Shake or Vibration Issues

simpsonfab · July 21, 2014

The wheels I have now are balanced on the inner edge of the wheel and at about center of the wheel and are fine. The last wheels I had just had a static balance, which means they were just balanced in one place, and the truck shook violently, I tried balancing them in center and the inner edge and the shake was still there. The only fix was balancing at the inner and outer edge, which looked horrible because I had weights on the surface of very expensive wheels. As for the drive shaft, I took it a drive line place and had them chuck it up on their balancer. He called me back there and had me listen to the shaft spin so I could hear what he was hearing. It sounded like a basketball dribbling in there very fast until what ever it was finally stuck in one place. The drive line guy then showed me where the machine was telling him to add weights because the drive line was out of balance. Every time we stopped and started the spinning of the shaft, the noise was always there and the machine would request weights in different spot and for different amounts each time. I was shown different examples of the stuff that usually gets put in drive shafts to quiet them down, but did not cut open my shaft to see for sure what was in there. My first step was to take it back to the dealer and see what they were going to do about it.

14SLTZ71 · July 22, 2014

1) when the engine drops from v8 to 4cyl mode, the engine will shake noticeably like the engine is misfiring. This is normal due to the engine now running on 4 cylinders instead of 8 to save gas.

No, this is not normal

Mutau95 · July 22, 2014

Thought I would get my truck back today with the vibration issue solved but no such luck. This is the 2nd visit....first time they did the spin balance after doing the recall work and it didn't even phase the vibration. Today they road force balanced the wheels and even removed and remounted the tires. At any rate the 70 to 80 mph vibration is still there. Looks like another trip to the dealer. You would think with all the thread entries and youtube videos GM would have a TSB to fix this. I guess only safety issues get all the attention. GM should take a truck that isn't vibrating and one that is and get to the bottom of this issue. Based on other experiences the problems seem to rest between the ring and pinion and the drive shaft as culprits. My truck has 14k miles and is a CC Short Bed 4WD w/3:08 with Factory 22's.

The saga continues. I will post up my solution if and when one is found.

Luster · July 22, 2014

What I found out is that there is a sound resonator in the drive shaft that prevents noise from resonating through the drive line, some drive line manufacturers use a cardboard cylinder with a seem cut in it and others use a rubberized foam. both are compressed, shoved into the driveshaft, and then are supposed to re-coil and fit tight. Based on the sound, it sounds like my drive shaft resonator was made of cardboard and has been progressively breaking apart every time I drive the truck. I have since taken my truck into the dealer and they are replacing the drive shaft. Hopefully this will be the end of this problem. I posted this in hopes that it could help others out there.

Did you get this information about the foam/cardboard filled driveshaft from the dealer's service department? I've never heard of that. If so, you could be onto something.

jcollin160 · July 22, 2014

Took my truck in again today. GM tech told them to check the ring gears, so I guess the seal will be broken. They did give me a 2014 as a loaner. ( Thanks Dave for hooking me up). However, the loaner has the exact same vibration mine does and it only has 800 miles on it. Mine is a crew cab, 18" rims. This one is a double cab,Z71 with 20" rims ( just to show it is not limited to one type). They both have SRA tires, 6.5 bed, 8cyc, 6spd tranny, 3.42 rears.

anthony2558 · July 22, 2014

Bought my 14 Silverado 2WD CC, 5.3, 3:42, GY LSA 20s, last Sat 7/12/14. I did some research prior to buying and read a bit about vibration, so I took it on the interstate before I bought it. Traffic was thick so I was only able to hit 65 or higher for a few seconds at a time. 20 minute drive and no vibes noticed. Went back and swung the deal, traded my 12 Silverado 2WD Ext, 5.3, never had a prob with that truck.

On the 30 min drive home with the new 14, the vibes started in. Vibrates from 68 up through 85, havent gone faster yet. Drove it home that Sat eve, went for a longish drive on Sun over various roads, rough, smooth etc. Rough roads mask the vibe, smooth roads really let it rip. Shakes the seats, pedals, console, and makes groceries rustle in the bags on the back seat. Feels like its coming from under the rear of the truck. Wow. At 71 its the worst. I get a knot in my stomach the last week just thinking that I may have spent 40K+ for a headache.

Took it back to the dealer today. Service manager rode with me and felt the vibe. Said it was "pronounced" and said he understood why I wasnt happy with it, said he wouldnt be happy either. He said they had already fixed one with the same prob. Said the other truck had a bad tire. His explanation was that the tires were "flat spotted" from sitting since the trucks were built. He explained the RF balancing procedure and was confident that they would find a bad tire and replace it. I sure hope so.

They gave me a loaner/demo 14 2WD CC, 5.3, 3:42, GY Assurance Fuel Max 18s, over 4K mi. Thing rides like a Caddy. Flat and smooth up thru 80, No vibes at all. Sure hope my truck rides this good someday.

Dude, I hate to be this guy, but why would you buy the truck after you did research on the vibrations, knowing that vibrations don't start until a specified speed, not reach those speeds, and be fine with that test drive. Why did u not come back and re-test drive when you could get to those speeds????

kcwood247 · July 23, 2014

I'm wondering if anyone is having these vibrations issues in the 2015 tahoes or yukons?

I bought a 2015 GMC Yukon Denali 4WD with 6.2L, 6-speed Auto, 3.42 Rear Axle, and Magnetic Ride Control on April 5th right after it rolled off the delivery truck. It came with the Touring Package which includes Denali stamped 20" chrome wheels. The OEM tires were P275/55R-20 Continental CrossContact LX20 with EcoPlus Technology. I had other warranty related issues, but not the vibration around 70mph.

Mid-May I ordered the GM CK156 (SEY) 22" Chrome Wheels along with the GM recommended associated tires - P285/45R-22 Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza. Received them and then had them installed Mid-June.

My wife and I drive daily on a highway with a speed limit of 70mph so it's easy to go "at least" that. In the first couple of days, we noticed the vibration as shown in the water bottle test. Scheduled an appointment with our local dealership to have them look at it. We just figured we lost a wheel weight. They ended up taking the wheels/tires to another dealership that "had better equipment" to remount and balance them. I didn't make any assumptions and just figured they were doing their due diligence to fix it.

Got it back the last week of June and the vibration at 70mph(ish) is still there. Googled "GM Vibrations at 70mph" and that's how I landed here.

For us, I was just looking into paying another shop that I know that has a RF to test and/or fix the vibrations with the assumption that there's still something off with the 1 (or more) wheels or tires; however, after reading this "book" / forum, I'm a little concerned that there might be a much, much, bigger issue going on. Still debating next steps / how much annoyance I'm willing to put up with with being in and out of the shop vice hearing the wife "tell" me about it every time I ride with her.

The only things that changed from no-vibrations to vibrations are:

- Different size/weight wheels

- Different tires (size, ratio, width)

- Tires not mounted/balanced from factory, or, according to GM policy, from an ADI (Accessories Distributor Installer) via the LPO (Limited Promotional Option) program

- More miles on the vehicle (a previous post noted that this started occurring a couple thousand miles into it)

The above differences could have an impact to other vehicle components, or it could be pure coincidence and would've happened around the same time frame regardless of the wheel/tire swap.

I mean come on GM....for an $80k vehicle, this shouldn't be my 7th related warranty item and 12th visit to the dealership in 3.5 months. (Just had to throw that in there so the my post would feel more related to the conversation at hand.)

Edited July 23, 2014 by kcwood247

Chappy 1901 · July 23, 2014

I bought a 2015 GMC Yukon Denali 4WD with 6.2L, 6-speed Auto, 3.42 Rear Axle, and Magnetic Ride Control on April 5th right after it rolled off the delivery truck. It came with the Touring Package which includes Denali stamped 20" chrome wheels. The OEM tires were P275/55R-20 Continental CrossContact LX20 with EcoPlus Technology. I had other warranty related issues, but not the vibration around 70mph.

Mid-May I ordered the GM CK156 (SEY) 22" Chrome Wheels along with the GM recommended associated tires - P285/45R-22 Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza. Received them and then had them installed Mid-June.

My wife and I drive daily on a highway with a speed limit of 70mph so it's easy to go "at least" that. In the first couple of days, we noticed the vibration as shown in the water bottle test. Scheduled an appointment with our local dealership to have them look at it. We just figured we lost a wheel weight. They ended up taking the wheels/tires to another dealership that "had better equipment" to remount and balance them. I didn't make any assumptions and just figured they were doing their due diligence to fix it.

Got it back the last week of June and the vibration at 70mph(ish) is still there. Googled "GM Vibrations at 70mph" and that's how I landed here.

For us, I was just looking into paying another shop that I know that has a RF to test and/or fix the vibrations with the assumption that there's still something off with the 1 (or more) wheels or tires; however, after reading this "book" / forum, I'm a little concerned that there might be a much, much, bigger issue going on. Still debating next steps / how much annoyance I'm willing to put up with with being in and out of the shop vice hearing the wife "tell" me about it every time I ride with her.

The only things that changed from no-vibrations to vibrations are:

- Different size/weight wheels

- Different tires (size, ratio, width)

- Tires not mounted/balanced from factory, or, according to GM policy, from an ADI (Accessories Distributor Installer) via the LPO (Limited Promotional Option) program

- More miles on the vehicle (a previous post noted that this started occurring a couple thousand miles into it)

The above differences could have an impact to other vehicle components, or it could be pure coincidence and would've happened around the same time frame regardless of the wheel/tire swap.

I mean come on GM....for an $80k vehicle, this shouldn't be my 7th related warranty item and 12th visit to the dealership in 3.5 months. (Just had to throw that in there so the my post would feel more related to the conversation at hand.)

Welcome to our hell......

MJFlores · July 23, 2014

Chappy, hows your truck...still 100% fixed after the rear end gears?

Edited July 23, 2014 by MJFlores

Fishingbear · July 23, 2014

For anyone who has been talking about RF balancing of the tires not fixing the vibration I strongly recommend ditching the factory Goodyears and buying a higher quality tire such as Michelin. The factory tires are mass produced and bought at a cheaper price by GM and often times out of round and won't balance properly. Honestly even 2 out of the 4 new Michelins I purchased were out of spec and weren't going to balance properly so they had to order 2 more. Michelins RF balanced in the low teens and all my vibration issues are gone.

You should not have to buy new tires on a new truck. GM has a 1 year / 12,000 mile warranty on your new tires.

A good dealership will warranty out your Goodyear LS2's for Michelin LTX MS2's on your third trip for vibration problems. My dealer did this for me and every owner of a sierra/silverado that complains about the vibration however it did not fix the problem. I had my tires spin balanced on my first visit which did nothing. On my second visit they tried multiple sets of goodyears until they could get all four new tires to road force under 24 which still did not fix the vibration. On the third visit they installed Michelins which road forced at 20 but this did not fix the vibration. On my forth visit they replaced the driveshaft which did not fix the vibration. On my fifth visit a GM engineer drove the truck and road forced the tires and gave it back to me saying it was fixed... apparently he never test drove it after road forcing because it still shakes and vibrates. I'm now starting the lemon law process. I have spoken with 3 additional service managers at other dealerships who all said they are getting frustrated with GM's lack of response to the vibration issue. One service manager I spoke with at a Chevy dealership advised me to file a lemon law because that would get GM's attention and hopefully get them to work more diligently on a fix.

seansharley · July 23, 2014

I didn't know the 2015 ½ ton models were available, someone said they had a 15 denali!? I thought the 15s with the 6.2 were coming with the 8 speed trans?

Has anyone tried dragging their foot on the brake at 75 to see if the shake goes away?

brandonbvr · July 23, 2014

You should not have to buy new tires on a new truck. GM has a 1 year / 12,000 mile warranty on your new tires.

A good dealership will warranty out your Goodyear LS2's for Michelin LTX MS2's on your third trip for vibration problems. My dealer did this for me and every owner of a sierra/silverado that complains about the vibration however it did not fix the problem. I had my tires spin balanced on my first visit which did nothing. On my second visit they tried multiple sets of goodyears until they could get all four new tires to road force under 24 which still did not fix the vibration. On the third visit they installed Michelins which road forced at 20 but this did not fix the vibration. On my forth visit they replaced the driveshaft which did not fix the vibration. On my fifth visit a GM engineer drove the truck and road forced the tires and gave it back to me saying it was fixed... apparently he never test drove it after road forcing because it still shakes and vibrates. I'm now starting the lemon law process. I have spoken with 3 additional service managers at other dealerships who all said they are getting frustrated with GM's lack of response to the vibration issue. One service manager I spoke with at a Chevy dealership advised me to file a lemon law because that would get GM's attention and hopefully get them to work more diligently on a fix.

I bought the truck used with 16,000 miles. And am now noticing vibrations above 70 mph again.

Edited July 23, 2014 by brandonbvr

Fishingbear · July 23, 2014

I bought the truck used with 16,000 miles. And am now noticing vibrations above 70 mph again.

It's possible that you bought someone else's lemon. Here in Florida, I was told that when you lemon a vehicle it is either "fixed" by the manufacturer and then sold used "as-is" or if they can't fix it they sell/donate it to schools. Good luck. Your's still falls within the 3 year / 36,0000 miles bumper to bumper warranty so I would be persistent with your dealer and if you don't like how they are handling it go to another dealer. The first dealer I went to was not as helpful as the second dealer.

fondupot · July 23, 2014

I bought a 2015 GMC Yukon Denali 4WD with 6.2L, 6-speed Auto, 3.42 Rear Axle, and Magnetic Ride Control on April 5th right after it rolled off the delivery truck. It came with the Touring Package which includes Denali stamped 20" chrome wheels. The OEM tires were P275/55R-20 Continental CrossContact LX20 with EcoPlus Technology. I had other warranty related issues, but not the vibration around 70mph.

Mid-May I ordered the GM CK156 (SEY) 22" Chrome Wheels along with the GM recommended associated tires - P285/45R-22 Bridgestone Dueler H/L Alenza. Received them and then had them installed Mid-June.

My wife and I drive daily on a highway with a speed limit of 70mph so it's easy to go "at least" that. In the first couple of days, we noticed the vibration as shown in the water bottle test. Scheduled an appointment with our local dealership to have them look at it. We just figured we lost a wheel weight. They ended up taking the wheels/tires to another dealership that "had better equipment" to remount and balance them. I didn't make any assumptions and just figured they were doing their due diligence to fix it.

Got it back the last week of June and the vibration at 70mph(ish) is still there. Googled "GM Vibrations at 70mph" and that's how I landed here.

For us, I was just looking into paying another shop that I know that has a RF to test and/or fix the vibrations with the assumption that there's still something off with the 1 (or more) wheels or tires; however, after reading this "book" / forum, I'm a little concerned that there might be a much, much, bigger issue going on. Still debating next steps / how much annoyance I'm willing to put up with with being in and out of the shop vice hearing the wife "tell" me about it every time I ride with her.

The only things that changed from no-vibrations to vibrations are:

- Different size/weight wheels

- Different tires (size, ratio, width)

- Tires not mounted/balanced from factory, or, according to GM policy, from an ADI (Accessories Distributor Installer) via the LPO (Limited Promotional Option) program

- More miles on the vehicle (a previous post noted that this started occurring a couple thousand miles into it)

The above differences could have an impact to other vehicle components, or it could be pure coincidence and would've happened around the same time frame regardless of the wheel/tire swap.

I mean come on GM....for an $80k vehicle, this shouldn't be my 7th related warranty item and 12th visit to the dealership in 3.5 months. (Just had to throw that in there so the my post would feel more related to the conversation at hand.)

Yea but your problems stem from a less than adequate wheel balance and installation of wheels/tires. Most guys with issues are having vibrations with all factory stuff.

brandonbvr · July 23, 2014

It's possible that you bought someone else's lemon. Here in Florida, I was told that when you lemon a vehicle it is either "fixed" by the manufacturer and then sold used "as-is" or if they can't fix it they sell/donate it to schools. Good luck. Your's still falls within the 3 year / 36,0000 miles bumper to bumper warranty so I would be persistent with your dealer and if you don't like how they are handling it go to another dealer. The first dealer I went to was not as helpful as the second dealer.

Thanks for the advice. It was a GM executive driven vehicle from Michigan. I maybe am being too picky. Every kind of truck is going to have a very slight vibration on the highway because it is a truck.