerate slow its like a manual when it starts to jerk when it's in too high of a gear and how these truck shift to get the best fuel mileage, also something about the engine resonating. He also commented on the trucks being quieter these things are easier to pick up on.

 

The truck feels like it has been getting better (still not as smooth as i would like it) now that I have almost 5000 miles on it now or it could be that I'm getting more use to it. But today when i took it for the test drive with the engineer and the service manger it seemed like it was on its best behavior. I felt the truck shake a bit while accelerating but not much, I was almost embarrassed that I was complaining about it.

 

When we got back to the dealer we test drove another truck and felt that it had the same characteristic to it as mine or at least the same as the test drive we just went on with mine. At that time I came to terms that even though I don't like it, it's how they are.

 

2 hours later I go home on the same road we just drove on and guess what? It started to shake much worse then 2 hours before! I was hot to say the least! So this really got me thinking could the weight of a passenger or 2 change the pinion angle enough to smooth things out some? Full take of gas compared to almost empty? Maybe that's why it's been so hard to nail down. I would say the extra weight was around 450#.

[jdvaughn]

Well today I had a GM engineer come look at my truck he said it felt like other 2014 to him and gave me an explanation of what I was feeling, had to do with the the 6 speed and how when you accelerate slow its like a manual when it starts to jerk when it's in too high of a gear and how these truck shift to get the best fuel mileage, also something about the engine resonating. He also commented on the trucks being quieter these things are easier to pick up on.

 

The truck feels like it has been getting better (still not as smooth as i would like it) now that I have almost 5000 miles on it now or it could be that I'm getting more use to it. But today when i took it for the test drive with the engineer and the service manger it seemed like it was on its best behavior. I felt the truck shake a bit while accelerating but not much, I was almost embarrassed that I was complaining about it.

 

When we got back to the dealer we test drove another truck and felt that it had the same characteristic to it as mine or at least the same as the test drive we just went on with mine. At that time I came to terms that even though I don't like it, it's how they are.

 

2 hours later I go home on the same road we just drove on and guess what? It started to shake much worse then 2 hours before! I was hot to say the least! So this really got me thinking could the weight of a passenger or 2 change the pinion angle enough to smooth things out some? Full take of gas compared to almost empty? Maybe that's why it's been so hard to nail down. I would say the extra weight was around 450#.

 

 

 

 

I agree with you 100% that the difference in weight will definitely effect your pinion angle.

The question is, does it effect it enough to make a difference in ever day life?

 

 

If your pinion angle is already on the cusp of being out of alignment, maybe the weight is enough to

push it over the edge. If that is the case, I would think you would be able to

get a repeatable results since this is a mechanical interaction not some chance

interaction.

 

 

With two extra grown men and full versus empty tank you could have a 600 lb difference (2 guys at

200 lbs each and roughly 200 lbs of fuel for 26 gallons (about 8lbs per

gallon)), which is a big difference.

 

 

My plan of action would be to try and make this repeat itself by loading the bed with weight

incrementally and see if there is a weight that makes the drive shaft pinion

angle cause vibrations. Being a mechanical engineer, I tend to be very

methodical about the notes I take even on my own projects such as this (just

habit I guess)and suggest that you could record the amount of weight added,

location of the weight, the approximate pinion to shaft angle and finally the

distance from the top of the rear tire to the bed/wheel well (in order to asses

how the suspension has loaded as a function of the weight added). Do this in a

few steps of weight in the very back of the bed closest to the tailgate to get

the greatest effect (maybe start with 100 lbs, then 200, 300 and so on until

you get some result).Drive the same stretch of road with the same amount of

fuel if possible to eliminate as many variables as possible. From this

test you will be able to see how pinion angle changes as a function of weight

load and if it is significant enough to be an issue. This sounds like a

mechanical interaction and if you get it to do it once, you should be able to

do it a million times for the dealership with the same amount of weight/bad

pinion angle (hence the notes).

 

 

It seems your pinion angle is bad with light load in the truck so adding load may make the pinion

angle better (hence the good ride with the dealer and a tank of gas), but that

is why you should look at the pinion angle as a function of the load to see if

it sways significantly. Ultimately you can prove the pinion angle is changing enough

with load and if it is already on the edge of max tolerance then the load may

be enough to get some vibrations.

 

 

Hope this is somewhat helpful and not just a long mess of words.