Shake or Vibration Issues

BeauTie · January 5, 2016

How many of you guys have marked your tires to see if they are spinning on the rims? Ziemer reported back in October that his tires were slipping on his 20" rims (like 7 to 10 inches!) and that was after his dealer discovered they were slipping and let them sit overnight after remounting them presumably with something to stop the slippage.

This slipping would obviously interfere with the balancing so would explain the need to rebalance tires constantly and some inconsistency in the vibration from day to day. Just curious how many guys have checked for this.

Bill Heg · January 6, 2016

Hi Everyone. Back in May, 2015 I purchased a 2015 All Terain Sierra. Loved the truck, hated the ride. Had the shake at low and high speeds. It was not consistent, some days it was there some days it was not. Very disappointed in the ride. Had traded a 2006 Chevy Avalanche which had an awesome ride so going to this issue caused me to regret buying this truck. Was determined to live with it, but was not happy. Ended up back at the dealership buying my wife a new Buick and saw a 2016 Sierra with the 6.2 liter engine. Ended up trading in the 2015 for the 2016 and could not be happier. The shake is gone, and no rumble at low speed like I had with the 2015. Now I look forward to driving again. Not sure what GMC did for the 2016's but for me it solved the issue.

rshad · January 6, 2016

Hi Everyone. Back in May, 2015 I purchased a 2015 All Terain Sierra. Loved the truck, hated the ride. Had the shake at low and high speeds. It was not consistent, some days it was there some days it was not. Very disappointed in the ride. Had traded a 2006 Chevy Avalanche which had an awesome ride so going to this issue caused me to regret buying this truck. Was determined to live with it, but was not happy. Ended up back at the dealership buying my wife a new Buick and saw a 2016 Sierra with the 6.2 liter engine. Ended up trading in the 2015 for the 2016 and could not be happier. The shake is gone, and no rumble at low speed like I had with the 2015. Now I look forward to driving again. Not sure what GMC did for the 2016's but for me it solved the issue.

Not to put a damper on anything but how long have you had the 2016? My truck did not start vibrating until after 600 or 700 miles and some on here have even made it over 2000 before having the vibration. I was wondering because when I start complaining with my dealer the only thing I can do is a trade because I won't have enough cash to get into any other brand so I would be looking into getting a 2016. I just purchased my truck (2015) in October. Did they do a buy-back or did you take a hit on the 2015 to get into the 2016?

Edited January 6, 2016 by rshad

Snoringbear · January 6, 2016

I'm guessing the buffeting problem on suv's may be different than the vibration problem some trucks are experiencing. It's my experience that the annoying what I call harmonic vibration can be experienced on just about any modern vehicle simply by rolling down the drivers window. Being that I'm an old school kind of guy I enjoy driving along with the window down occasionally. So, to avoid harmonic buffeting I've found that dropping the rear passengers side window maybe 4 ~ 6 inches will greatly reduce or even eliminate it. However, on SUV'S the roof is definitely a very long run of sheet metal. So, it's easy to understand that if its not attached properly to the bows there could be hormonic vibration caused by oscillation of the roofs sheet metal when driving at speed.

About the truck problem; appears several folks have zeroed in on tires or wheels being out of balance. And, that in some instances Road Force balancing has greatly reduced or even eliminated the problem. I've noticed especially noticed this whenever there's aftermarket products entered into the equation, not always but often. Anyway, my two bits on this is to stay with in-spec wheels and tires. Personally, I use Discount Tire exclusively and run only Michelin tires. I pay a few bucks more but have learned that they're worth the money. Side note; I've never noticed whether DT utilizes Road Force balancing machines or not. My 2015 6.2L Silverado Crew LTZ 4x4 has about 12k miles. When it's up for tires I will pay attention and ask the guys at the DT store where I do business. Calf Rope

Bill Heg · January 6, 2016

Not to put a damper on anything but how long have you had the 2016? My truck did not start vibrating until after 600 or 700 miles and some on here have even made it over 2000 before having the vibration. I was wondering because when I start complaining with my dealer the only thing I can do is a trade because I won't have enough cash to get into any other brand so I would be looking into getting a 2016. I just purchased my truck (2015) in October. Did they do a buy-back or did you take a hit on the 2015 to get into the 2016?

Rshad, I just bought the 2016 in early December. Good point, I don't have a lot of miles on it yet, I think around 300. My 2015 vibrated right from the start, I noticed it on the test ride but thought it was because I was on unfamiliar roads, but on the ride home I really noticed it. I then came here to these forums and found out how may people were having this problem. I traded the 2015 back to the dealer for the 2016, so yeah I did take a bit of a hit, but am very happy with the 2016.....so far, it just seems to work better. No delay on the touch screen (I believe they upgraded the computer), LED headlights (didn't like the projector beams in the 2015), rides better and the 6.2 liter with the 8 speed tranny is sweet. I just hope the shake does not rear it's nasty head.

Txjose · January 6, 2016

I bought my 14 a few months ago and added a level and 33s...it shakes at 70ish a bit. I bought it used with a tad more then 30K miles on it.... Drove it 15min with the stocl tires to the suspension shop that did my level/tires.

Can i still take it to the dealer and have them look at it?

RJNavarrete · January 6, 2016

I was hoping it would go away, but thus far it looks like it's sticking (at 800 miles here): I have a slight steering wheel shake when decelerating in the 50-42 mph range. Does anyone else's truck do this? Anyone know if this is easily fixable? What could be the cause? Not sure if I really feel it while accelerating, but it's definitely there when decelerating.

rpoffen · January 6, 2016

I bought my 14 a few months ago and added a level and 33s...it shakes at 70ish a bit. I bought it used with a tad more then 30K miles on it.... Drove it 15min with the stocl tires to the suspension shop that did my level/tires.

Can i still take it to the dealer and have them look at it?

The B2B warranty is still in effect if it is less than 36K miles/36months, it is transferrable.

However, they may claim that the level/tires are responsible and make you revert it back to stock before they will look at the vibration issues.

Edited January 6, 2016 by rpoffen

rpoffen · January 6, 2016

I was hoping it would go away, but thus far it looks like it's sticking (at 800 miles here): I have a slight steering wheel shake when decelerating in the 50-42 mph range. Does anyone else's truck do this? Anyone know if this is easily fixable? What could be the cause? Not sure if I really feel it while accelerating, but it's definitely there when decelerating.

By decelerating do you mean braking or just coasting? If while braking, then could be rotors, If just decelerating, then there have been reports of improperly shimmed rear-ends causing too much backlash or improper preload of the pinion.

RJNavarrete · January 6, 2016

By decelerating do you mean braking or just coasting? If while braking, then could be rotors, If just decelerating, then there have been reports of improperly shimmed rear-ends causing too much backlash or improper preload of the pinion.

I *think* it has been only while braking, but I'll try letting it coast during my lunch break and report.

Andre Oliveira · January 6, 2016

i bought my truck 3 months ago, same issue dealer been changing tires every week, i just contact GM CORP. and they called the dealer and they are working to solve the problem. i've been told by one of the techs that the they have no idea how to fix it and recommend that i should ask for a new truck.

steveU · January 6, 2016

Everyone that has the vibration listen up. My 2014 Sierra was fixed by having the rear end rebuilt. It turned out that there are bad seals in the rear differential so they replaced it and the pinion and a gear. Running smooth now. Background: Steering wheel shook at 40-52 mph especially when coasting to a stop. They tried new tires and road force balancing but that did not work. One GM engineer even told my service manager that they could replace every part on the truck and it would still shake. Don't take that for an answer. Paying 40+K for a vehicle and having that shaking is not acceptable. BTW, mine did not start until 5K miles and got worse until about 15K. Now I hope it is fixed at 19K. Good luck and hope this helps.

Txjose · January 6, 2016

The B2B warranty is still in effect if it is less than 36K miles/36months, it is transferrable.

However, they may claim that the level/tires are responsible and make you revert it back to stock before they will look at the vibration issues.

Truck has well over 36K now. I will still take it to the dealer when i get a chance.

pm26 · January 6, 2016

Everyone that has the vibration listen up. My 2014 Sierra was fixed by having the rear end rebuilt. It turned out that there are bad seals in the rear differential so they replaced it and the pinion and a gear. Running smooth now. Background: Steering wheel shook at 40-52 mph especially when coasting to a stop. They tried new tires and road force balancing but that did not work. One GM engineer even told my service manager that they could replace every part on the truck and it would still shake. Don't take that for an answer. Paying 40+K for a vehicle and having that shaking is not acceptable. BTW, mine did not start until 5K miles and got worse until about 15K. Now I hope it is fixed at 19K. Good luck and hope this helps.

Bad seals cause oil leaks, not vibration. Replacing those have nothing to do with your vibration problem. Maybe pinion shaft and its bearings and the ring gear. Quite possibly the preload on the pinion shaft bearings was not correct due to pinion shaft nut being loose.

Edited January 6, 2016 by pm26

steveU · January 6, 2016

Bad seals cause oil leaks, not vibration. Replacing those have nothing to do with your vibration problem. Maybe pinion shaft and its bearings and the ring gear. Quite possibly the preload on the pinion shaft bearings was not correct due to pinion shaft nut being loose.

I didn't say the seals caused the vibration. I just stated what they did.