Shake or Vibration Issues

hotrodz37 · January 24, 2014

Thanks STex, every set of tires I have had has rolled well. They have all been around 20lbs or less on the road force machine and I know GM's tolerance is 24lbs. I even took a set to another tire shop and they confirmed they all had pretty low road force numbers - all under 15. I guess they want to try a premium tire with even lower road force to see if the problem will disappear. I will update once they get them on!

Edited January 24, 2014 by hotrodz37

ryun911 · January 25, 2014

Update: Two more trips to the dealer (had it for a week each time) and they put the "vibration analyers" on it and said it was the drive shaft. They put a new drive shaft on and then said they were gonna rebalance the tires (6th time). Guessing drive shaft did not fix it and they tried the tire route again. Called me the next day and said it was fixed. Nope! As soon as I got on the highway the vibration was exactly the same if not a litte worse. Called the service manager immediately and he gave me the dealer "shuffle", said it was NORMAL for these truck!!!!! Basically, he didn't want to work on it until I got GM customer service involved. Then when this didn't fix it they pretty much told me they were done trying. Told me they would just watch for service bulletin suggestion a fix.

2 months old 3000 miles and I've been to two 2 dealers, six times in the shop ~12 days, purchased my own Michelins, and I'm being blown off and told to live with it.

karmakanic · January 25, 2014

Anyone with this problem in east Texas???

Hootbro · January 25, 2014

Update: Two more trips to the dealer (had it for a week each time) and they put the "vibration analyers" on it and said it was the drive shaft. They put a new drive shaft on and then said they were gonna rebalance the tires (6th time). Guessing drive shaft did not fix it and they tried the tire route again. Called me the next day and said it was fixed. Nope! As soon as I got on the highway the vibration was exactly the same if not a litte worse. Called the service manager immediately and he gave me the dealer "shuffle", said it was NORMAL for these truck!!!!! Basically, he didn't want to work on it until I got GM customer service involved. Then when this didn't fix it they pretty much told me they were done trying. Told me they would just watch for service bulletin suggestion a fix.

2 months old 3000 miles and I've been to two 2 dealers, six times in the shop ~12 days, purchased my own Michelins, and I'm being blown off and told to live with it.

Do not have a lemon law process in your state?

Silver space ship · January 28, 2014

So today I had 840lbs of wood pellets in the bed of my truck and I was driving with my left hand up on top of the door panel with 4 fingers in the window channel and my thumb relaxed kinda pointing at 45* angle towards the steering wheel. I really seemed to notice the vibration more then normal and could see my thumb shaking, nothing really new about that but noticed it was worse then normal with the weight in the back. Then I noticed it would just stop shaking for about 200 yards and be really smooth and then start back up and shake for a 1/2 mile or so then stop for around 200 yards. From the time I noticed the pattern to the time I got home was about 5 miles. I was triying to tell if it was a bump in the road that might be putting the truck into the vibration and I can't say for sure but it almost seemed like it was. I had an old Samuria that when you hit a bump it would go into a death shake and the only thing they would bring it out of it is if you nailed the brake quick. No one could figure it out and one day I put a new steering stabilizer shock on it and it never happened again. After 10,000 miles, new tires and rims I can't seem to get this figured out but tonight I think I found somewhat of a pattern.

Stex · January 28, 2014

Update: Two more trips to the dealer (had it for a week each time) and they put the "vibration analyers" on it and said it was the drive shaft. They put a new drive shaft on and then said they were gonna rebalance the tires (6th time). Guessing drive shaft did not fix it and they tried the tire route again. Called me the next day and said it was fixed. Nope! As soon as I got on the highway the vibration was exactly the same if not a litte worse. Called the service manager immediately and he gave me the dealer "shuffle", said it was NORMAL for these truck!!!!! Basically, he didn't want to work on it until I got GM customer service involved. Then when this didn't fix it they pretty much told me they were done trying. Told me they would just watch for service bulletin suggestion a fix.

2 months old 3000 miles and I've been to two 2 dealers, six times in the shop ~12 days, purchased my own Michelins, and I'm being blown off and told to live with it.

Being OCD about tire balance, I am sorry for those with vibration issues on the '14s. Have you had some one besides the dealers balance the tires? Also a good drive shaft shop can check the drive shaft. These are the two most common cause areas. Also, once Bilstein shocks, 5100s, are online for the '14s they will help.

pm26 · January 28, 2014

Driveshafts require a special balancer. You need to find a place that rebuilds or makes custom driveshafts, they will most likely have a balancing machine. As mentioned , it is easy to check if the driveshaft is properly balanced. Balancing weights are typically spot welded onto the driveshaft.

Edited January 28, 2014 by pm26

Stex · January 28, 2014

That is why I recommended a drive shaft shop. We have such here. It is specialized and not a ton of such shops in each town but they are around. Had my 90 Subs drive shaft done ( rebalanced) and it helped.

Edited January 28, 2014 by STex

ryun911 · January 28, 2014

Do not have a lemon law process in your state?

Hootbro: Yes I live in Southeast Texas. I talked to several people including a lawyer and the Lemon Law is not actually used very often. You have to get a lawyer involved and things get ugly and the manufactures usually replace or buy back the truck to avoid a Lemon Law, if you are lucky. They will drag out the process as long as legally possible and make your life a complete nightmare in attempt to make you give up and just dump the vehicle.

I can't even get a call back from GM after the dealer refused to continue troubleshooting the issue. What they are doing is pencil whipping the paperwork and distorting the facts before they call me back and tell me what I'm experiencing I normal and blow me officially. They have changed their story half a dozen times and never back up anything they say.

pm26 · January 28, 2014

It often helps to find another dealer who is willing to fix the vehicle. If you own a Silverado you can also have the warranty work done by any GM dealer, even though they tell you that you cannot. I know a guy who had persistent rattle inside the dash in his 2012 Chevy Impala and his Chevy dealer could not fix the problem. He finally took it to a Cadillac dealer who took time and effort to take things apart and finally found the problem and corrected it.

Years ago I owned a 1989 ford Ranger pickup and I found that the local Lincoln dealer provided much better quality warranty service than the Ford dealer so I preferrred to take the truck to them for any warranty work and I was not disappointed. That Lincoln dealership even had a dynamometer so they could dyno your vehicle to ensure it performed per spec.

Edited January 28, 2014 by pm26

hotrodz37 · January 29, 2014

Got a call from my dealer today. They are at a loss. They said they have checked everything on the truck (I don't think they have checked the balance on the driveshaft or the yokes etc) which I suggested and am waiting a call back on that). I feel fortunate enough to have a great dealer that has been helpful and they are working on discussing GM buyback options, I would really rather keep the truck I have but am not going to be making payments on a truck that shakes for 5 yrs.

SLESierra · January 29, 2014

Second day of mine at dealer for vibration - just called they are still working on the issue. They have taken some out on the lot and found some do it some don't. I told them if I have a vibration then I don't want the truck. Because it started on my way home from NC and it literally put my right foot to sleep and it was on the floorboard most of the way on cruise.

dredd · January 29, 2014

I'm getting the Michelin LTX M/S put on Friday morning at MY expense. If the tires are not the problem (dealer said it is) then I will be having a long talk with them about a resolution.

pm26 · January 29, 2014

I'm getting the Michelin LTX M/S put on Friday morning at MY expense. If the tires are not the problem (dealer said it is) then I will be having a long talk with them about a resolution.

My past experience with Michelin LTX M/S tires has been excellent. I had two sets on my '95 Nissan pickup and they never gave problems and I got over 70k miles from one set. Recommend uyou find a good shop that can balance tires properly. Even the best tire in the world will not give you a good ride if the wheels are improperly balanced.

mroma23 · January 30, 2014

Talked to service manager today from the dealership that sold me my truck, the GM field service engineer was there today working on multiple trucks with vibrations. He. told me that they found that all four tires were bad, after they drove them for a while the road force actually went up causing them to be out of spec, which is characteristic of my complaint that it seems to get worse the longer i drive. He also said that the engineer found the driveshaft out of balance wih his analyzer after the tires were changed to brand new updated goodyears (not to thrilled but if they don't vibrate all is good), he told me that he has the euipment to balamce the driveshaft and is doing it as we were speaking. He has to roadtest in the morning and will let me know how it goes. I am happy that they found problems and hopefully made the right repairs, i will have to drive it and see. wish me luck.

As far as the road to get the engineer to come out it took about a week for him to get to Boston area and i was told he was the only one who would be working on my truck, so lets see if it was worth the wait.

Idk why they could not have at least found the bad tires the first time?

Mike