Shake or Vibration Issues

Mcarlo24 · December 16, 2015

Well I'm sorry to report the vibes came back just the same. It was a glorious 2 days though. Back to the drawing board, hopefully no one ran out and bought a body lift hoping for a fix. Not sure what made the vibe go away for a few days before coming back.

You said you increased your Air Pressure to 42 lbs... What were they at when your vibes were gone for the two days? Do you think the change in pressure had something to do with the vibe coming back?

WLC · December 16, 2015

Well I'm sorry to report the vibes came back just the same. It was a glorious 2 days though. Back to the drawing board, hopefully no one ran out and bought a body lift hoping for a fix. Not sure what made the vibe go away for a few days before coming back.

Seems that removing the wheels for whatever the reason resets the vibs on some trucks.Maybe it resets the alinement of the rear end or cancels the bind up of the vibs. Has anyone tried a steel and smaller wheel with a straight tread? Being most vibs are at high speeds maybe the air flow through the wheel makes a difference.Remember Jeff Gordon got caught shaving the lug nuts down for an advantage of wind drag! I know I'm drawing straws but many people are smarter than me and I am just starting their engine!

tnchevy · December 16, 2015

It is probably a coincidence but I aired my tires up to 37 lbs (35 recommended on 18" rims) a week or so ago during a cold snap. It warmed up to near 70 over the weekend so my tires were at 42lbs and I had to take a quick drive down the interstate to do errands. That is the smoothest my truck has ever rode. Like I said, probably will not last but the overall feel of driving the truck was much better for me at those high psi's. I am not going to run them like that because it causes an already slippery tire to get even worse plus wears out the middle pretty fast, especially on the back tires. I am thinking of airing down the back to 33 psi and keep the front at 42 psi just to see how it responds.

cato · December 16, 2015

Well my last attempt at eliminating the vibrations or at least stopping them from getting into the cab may have been successful. Two days in so far and they have yet to return. I'm sure everyone wants to know what did it... I installed a zone 1.5" body lift. Whether the body mounts were allowed to "relax" when the body was lifted off of them, or the space created between the body and the rest of the truck eliminated a ground path that was allowing the vibrations to transmit into the cab I couldn't say for sure. All I know at this point is the steering wheel, seat, center console and gas pedal vibrations are gone. A few more weeks will tell for sure whether they're gone for good. Anyone that has followed this thread long enough like Jesse D and Bill and a few others know I have basically dismantled this truck trying to find a source and never could. Maybe the problem is the body mounts themselves. Unfortunately most people probably don't want to put a body lift on their truck nor should they have to to eliminate the vibrations. It's been said quite a few times on here that GM needs to look at their body mount design, I think this just reinforces that fact. That last thing I had done on this truck before putting the body lift on to try and find the source was to have the wheels balanced on the truck. Fortunately there's a shop here in town that does it and there wasn't any vibration and the balance checked out fine. Whatever is causing these trucks to shake the problem is the mounts are letting everything into the cab.

If this is a true fix I'm all in. I was preparing to do a 6" BDS lift in spring but now I'm thinking a 4" lift combined with the 1.5" body lift might be a better choice!

abominable z71 · December 16, 2015

You said you increased your Air Pressure to 42 lbs... What were they at when your vibes were gone for the two days? Do you think the change in pressure had something to do with the vibe coming back?

Everything was fine at 42 psi for my drive into work that morning all freeway at 75 mph. Later that morning I had a trip and everything was fine up to 75 mph. I had to get on the gas to get around a truck and put my foot into it, spiked the RPM's up to about 4800 and hit about 85 mph and the vibe came back slowed back down to 73 MPH and the vibe decided to stick around and the truck has been vibrating just like before ever since. BDFKL (two vibrators silverado rally edition and Sierra SLT) posted on here a while back that they noticed every truck they drove that had a vibration at 70+ also shook at any speed when the RPM's got to 4500 plus. I'm trying to figure out what the link could be but it's pretty perplexing, but I can confirm my truck does the same. If I stand on the gas from a dead stop and keep the rpm's at 4300 or higher the truck shakes the entire time it's accelerating which I think reinforces buster12's theory that the axle is wrapping and hopping. I'm going to pick up some spring clamps after work today and see what happens.

hotrodz37 · December 16, 2015

Everything was fine at 42 psi for my drive into work that morning all freeway at 75 mph. Later that morning I had a trip and everything was fine up to 75 mph. I had to get on the gas to get around a truck and put my foot into it, spiked the RPM's up to about 4800 and hit about 85 mph and the vibe came back slowed back down to 73 MPH and the vibe decided to stick around and the truck has been vibrating just like before ever since. BDFKL (two vibrators silverado rally edition and Sierra SLT) posted on here a while back that they noticed every truck they drove that had a vibration at 70+ also shook at any speed when the RPM's got to 4500 plus. I'm trying to figure out what the link could be but it's pretty perplexing, but I can confirm my truck does the same. If I stand on the gas from a dead stop and keep the rpm's at 4300 or higher the truck shakes the entire time it's accelerating which I think reinforces buster12's theory that the axle is wrapping and hopping. I'm going to pick up some spring clamps after work today and see what happens.

Once again, keep us posted! If there's anything we can experiment with to help your theory let us know. My truck is smooth up to about 73, always has been. Today on the way to work, same roads I drive every day, same air pressure, same temp (FL - it is still 80 here) had the passenger seat visibly shaking at 45mph. This truck is going to put me in an early grave. Problem is I have so much equity in it that its hard to get rid of. I have been deep into the Tundra and F-150 sites lately. Seriously considering a switch.

Edited December 16, 2015 by hotrodz37

pm26 · December 16, 2015

Everything was fine at 42 psi for my drive into work that morning all freeway at 75 mph. Later that morning I had a trip and everything was fine up to 75 mph. I had to get on the gas to get around a truck and put my foot into it, spiked the RPM's up to about 4800 and hit about 85 mph and the vibe came back slowed back down to 73 MPH and the vibe decided to stick around and the truck has been vibrating just like before ever since. BDFKL (two vibrators silverado rally edition and Sierra SLT) posted on here a while back that they noticed every truck they drove that had a vibration at 70+ also shook at any speed when the RPM's got to 4500 plus. I'm trying to figure out what the link could be but it's pretty perplexing, but I can confirm my truck does the same. If I stand on the gas from a dead stop and keep the rpm's at 4300 or higher the truck shakes the entire time it's accelerating which I think reinforces buster12's theory that the axle is wrapping and hopping. I'm going to pick up some spring clamps after work today and see what happens.

Wheel hop will certainly produce annoying vibrations, resembling that of a badly balanced wheel. This can be caused by completely worn out struts/shocks or looseness in the spring clamps on the rear axle. On front wheel drive cars, defective inner CV joints often cause vibration during acceleration and it too can be quite annoying.

I assume that you checked the differential pinion nut for proper torque to eliminate the differential as the vibration source? There is a collapsible spacer in there and correct torque on the nut is essential to properly preload the pinion shaft bearings to eliminate any play in the assembly.

Edited December 16, 2015 by pm26

Azgmcsierra · December 16, 2015

Read and share this article please :

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/12/there-s-a-big-issue-with-gm-s-suvs-and-no-one-seems-to-have-a-solution.html

ikaika1984 · December 16, 2015

Not sure if this would help here.

http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2015/12/there-s-a-big-issue-with-gm-s-suvs-and-no-one-seems-to-have-a-solution.html

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Sorry double post

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Big_D · December 16, 2015

figured i should post my vibes are back. quick recap, had bad vibes when first got the truck. x3 trips to the dealership solved nothing. so i put a front level (1.5") kit in the front, got an alignment, and was shake free for the last 20k..

only recently they have returned for the last 3k or so. not sure if i should start the hassle of the dealership telling me everything is within spec again, fixing myself, or trading it off.

interested to see about the leaf clamps, may try that.

Stevens03 · December 16, 2015

Interesting article but I wish it had more on the trucks vibration than a blanket over both SUV and trucks.

ikaika1984 · December 16, 2015

Interesting article but I wish it had more on the trucks vibration than a blanket over both SUV and trucks.

I'm just speculating here. But I believe the gentleman who started the fb page in respect to the vibration issues is an owner of an SUV. So I'm thinking the article was initiated and based on their issues. I'm thinking that's why he indicated to post our vibration issues.. Article is a start.

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yahtzee · December 16, 2015

Interesting article but I wish it had more on the trucks vibration than a blanket over both SUV and trucks.

Feel free to push for a separate article. I started from scratch and because my vehicle was a 16 Yukon XL Denali with these issues that's what I pursued.

FogDucker · December 16, 2015

It's also possible that the SUVs and pickups have the same root cause (vibration) and that the symptoms (shaking, booming and/or vibrating) are different.

AFAIK, the only difference between the SUVs and pickups is the size/shape of the box on the rear.

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Stevens03 · December 16, 2015

My current 2015 GMC hardly has any vibration and would almost say its 98% the tires causing the issue in my case.. but I know what it's like, my last truck (2014 Silverado) had a HORRIBLE shake/vibration above 65 mpg like others.