Shake or Vibration Issues

Snoringbear · April 5, 2016

lol, first time I think I actually liked a post you made

Watch it Jesse D! Comments like that may ruin your reputation, haha actually, I'm flattered that you remember my postings cause I certainly don't. I'm an old dog and I attempt, probably not very well, to inject a small modicum of subtle sardonic humor in them just for fun. Life's way to short to take forums, any forums, very seriously regardless of ones position. Hope you achieve a satisfactory conclusion to your issue for sure

DALaws · April 5, 2016

My 70-80MPH vibration is eliminated now, after I tightened the factory U bolts on the leaf springs to 80 ft-lbs and the dealer did a road force balance. The U bolts made about 75% improvement and the rebalance took care of the remainder. Now it is smooth and vibration free. I've put about 500 miles on it and it seems to be holding up. Fingers crossed it doesn't come back.

What is the factory Spec. on the U Bolts?

Mcarlo24 · April 5, 2016

Well, I picked up my truck today from the GM dealer after they put on new tires, and balanced the wheels. Guess what? No more shake! Now I have only put 35 highway miles on the truck on the way home from the dealer. Those 35 miles were vibration free. I am curious to see how this fix hold up as I put more miles on the truck. At least for now I can drive it on the highway.

COngrats bro... Same for me but mine was a year ago and I am still here following... Reason being that I am nervous when I get the tires rotated which will be in a few weeks... I'll keep you all posted but for a year now, my horrible shake is 95% better... The 5% is only because I follow this thread and maybe have become super sensitive..

polarys425 · April 5, 2016

Yeah..my 16 shakes from 72-75 and up. Pretty unhappy about it. Under 70 it is super smooth. Wheels have been balanced twice. I don't think it's a wheel thing because it seems to change in intensity and location every time I drive.

Sometimes it's in the steering wheel at 74 mph. Sometimes the seats are shaking at 75. Sometime it's the whole truck. Really odd. It seems to have gotten worse. Just hit 3k miles.

I'm going to ask for a road force balance and hopefully it'll be better.

Pretty sure the GY SRA'S are crap. But then again, I'm pretty sure it's in the drive line.

Man...38 years buying Japanese vehicles with little or no issues.

Really shot myself in the foot here buying American. Between the clunky transmission, the shuttery shifts, the tin can exhaust, the whining tires, and high speed vibrations, this is not a pleasurable vehicle to own.

This may be my worst ownership experience. Too bad it's such a great looking truck. I thought the Tundra was butt ugly. I guess I'll take ugly and smooth over pretty and shitty.

Have you tried torquing the ubolts?

Fountain_NGA · April 5, 2016

Said I would update on my story so here it is. After gathering everything to submit to the State for the Lemon Law hearing, GM agreed to buy back my truck. Turned it in today and am waiting for my new one to be done after they finish up the Android Auto update to it. Traded my Red 2015 Silverado CrewCab LT for a 2016 Tungsten Metallic Crew Cab LTZ. Test drove this one for a bit and didn't feel the vibration, so I'm hoping that 1500 miles into it there still won't be one. If it does, I may try torquing the Ubolts that I keep hearing about before going down the dealer route again. This sure is frustrating going through the process, but I'm hoping in the end it was worth it. I'll update as the miles climb to see how it's doing.

Edited April 5, 2016 by Fountain_NGA

SierraMyst · April 5, 2016

Have you tried torquing the ubolts?

I torqued the u bolts about a month ago.

At the time, the only I could find for torque specs was...

first pass 59 ft.lbs, second pass 130 degrees

...to my surprise, they were not even torqued to 59 lbs.

I don't know what they are at now with the 59 plus 130 degrees, but what the consensus on the torque spec?

I've seen some guys say 78, others say 90, and one guy said something like 100.

Again, the really peculiar thing is that it's never consistent. The peak harshness of the vibration changes to different speeds each time you drive. It's always over 72 mph, and then there the rare 1 in 20 time that it doesn't vibrate at all.

Something else has to be going on?

But I'll retourques.

What's been the best torque spec everyone's found?

Nate Allan · April 5, 2016

COngrats bro... Same for me but mine was a year ago and I am still here following... Reason being that I am nervous when I get the tires rotated which will be in a few weeks... I'll keep you all posted but for a year now, my horrible shake is 95% better... The 5% is only because I follow this thread and maybe have become super sensitive..

I put 1,000 highway miles on my truck since posting that. And there is a slight vibration at 75mph+. It is still no where near as bad as it was. I'm pretty happy with the truck still.

Maybe, I will try the ubolt torquing and see how it does at 75mph

Edited April 5, 2016 by G M C

polarys425 · April 6, 2016

I torqued the u bolts about a month ago.

At the time, the only I could find for torque specs was...

first pass 59 ft.lbs, second pass 130 degrees

...to my surprise, they were not even torqued to 59 lbs.

I don't know what they are at now with the 59 plus 130 degrees, but what the consensus on the torque spec?

I've seen some guys say 78, others say 90, and one guy said something like 100.

Again, the really peculiar thing is that it's never consistent. The peak harshness of the vibration changes to different speeds each time you drive. It's always over 72 mph, and then there the rare 1 in 20 time that it doesn't vibrate at all.

Something else has to be going on?

But I'll retourques.

What's been the best torque spec everyone's found?

I just torqued mine to 80, the other day. So far the truck feels smoother, which doesn't make much sense. I just can't see it making that much difference, but it has. Before I torqued them, I had a rumble/vibration of some sort at WOT, which is now gone, along with some other harshness that I was feeling.

SierraMyst · April 6, 2016

I just torqued mine to 80, the other day. So far the truck feels smoother, which doesn't make much sense. I just can't see it making that much difference, but it has. Before I torqued them, I had a rumble/vibration of some sort at WOT, which is now gone, along with some other harshness that I was feeling.

You just did the 8 u-bolt bolts. 4 per side correct? I'll torque them down to 80 of the are not already there.

polarys425 · April 6, 2016

You just did the 8 u-bolt bolts. 4 per side correct? I'll torque them down to 80 of the are not already there.

Yeah, just the 8 nuts on the u-bolts. They all seemed to go along way before hitting 80.

Bill Heg · April 6, 2016

Ok I have been following this thread and have not posted in awhile. Recap, I bought a 2015 Sierra All Terain Crew Cab last May. Very disappointed in the ride due to the shake, and a few other things. Really did not enjoy driving it at all. Traded it back in for a 2016 Sierra Crew Cab with the 6.2l, 8 speed tranny. Right off the bat no vibration as was the case with the 2015. I was warned here that the shake may not show up for a while. So it feels like I am sitting on a time bomb waiting for it to happen, very unnerving. I now have 3000 miles and still no shake. I did have the truck up to 80 mph and could feel a very light shake, but no where near what the 2015 did. Do have a clunk in the tranny, sometimes, will see what the dealer can do but not expecting much to be done.

14silverado4.3 · April 6, 2016

I torqued the u bolts about a month ago.

At the time, the only I could find for torque specs was...

first pass 59 ft.lbs, second pass 130 degrees

...to my surprise, they were not even torqued to 59 lbs.

I don't know what they are at now with the 59 plus 130 degrees, but what the consensus on the torque spec?

I've seen some guys say 78, others say 90, and one guy said something like 100.

Again, the really peculiar thing is that it's never consistent. The peak harshness of the vibration changes to different speeds each time you drive. It's always over 72 mph, and then there the rare 1 in 20 time that it doesn't vibrate at all.

Something else has to be going on?

But I'll retourques.

What's been the best torque spec everyone's found?

That is what I find is absolutely maddening, I have the steering vibe... some days are good and I think what did I do differently, then I repeat it the next day and the vibes are back

Gambit66 · April 6, 2016

Ok I have been following this thread and have not posted in awhile. Recap, I bought a 2015 Sierra All Terain Crew Cab last May. Very disappointed in the ride due to the shake, and a few other things. Really did not enjoy driving it at all. Traded it back in for a 2016 Sierra Crew Cab with the 6.2l, 8 speed tranny. Right off the bat no vibration as was the case with the 2015. I was warned here that the shake may not show up for a while. So it feels like I am sitting on a time bomb waiting for it to happen, very unnerving. I now have 3000 miles and still no shake. I did have the truck up to 80 mph and could feel a very light shake, but no where near what the 2015 did. Do have a clunk in the tranny, sometimes, will see what the dealer can do but not expecting much to be done

It`s somewhere in the powertrain, so the newer trans might have eliminated the vibes. I have a 2015 4.3 V6, the loner they gave was a 2016 5.3 V8. Same 6 speed transmission in both, and it vibrated as well. http://www.autoguide.com/auto-news/2016/03/the-mysterious-chevy-shake-is-affecting-pickup-trucks-now-too.html

Edited April 6, 2016 by Gambit66

Gambit66 · April 6, 2016

Yeah, just the 8 nuts on the u-bolts. They all seemed to go along way before hitting 80.

Seems like your taking a big risk at voiding your warranty by altering the specs of your trucks. Always have the dealer perform these task!

hotrodz37 · April 6, 2016

Seems like your taking a big risk at voiding your warranty by altering the specs of your trucks. Always have the dealer perform these task!

This made me chuckle. Does this mean that the dealer is the only one who can torque the lug nuts down? How about change the oil and tighten the filter and drain plug? Just giving you a hard time all in good fun.