Shake or Vibration Issues

JC84 · October 19, 2014

they have a bad batch of some part to be hit and miss on the wiggle or vibration of these trucks.on a side not. I had my side mirror focusing on the bed of the truck and I can see the bed go side to side alittle. Has anyone checked the bolts of there bed to see if there loosen? Does anyone know the torque specs? I know my body mounts are tightened right checked those already when I installed the nerf bar steps

mikeinmobileal · October 19, 2014

*snip*

I then filed with BBB Autoline about the vibe and my selling dealer serv manager refusing to look at again for the vibe.

After a few days I got a call from GM asking for more info. I gave it to them and they called me back a few days later asking if I would go back to my selling dealer and let them try to fix the vibe. I said sure. I took it to them this week and a tech rode along and felt the vibe. We went back and he told his boss, the serv manager, that the vibe DOES exist and he thinks its tires. The serv manager told me he wanted to put new Michelins on it under warranty. I said if you think thats the problem, then do it. I pick it up tomorrow and I hope its fixed and no more vibe.

No joy with the new tires. Picked it up and drove 100 miles. Same vibration, same speeds. Bonus is now I have badly scratched 20" factory wheels. Nice job.

mafd2 · October 19, 2014

No joy with the new tires. Picked it up and drove 100 miles. Same vibration, same speeds. Bonus is now I have badly scratched 20" factory wheels. Nice job.

Wow...that's terrible...

Dozzer LTZ · October 19, 2014

That sucks that it did not work for you mikeinmobileal. I am going through the same thing now. Truck had a vibration a few months ago and the dealer replaced the Goodyear's and RF balance and it took care of 90% of it. Then I went back last Saturday for an oil change and told them that the vibration had slowly returned and they ordered a new exhaust due to the whistle. So they called on Monday and said that GM wanted them to RF Balance again and test.... I said we have already done that when the tires were replaced and they said they had to follow GM guidelines. I said ok, but its a waste of time and that I wanted Michelins put on because this is the third time we have played the Goodyear game. So finally Friday they called and said that the RF Balance had not changed the condition and that they would try to get GM to put the new tires on and I could come pick it up until they get an answer back from GM.

Here's the weird part. They said that one of the tires was coming in at 31 when they first RF Balanced it and they were able to get it to an 11. When I drove it home it was worse than when I took it in. Starting to wonder if is possibly a rotor or something else. How can it be worse when the balance produced a lower number??

mafd2 · October 19, 2014

When will the madness ever stop. 2014 North American vibrator of the year.

Edited October 19, 2014 by mafd2

pm26 · October 19, 2014

That sucks that it did not work for you mikeinmobileal. I am going through the same thing now. Truck had a vibration a few months ago and the dealer replaced the Goodyear's and RF balance and it took care of 90% of it. Then I went back last Saturday for an oil change and told them that the vibration had slowly returned and they ordered a new exhaust due to the whistle. So they called on Monday and said that GM wanted them to RF Balance again and test.... I said we have already done that when the tires were replaced and they said they had to follow GM guidelines. I said ok, but its a waste of time and that I wanted Michelins put on because this is the third time we have played the Goodyear game. So finally Friday they called and said that the RF Balance had not changed the condition and that they would try to get GM to put the new tires on and I could come pick it up until they get an answer back from GM.

Here's the weird part. They said that one of the tires was coming in at 31 when they first RF Balanced it and they were able to get it to an 11. When I drove it home it was worse than when I took it in. Starting to wonder if is possibly a rotor or something else. How can it be worse when the balance produced a lower number??

Please remember that road force variation reading and balancing a wheel are two different things. First, a roller is pressed against the rotating wheel with sufficient force to simulate on the road conditions and then road force variation, which is a function of out-of-roundness of the tire, is measured. Then the wheel is balanced. If the machine was not calibrated properly, or the wheel was improperly mounted on the machine, chances are they balanced it wrong. So yes, you can have a perfectly round tire with zero road force variation, but if it is balanced wrong, it will still cause vibration.

I think people are reading way too much into this "road force" thing. If the tire/wheel was balanced properly and no other problems contributed to the vibration, you would not feel hardly any vibration in a pickup truck with road force variations numbers below 30 lbs.

Is it easy to mount a wheel wrong on a Hunter 9700 series road force balancer? Yes. The ideal way to balance a wheel/tire would be using a spring loaded inner centering cone with a Haweka wheel lug adapter on the outside of wheel. If they do not have a lug adapter, then a pressure cup with a rubber non marring ring is used on the outside of the wheel. Usually using either of these techniques will produce good results on a properly calibrated wheel balancer.

It is also possible to mount the wheel on the machine by using a centering cone on the outside of the wheel only. This is permissible, but great care must be taken to very carefully hand tighten the shaft screw wing nut on top of the cone. Hunter 9700 road force balancer has a power screw mechanism for getting this done quicker and using this feature with an outside cone is a big mistake, as it often centers the wheel wrong. I have watched a guy do it slowly by hand and using the power screw drive with an outside cone only, and when using the power screw feature, he got the tire balanced way wrong - in fact it was one ounce (28 grams) out on one side and cuased all kinds of vibration issues! The road force reading was also wrong. This type of imbalance will cause vibration for sure.

Edited October 20, 2014 by pm26

Dozzer LTZ · October 19, 2014

Thanks for the info PM26, just cant understand how the condition could get worse with the all things staying the same. However I do know that the tires are in different locations than they were when I took it in. Only because when they replaced them a couple months ago, two were dated 2014 and two were 2013 and the 2014 tires were on the driver side. Now the 2014 tires are on the front. They did say that the older (2013) ones were easier to balance.

pm26 · October 19, 2014

When they detect a road force variation reading in excess of the allowable, they will typically rotate the tire on the rim 180 degrees or sometimes less. This will usually lower the road force variation numbers.

Then the wheel must be balanced again. It is quite possible they balanced it wrong after they moved the tire on the rim.

mikeinmobileal · October 20, 2014

When they detect a road force variation reading in excess of the allowable, they will typically rotate the tire on the rim 180 degrees or sometimes less. This will usually lower the road force variation numbers.

Then the wheel must be balanced again. It is quite possible they balanced it wrong after they moved the tire on the rim.

Pm26, sounds like you know a lot about the RF balancing machines, especially about how to mount the wheels on the machine.

This damage was done when the dealer put new Michelins on my 2014 Silverado, trying to fix the vibration.

What part of the machine could have done this damage? What, in your opinion, did they do wrong?

Edited October 20, 2014 by mikeinmobileal

Szyikowski · October 20, 2014

Haven't heard back from the engineers yet on the hole axle thing yet. I will let you guys know what I find out.

About the tire balancing in the previous post. It may have been possible they put the tires on diffently then when they took them off. The offset balance may have been countering the oblong axle or carrier in the rear end. Onece put on in a different location or rotation it may be compounding the problem. Just a thought.

pm26 · October 20, 2014

Pm26, sounds like you know a lot about the RF balancing machines, especially about how to mount the wheels on the machine.

This damage was done when the dealer put new Michelins on my 2014 Silverado, trying to fix the vibration.

What part of the machine could have done this damage? What, in your opinion, did they do wrong?

I do not know what their tire changing machine looks like and what clamping mechanism it uses. Some have internal clamps that clamp the rim on the inside, some have a rubber lined clamp that screws onto the central threaded shaft. The scratches shown could have been caused by tire changing machine if it used the latter clamping method . Also, these scratches could have been made by the balancing machine if they used an inner cone and outer pressure cup without the non-marring rubber ring or damaged rubber ring. Unfortunately, when these items wear out, many shops do not replace them and use them until they are so worn that they start scratching rims and cause other damage. Pressure cup non marring rubber rings do wear out with use and need to be periodically replaced.

The photos in the link should give you an idea. Read the TIP under second photo in the"how to mount the wheel to the balancer" section. I think that a badly damaged pressure cup did the damage to your rims. Perhaps the scratches are not that deep and can be buffed out? I know that those rims cost a lot of money and therefore they should be handled with proper equipment and care.

http://www.archivedsites.com/techlink/2008/03/proper-wheel-balancing-techniques.html

Edited October 20, 2014 by pm26

Silverado 6.2 · October 20, 2014

Pm26, sounds like you know a lot about the RF balancing machines, especially about how to mount the wheels on the machine.

This damage was done when the dealer put new Michelins on my 2014 Silverado, trying to fix the vibration.

What part of the machine could have done this damage? What, in your opinion, did they do wrong?

The scuffs are from the clamping cup with no rubber or damaged rubber, and you should get it back to the dealer so they can get you new rims.

14silverado4.3 · October 20, 2014

I am starting to feel the vibration more under load (up hill) and on deceleration. I am having the tires RF balanced tonight but I am starting to suspect this is a powertrain issue. I can feel vibe in the seat of pants and in the steering wheel. It is not a strong vibration but does not feel like road inconsistency.

Still reading and hoping that GM finds the Holy Grail soon.

keakar · October 20, 2014

I just want to apologize to everyone dealing with this issue because I was lazy and forgot to file a NHTSA complaint for my truck.

I filed it this morning

people need to understand that doing things like this is needed to help ourselves as well as everyone else dealing with this

as long as we do nothing and stay silent then GM wins and we get screwed over.

everyone should do this checklist:

1 file with BBB lemon law (to get it on record)

2 get yourself a good lemon law lawyer because GM will not treat you fairly, and check that he is a good lawyer and not an ambulance chaser who doesn"t belong to a law firm, if he is a small time lawyer he might be a nice guy but GM can manipulate him

3 file a complaint with NHTSA

4 create a video showing your vibration and upload it to youtube. keep it professional and no cursing and be direct and to the point, let the truck do most of the talking. any digital camera will take a decent video and uploading to youtube is free and easy

5 do nothing to try to fix the truck yourself or it will be used against you in court and claimed you caused the problems yourself

6 document everything and keep a written log of all events and conversations about the truck and keep all original documents yourself, only give copies of the documents out because GM will say they cant find them or give you reproduced and altered documents if you lose yours

Edited October 20, 2014 by keakar

14SLTZ71 · October 20, 2014

Pm26, sounds like you know a lot about the RF balancing machines, especially about how to mount the wheels on the machine.

This damage was done when the dealer put new Michelins on my 2014 Silverado, trying to fix the vibration.

What part of the machine could have done this damage? What, in your opinion, did they do wrong?

After damaging the first one why would they continue to damage the other 3. What is wrong with people now-a-days. No respect for other people's property. Edited October 20, 2014 by 15LTZZ71