Shake or Vibration Issues

mjj · March 2, 2015

Haha, nice. The scary part is what happens when people hit 36,000 miles. Will we all be dead to them, not our problem mentally? Not that GM is doing a great job now trying to get this fixed.

Edited March 2, 2015 by mjj

bogeypro · March 2, 2015

I just worry about what is going to wear out because of it...

mjj · March 2, 2015

I just worry about what is going to wear out because of it...

Yes, that too. What will shake apart.

Newm · March 2, 2015

Just an update on mine... I now have 21000 miles and the vibration has gotten worse. I have new Michelin tires on and it doesn't help. Dealer has no answers yet. They won't even look at it. Said that they know they don't have a fox, but keep checking back. This is BS. My third and last gm truck.

Sorry to hear that man....that sucks. What is your vibe like? Steering wheel...seat of the pants....speed at which occurs?

bogeypro · March 2, 2015

Seat of the pants and console vibrations beginning around 74. Mine has started a slight vibration around 45 now as well.

Newm · March 2, 2015

Update one my truck...

Dealer did the standard rotate and balance of my tires and I have put on 100 miles or so since. Now my steering wheel vibe is about 98% gone and I can easily live with how it feels. Greatly improved! I do still have a vibe through the truck that really only starts over 75 MPH and can really only be felt in the seat of the pants. I can see my passenger seat just vibrating away at 80. What is weird though is on some pavement it vibrates pretty good and other pavement it is smooth enough that I would never have a second thought about something possibly being wrong.

Just thinking outloud here....my mind started wandering and wonder if my problem is just a combination of suspect tires and the factory shocks being crap IMO. It almost feels like what some other manufacturers have had problems with, bed bounce. I am just about to ready to throw my Bilstein 5100's on the truck with some tires and roll the dice. I should probably talk to the service manager first about that thought in case they want to try and blame aftermarket parts on my issues.

Edited March 2, 2015 by Newm

hotrodz37 · March 2, 2015

Update one my truck...

Dealer did the standard rotate and balance of my tires and I have put on 100 miles or so since. Now my steering wheel vibe is about 98% gone and I can easily live with how it feels. Greatly improved! I do still have a vibe through the truck that really only starts over 75 MPH and can really only be felt in the seat of the pants. I can see my passenger seat just vibrating away at 80. What is weird though is on some pavement it vibrates pretty good and other pavement it is smooth enough that I would never have a second thought about something possibly being wrong.

Just thinking outloud here....my mind started wandering and wonder if my problem is just a combination of suspect tires and the factory shocks being crap IMO. It almost feels like what some other manufacturers have had problems with, bed bounce. I am just about to ready to throw my Bilstein 5100's on the truck with some tires and roll the dice. I should probably talk to the service manager first about that thought in case they want to try and blame aftermarket parts on my issues.

Let us know what you come up with and if you put the 5100's on. My vibration is completely gone on certain roads up to 80mph but present on others. Its definitely not the tires in my case since I swapped them out. I am thinking the same thing as you, I believe it to be the stiff frame/suspension that doesn't agree with certain roads. Would love to know if new shocks help.

2007silveradonbs · March 2, 2015

The dealer rehung my GM/Borla Exhaust and all my vibrations and shakes went away. I almost hate to have some of the issues you guys on this forum are having. It would suck!!! I feel for you. The little time I had with a vib sucked.

Wrench589 · March 3, 2015

Just thinking outloud here....my mind started wandering and wonder if my problem is just a combination of suspect tires and the factory shocks being crap IMO. It almost feels like what some other manufacturers have had problems with, bed bounce. I am just about to ready to throw my Bilstein 5100's on the truck with some tires and roll the dice. I should probably talk to the service manager first about that thought in case they want to try and blame aftermarket parts on my issues.

Definitely be interested to hear the results if you install the Bilstein's. I agree that there us something up with the suspension. And, my Yukon XL is also exhibiting vibration much like you folks are with the pickups. Question, though. I've got the electronic active control shock absorbers, as well as air ride on the rear. I'm not as familiar with the pickup builds, but does everyone having vibration problems also have active shocks? If not, I'm thinking the standard shocks and the active shocks are likely quite different. And, the suv's have a coil spring rear suspension. Yet, both platforms seem to have the vibration. Curious.

Silverado 6.2 · March 3, 2015

Someone has said it way back and I have found it to be true, sitting at a RR crossing I can feel slight vibration in the seat, floor and gas peddle, ive also hadHarley motorcycles and louder pickups pull up next to me at a stop lights and felt the same thing. Mine only has the slight vibration in the gas peddle, floor and seat at certain RPM of the engine. I can feel the vibration come and go with the exhaust note/RPM of the engine only at speeds lower then 45mph. I believe it to be a harmonic vibration with the engine and exhaust, I just keep thinking back to the 90s when ford used vibration dampers that hung off the exhaust for some reason. Ram also has the same type of dampers hanging off the of side there frame on each side under the driver and passenger front doors. The only thing I can think from 2013 trucks and 2014/15 is they are using more high strength steel in the cabs and causes more harmonics/vibrations to transmit. Just my 2 cents

Edited March 3, 2015 by Silverado 6.2

Wrench589 · March 3, 2015

All the high strength steel they are using is a concern. GM uses high strength steel because that allows them to use less of it, to reduce weight. So, they thin everything down. Will have the load capacity due to the higher tensile steel. But, less mass means all the natural frequencies of everything will change, typically go down. So who knows what could be resonating in the frame/chassis. It's all one big inter-connected system and is complicated as hell from a noise, vibration and harshness point of view. I wouldn't want to be the engineer at GM responsible to sort this mess out. And I definitely wouldn't want to be the designer responsible for making it!!

pm26 · March 3, 2015

All the high strength steel they are using is a concern. GM uses high strength steel because that allows them to use less of it, to reduce weight. So, they thin everything down. Will have the load capacity due to the higher tensile steel. But, less mass means all the natural frequencies of everything will change, typically go down. So who knows what could be resonating in the frame/chassis. It's all one big inter-connected system and is complicated as hell from a noise, vibration and harshness point of view. I wouldn't want to be the engineer at GM responsible to sort this mess out. And I definitely wouldn't want to be the designer responsible for making it!!

Can you elaborate on this "high strength steel" they are using for these frames? Typically A36 steel is used, which has tensile yield strength of 36 ksi. This is typical construction grade steel. Are they using something different?

Here is some info from GM, but they do not disclose the type of steel they are using, only the forming process:

http://media.gm.com/media/us/en/gm/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2014/Oct/1002-silverado-strength.html

Chevrolet provides customers with fuel-efficient vehicles that feature spirited performance, expressive design, and high quality.

They did not include vibration in their assessment.

http://www.autosteel.org/~/media/Files/Autosteel/Great%20Designs%20in%20Steel/GDIS%202013/Advanced%20High-Strength%20Steel%20Technologies%20in%20the%202014%20Chevy%20Silverado.pdf

Edited March 3, 2015 by pm26

BMRSNR · March 3, 2015

I have a 14 sierra , had a vibration issue with 13 miles on it .. they replaced 2 "defective" tires on it . vibration still there . they said to drive it and let the truck "break in" truck is now in the shop for the same issue with 7,800 miles on it . . dealer says my "aftermarket exhaust" is causing the issue and it wont be warrantied because of the modifications . whats funny is the truck has only had the exhaust on it for maybe 2,500 miles . they have rotated and balanced the tires and checked everything else . what I find funny is my 2015 sierra loaner truck vibrates worse then my own truck...

Wrench589 · March 4, 2015

"High strength steel" is a very generic term. Could be any number of steel specs, and I don't know which one GM uses. And, I don't know what grade of steel "standard" frames and body parts have been made of, but I'm sure that has evolved over the years. That said, I would be surprised if the automotive industry uses A36 for frames. A36 is a structural steel spec for standard rolled beams and other standard structural shapes. Frames are typically formed by the automaker, likely from some plate or bar material. But I wouldn't presume they use A36. There might even be an SAE spec that they use.

BluByU14 · March 4, 2015

GM bought back my 2014 Sierra due to the "unfixable" vibration. Prior to buying it back they had swapped out tires,wheels, rf balanced numerous times, and changed out the driveshaft. I gave them my 2014 back in December of 2014, when my 2015 Sierra came in. Was in the dealer yesterday for unrelated service issue on my 2015 Sierra and I got to talking with my service advisor who told me they "fixed" by 2014 Sierra. He told me GM sent them some sort of new vibration analysis tool and that it showed the vibrations coming from the front end. They ended up replacing the front axles and he said it is now smooth as butter. I had a vibration at 40-45 then anything over 68 MPH.

He also told me that they had 2 2014's in for service for the vibration issues last week. One was fixed by a driveshaft swap, the other needed 4 new tires.

My 2015 has been very smooth with no issues.