Shake or Vibration Issues

pm26 · February 23, 2016

in addition, there was a TSB for the u-bolt connections being too loose from factory, My truck was affected by this, it was corrected with no change to the vibration.

Well, at least it was vibrating more firmly afterwards.

pm26 · February 23, 2016

First year I'll give them, 2nd year they should have found a fix. No way in hell should this still be a problem in year 3, I don't care what the problem was or is. If you haven't been able to correct it after 2 years you stop production until you figure it out.

The fix is this: You order a new 2017 model and cross your fingers that it will not vibrate, or at least not too much.

pm26 · February 23, 2016

Wow, wonder who makes the rear ends for GM.

Probably the same company that makes the seat frames.

ekimsinnigcm · February 23, 2016

I find it interesting the GM throws rear ends, drive shafts, and wheels and tires at the issue but it does not seem that the actual rear rotors have been replaced. Considering the wheels mount directly to the face of the rotors it seems that it's plausible that the rotors could be manufactured with just enough variance to cause a vibration.

pm26 · February 23, 2016

I find it interesting the GM throws rear ends, drive shafts, and wheels and tires at the issue but it does not seem that the actual rear rotors have been replaced. Considering the wheels mount directly to the face of the rotors it seems that it's plausible that the rotors could be manufactured with just enough variance to cause a vibration.

Brake rotors must be properly balanced just like other rotating parts. And that's the big question: are they balanced at all, or even if, are they balanced correctly? One way to correct imbalance in rotors and wheels is to balance the wheels directly on the truck if you can find a place to do this, as it requires a special balancer which is rare nowadays. The downside is that you cannot rotate the wheels without having to rebalance them.

Edited February 23, 2016 by pm26

big_ole_truck · February 23, 2016

My truck had the shaking/vibration problem. In this huge post, there's been a few theories about the cause of these vibrations and it seems the fixes haven't worked well for all. So I decided to skip over the idea of bringing my truck into the dealership for the part swapping expedition and decided to live with the condition.

If you read carefully, I used the past tense describe the vibration issue. For the past month, I've been using gasoline from a 'top-tier' station (Costco). Initially, there was slightly lesser periods of vibration and the amplitudes were definitely on a smaller scale. For the past two weeks, I drove my truck as my daily driver to see if the vibrations would continue to lessen. Each fill up was at Costco. My daily commute is about 170 miles. Today, my entire trip was vibration free, a first. It was a gradual process but this is my theory: the 5.3L engine must suffer with carbon deposits on the surfaces of the valves (and other components) and using gasoline without the higher levels of detergents found in the top tier gasoline more than likely assists with gunk forming on the valves (and other components). I have just over 5400 miles on my truck and the first vibrations became noticeable around the 1200 mile mark. The other thing I notice is there's more pep to the engine. Pushing down on the gas pedal seems to be met with a smoother engine response and the acceleration doesn't seem to lag. It's quite an improvement on regular 87 octane gasoline.

If you're wondering about 'top tier' gasoline, there's plenty of information found with a basic internet search. There's a few brands offering gasoline that qualifies as 'top tier'.

Lastly, this may be purely coincidental about using a fuel with more detergent and experiencing declining vibrations to the point it has disappeared. I'll keep using Costco gasoline and if those happily forgotten vibrations and shakes return, an update will be made. I lost count on the number of tanks of fuel consumed but it's a big number of refills.

paxtonman · February 23, 2016

I find it interesting the GM throws rear ends, drive shafts, and wheels and tires at the issue but it does not seem that the actual rear rotors have been replaced. Considering the wheels mount directly to the face of the rotors it seems that it's plausible that the rotors could be manufactured with just enough variance to cause a vibration.

Have to seriously wonder how many resources are being devoted to fixing the issue.

southern_sierra · February 23, 2016

My truck had the shaking/vibration problem. In this huge post, there's been a few theories about the cause of these vibrations and it seems the fixes haven't worked well for all. So I decided to skip over the idea of bringing my truck into the dealership for the part swapping expedition and decided to live with the condition.

If you read carefully, I used the past tense describe the vibration issue. For the past month, I've been using gasoline from a 'top-tier' station (Costco). Initially, there was slightly lesser periods of vibration and the amplitudes were definitely on a smaller scale. For the past two weeks, I drove my truck as my daily driver to see if the vibrations would continue to lessen. Each fill up was at Costco. My daily commute is about 170 miles. Today, my entire trip was vibration free, a first. It was a gradual process but this is my theory: the 5.3L engine must suffer with carbon deposits on the surfaces of the valves (and other components) and using gasoline without the higher levels of detergents found in the top tier gasoline more than likely assists with gunk forming on the valves (and other components). I have just over 5400 miles on my truck and the first vibrations became noticeable around the 1200 mile mark. The other thing I notice is there's more pep to the engine. Pushing down on the gas pedal seems to be met with a smoother engine response and the acceleration doesn't seem to lag. It's quite an improvement on regular 87 octane gasoline.

If you're wondering about 'top tier' gasoline, there's plenty of information found with a basic internet search. There's a few brands offering gasoline that qualifies as 'top tier'.

Lastly, this may be purely coincidental about using a fuel with more detergent and experiencing declining vibrations to the point it has disappeared. I'll keep using Costco gasoline and if those happily forgotten vibrations and shakes return, an update will be made. I lost count on the number of tanks of fuel consumed but it's a big number of refills.

The 5.3 and 6.2 are direct injection engines. Gas is not sprayed on the valves to clean them. The gas is injected between the bottom of the valve and the top of the piston. On the older engines the valves were washed with gas. Some people including me are using catch cans to try and keep the valves from coking. The valves can be cleaned using seafoam through the throttle body.

Edited February 23, 2016 by southern_sierra

tnchevy · February 23, 2016

My truck had the shaking/vibration problem. In this huge post, there's been a few theories about the cause of these vibrations and it seems the fixes haven't worked well for all. So I decided to skip over the idea of bringing my truck into the dealership for the part swapping expedition and decided to live with the condition.

If you read carefully, I used the past tense describe the vibration issue. For the past month, I've been using gasoline from a 'top-tier' station (Costco). Initially, there was slightly lesser periods of vibration and the amplitudes were definitely on a smaller scale. For the past two weeks, I drove my truck as my daily driver to see if the vibrations would continue to lessen. Each fill up was at Costco. My daily commute is about 170 miles. Today, my entire trip was vibration free, a first. It was a gradual process but this is my theory: the 5.3L engine must suffer with carbon deposits on the surfaces of the valves (and other components) and using gasoline without the higher levels of detergents found in the top tier gasoline more than likely assists with gunk forming on the valves (and other components). I have just over 5400 miles on my truck and the first vibrations became noticeable around the 1200 mile mark. The other thing I notice is there's more pep to the engine. Pushing down on the gas pedal seems to be met with a smoother engine response and the acceleration doesn't seem to lag. It's quite an improvement on regular 87 octane gasoline.

If you're wondering about 'top tier' gasoline, there's plenty of information found with a basic internet search. There's a few brands offering gasoline that qualifies as 'top tier'.

Lastly, this may be purely coincidental about using a fuel with more detergent and experiencing declining vibrations to the point it has disappeared. I'll keep using Costco gasoline and if those happily forgotten vibrations and shakes return, an update will be made. I lost count on the number of tanks of fuel consumed but it's a big number of refills.

Sorry buddy, that has nothing to do with the Vibrations talked about in this thread. Your vibe problems sound similar to mine in that they come and go.

WLC · February 23, 2016

Firing order is different on the new 5.3's? Any connection to someone's vibs?

Fountain_NGA · February 23, 2016

I figured I would pile on with my story regarding the vibration with my Silverado. I have a 2015 Silverado LT with 18" Wheels. The vibration in my vehicle was noticed about a month and a half after purchase, mainly because it wasn't until after that time that I was regularly driving at freeway speeds. Like many of the other accounts posted on here, my vibration starts mainly in the steering wheel at about 45mph, then seems to die off until you hit 70mph. At 70 the vibration steadily gets worse becoming noticeable in the steering and pedals around 75mph and basically shaking the entire truck at 80.

I took the truck to the dealership close to where I work they replaced two tires and balanced the other two. Of course this didn't fix the problem. Took it back a week later, another two tires, balanced the other new tires again, no change. Took it in a few weeks later, PICO meter says it's balancing, they re-balanced all 4, still no change. The dealership said they were going to try to see if they could get GM to approve a non-standard repair for the issue. The dealership wanted to remove the Goodyear Wrangler tires on the truck and replace them with Michelin, GM approved, the caveat was, they wanted me to pay the difference in cost of the tires (um, no). I didn't approve since everyone involved has verified that the vibration exists, the truck only had 2300 miles when it went in for it's first repair, so it's a warranty issue. If they though a different brand of tires would fix it, they should be paying for them. Of course, I've driven a Sierra and a F-150 with the same tires on them, and the issue didn't exist.

Now, under Georgia's Lemon Law, they have three attempts and then you send them a letter requesting a final repair attempt. Sent the letter and received a call from Chevy's Customer Resolution Center. The scheduled the final repair attempt for yesterday (2/22/16) and said a GM Engineer would be onsite to resolve the issue. Left the vehicle there the whole day, and when I went to pick it up I was told that the balancing machine they were using was 1/1000th of an inch off and took the tires to another dealer with a brand new machine to re-balance the tires. They said some issues were found on that machine and corrected. They also did the PICO meter again and tried to tell me the vibration I was feeling was due to the soft tonneau cover I had on the truck buffeting in the wind (really?). So in order to humor the engineer, I drove it home with the cover rolled up, anyone want to guess the result, yep, vibration still there.

So under Georgia's Lemon Law, I am mailing the request for repurchase today to Chevrolet and I guess we will see what happens.

Sad part is, I still love GM Trucks, and should they agree to the repurchase without too much hassle, I plan to buy another one (granted the test drive may be more involved this time around). But with 544 pages to date of people discussing this issue, there has to be an underlying cause that needs to be addressed. But you can bet that if I end up having go to to the State run mediation, I'm going to print out all 544+ pages to take them will me to the hearing. I only feel bad for whoever gets this truck next since they won't have the benefit of the Lemon Law on their side.

I'll update as this progresses.

-Dennis

ekimsinnigcm · February 23, 2016

For those trying to track the vibration on your own, have you lifted the rear wheels off the ground and put the truck in "Drive" and checked how the wheels look while spinning? Mine appeared to be bent while spinning on the truck but the tire shop and dealership both confirmed the wheels are straight as an arrow with road force numbers under 10. This is what leads me to believe it's the rear rotors may be the issue. If straight wheels spin perfectly on a balancer and not perfectly on the the vehicle when the rear is in the air that leads me to believe the problem must be the surface the wheels mount to (the rotor). The rotor may be mounted improperly or there is a minimal defect in the manufacturing process, only time will tell. I want to get my truck back so I can run it with out the rear wheels and actually see if this is infact happening.

ekimsinnigcm · February 23, 2016

Also, if you do put in in "Drive" while in the air, don't be stupid. Please take all precautions such as using jack stands, block the front wheels, don't do it in a closed garage... You get the the picture. I don't want to read about someone who got ran over or killed by their own truck.

dave07 · February 23, 2016

That might be a bent axle tube. You should feel it when braking if it's the rotor correct?

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Jesse Davidson · February 23, 2016

The fix is this: You order a new 2017 model and cross your fingers that it will not vibrate, or at least not too much.

so suffer another year, and hope you still have enough time left to file for it.

I find it interesting the GM throws rear ends, drive shafts, and wheels and tires at the issue but it does not seem that the actual rear rotors have been replaced. Considering the wheels mount directly to the face of the rotors it seems that it's plausible that the rotors could be manufactured with just enough variance to cause a vibration.

Im sure someone out there has aftermarket rotors by now..... I tend to doubt that they are the issue. I believe it was abominable that took is rear end apart and found the edges of the gear teeth chipping away... GM said don't worry about it lol.

My truck had the shaking/vibration problem. In this huge post, there's been a few theories about the cause of these vibrations and it seems the fixes haven't worked well for all. So I decided to skip over the idea of bringing my truck into the dealership for the part swapping expedition and decided to live with the condition.

If you read carefully, I used the past tense describe the vibration issue. For the past month, I've been using gasoline from a 'top-tier' station (Costco). Initially, there was slightly lesser periods of vibration and the amplitudes were definitely on a smaller scale. For the past two weeks, I drove my truck as my daily driver to see if the vibrations would continue to lessen. Each fill up was at Costco. My daily commute is about 170 miles. Today, my entire trip was vibration free, a first. It was a gradual process but this is my theory: the 5.3L engine must suffer with carbon deposits on the surfaces of the valves (and other components) and using gasoline without the higher levels of detergents found in the top tier gasoline more than likely assists with gunk forming on the valves (and other components). I have just over 5400 miles on my truck and the first vibrations became noticeable around the 1200 mile mark. The other thing I notice is there's more pep to the engine. Pushing down on the gas pedal seems to be met with a smoother engine response and the acceleration doesn't seem to lag. It's quite an improvement on regular 87 octane gasoline.

If you're wondering about 'top tier' gasoline, there's plenty of information found with a basic internet search. There's a few brands offering gasoline that qualifies as 'top tier'.

Lastly, this may be purely coincidental about using a fuel with more detergent and experiencing declining vibrations to the point it has disappeared. I'll keep using Costco gasoline and if those happily forgotten vibrations and shakes return, an update will be made. I lost count on the number of tanks of fuel consumed but it's a big number of refills.

Gas has nothing to do with it, for that matter I only use "top tier" fuels in shell, mobile, and sunoco. doesn't help me

For those trying to track the vibration on your own, have you lifted the rear wheels off the ground and put the truck in "Drive" and checked how the wheels look while spinning? Mine appeared to be bent while spinning on the truck but the tire shop and dealership both confirmed the wheels are straight as an arrow with road force numbers under 10. This is what leads me to believe it's the rear rotors may be the issue. If straight wheels spin perfectly on a balancer and not perfectly on the the vehicle when the rear is in the air that leads me to believe the problem must be the surface the wheels mount to (the rotor). The rotor may be mounted improperly or there is a minimal defect in the manufacturing process, only time will tell. I want to get my truck back so I can run it with out the rear wheels and actually see if this is infact happening.

That might be a bent axle tube. You should feel it when braking if it's the rotor correct?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

This i agree with

I know people have used lift and leveling kits, but has anyone tried using a softer shock, and adding sway bars to reduce the additional body roll that would likely result. leaf spring clamps have helped some people.

just spit balling here