Shake or Vibration Issues

tnchevy · October 12, 2017

1 hour ago, 97SierraSLT said:

Please share with us the raw data you've personally collected to substantiate this claim.

Joined this forum because of my chevy shakes 3 years ago. Followed this thread since the beginning and of course the only people chiming in are the ones with troubles. On the road a lot for my job so asked hundreds of 2014+ silverado owners I have met in the last 3 years and every single one of them said they had no vibration problems. My company now has more than 50 2014 + silverados in our fleet and I have asked all the guys who drive them if they have vibe problems and all of them say no. Re-balancing the tires took care of half my shakes and over the last 25k miles they have lessened to some degree. I see you only have 2 posts so that means you joined because you have the vibe problems and you are pissed off about it but just because yours has problems does not mean the other 3 million K2's on the road have them. You can choose to believe that every truck has or will have the same problem as yours or you can face reality and do what you can to fix it or move on to another brand of truck. Best of luck to you.

kthomas72 · October 13, 2017

7 hours ago, tnchevy said:

Joined this forum because of my chevy shakes 3 years ago. Followed this thread since the beginning and of course the only people chiming in are the ones with troubles. On the road a lot for my job so asked hundreds of 2014+ silverado owners I have met in the last 3 years and every single one of them said they had no vibration problems. My company now has more than 50 2014 + silverados in our fleet and I have asked all the guys who drive them if they have vibe problems and all of them say no. Re-balancing the tires took care of half my shakes and over the last 25k miles they have lessened to some degree. I see you only have 2 posts so that means you joined because you have the vibe problems and you are pissed off about it but just because yours has problems does not mean the other 3 million K2's on the road have them. You can choose to believe that every truck has or will have the same problem as yours or you can face reality and do what you can to fix it or move on to another brand of truck. Best of luck to you.

That is a valid point but also anecdotal evidence referring to a forum where only a few amount of people would actually engage. Most people go straight to the dealership to try to figure it out or even a mechanic shop and leave it there. My personal 2015 Silverado, work truck 2015 Silverado and almost all the other superintendents in my company all have this issue, and its a constant gripe because with out schedules coffee is most definitely a necessity and in all our trucks its stained the interior of the vehicles due to the vibrations. Some people don't put a lot of miles on their vehicles to notice or could possibly just not be as anal as others but to suggest that some people got a bad deal and that's just the way it is isn't the purpose here.

tnchevy · October 13, 2017

5 hours ago, kthomas72 said:

That is a valid point but also anecdotal evidence referring to a forum where only a few amount of people would actually engage. Most people go straight to the dealership to try to figure it out or even a mechanic shop and leave it there. My personal 2015 Silverado, work truck 2015 Silverado and almost all the other superintendents in my company all have this issue, and its a constant gripe because with out schedules coffee is most definitely a necessity and in all our trucks its stained the interior of the vehicles due to the vibrations. Some people don't put a lot of miles on their vehicles to notice or could possibly just not be as anal as others but to suggest that some people got a bad deal and that's just the way it is isn't the purpose here.

I know what the purpose here is as I dealt with and kept up with this problem longer than most that are still visiting this thread. After 4 model years people are still buying and GM is still selling 3/4 of a million of these things a year. If vibe problems are so wide spread how come they are still selling these trucks? How come there has not been a successful lawsuit? The reason is that it effects so little trucks. If 1% are effected than that is 7,000 or so trucks a year and that would be about 28,000 over the last 4 years. I think that it is strange that some people including your self claim that every body you talk to has a vibe problem while myself and others can't find any body with the vibe problem (outside of the internet). There will never be a real fix from GM for those effected and they will probably remedy it when the truck is re-designed. If re-balancing or new tires won't fix and you can't stand it then your best bet is to move on to something else or continue coming back to this thread just hoping there is a miracle fix but after 4 years there has not been one yet.

6sigma · October 13, 2017

2 hours ago, tnchevy said:

I know what the purpose here is as I dealt with and kept up with this problem longer than most that are still visiting this thread. After 4 model years people are still buying and GM is still selling 3/4 of a million of these things a year. If vibe problems are so wide spread how come they are still selling these trucks? How come there has not been a successful lawsuit? The reason is that it effects so little trucks. If 1% are effected than that is 7,000 or so trucks a year and that would be about 28,000 over the last 4 years. I think that it is strange that some people including your self claim that every body you talk to has a vibe problem while myself and others can't find any body with the vibe problem (outside of the internet). There will never be a real fix from GM for those effected and they will probably remedy it when the truck is re-designed. If re-balancing or new tires won't fix and you can't stand it then your best bet is to move on to something else or continue coming back to this thread just hoping there is a miracle fix but after 4 years there has not been one yet.

I agree with this. If every post on every page of this thread was a new, distinct person with a vibration problem, it would only represent something like .003% of trucks sold. And we know much of this thread is information, not actual new people with the problem. There clearly is a problem but it is not as prevalent as this focused problem discussion may make it seem.

My 15 double cab had the vibration which was resolved with tightening the stock leaf U bolts and a good RFB. My 17 is smooth as glass and the best truck I've owned so far.

I wonder if GM made some small changes, or perhaps improvements in quality control for key parts like axles, diffs, gears, wheels, etc to reduce the likelihood of a vibration in the 17s. It is possible that earlier years parts were not being manufactured to meet all required specs (small deviations that may have passed QC or testing, but still enough to cause a vibration). GM may have smacked their vendors and tightened up QC and/or actual tolerances/specs. Who knows - purely speculation, but the problem seems to be less on the 17s. In fact, this thread has slowed down quite a bit recently and there are relatively few 17s reporting in here versus earlier years.

Willyone · October 13, 2017

Ok, so a low % of the GM trucks have the vibration problem. That might be correct, but we will likely never know what the % of affected trucks actually is. But if the % is low, if that is correct, true, whatever, why does GM not fix the issue for the customers whose trucks do have the vibration problem? If there are not that many affected trucks or the % of trucks affected is so low, the overall cost to GM for the fix would be low as well. GM has a gaggle of engineers on the payroll and prolly a crap load more outside the corporate, so GM knows what the cause or causes of the vibration are.

Apparently GM just sucks when it comes to making things right, honoring their warrantee. But GM seems pretty good at convincing some dealer service reps to lie.

I sure am glad Obama used our/my $$ to bail the bastards out.

I know.... just another useless rant LOL

Snoringbear · October 13, 2017

13 minutes ago, 6sigma said:

I agree with this. If every post on every page of this thread was a new, distinct person with a vibration problem, it would only represent something like .003% of trucks sold. And we know much of this thread is information, not actual new people with the problem. There clearly is a problem but it is not as prevalent as this focused problem discussion may make it seem.

My 15 double cab had the vibration which was resolved with tightening the stock leaf U bolts and a good RFB. My 17 is smooth as glass and the best truck I've owned so far.

I wonder if GM made some small changes, or perhaps improvements in quality control for key parts like axles, diffs, gears, wheels, etc to reduce the likelihood of a vibration in the 17s. It is possible that earlier years parts were not being manufactured to meet all required specs (small deviations that may have passed QC or testing, but still enough to cause a vibration). GM may have smacked their vendors and tightened up QC and/or actual tolerances/specs. Who knows - purely speculation, but the problem seems to be less on the 17s. In fact, this thread has slowed down quite a bit recently and there are relatively few 17s reporting in here versus earlier years.

Noticed your handle is 6sigma and your comments refer to small deviations, tolerances, etc.. Just curious if you might work for Motorola (now Freescale)? You seem knowledgeable in statistical process control as am I. My theory about the root cause of the Chevy Shake is not the various individual parts or components are out of tolerance as due to automation, computerization and SPC being used to control these tolerances outgoing quality across the industry continues to improve. I believe the villain is the frame. GM made the decision to make the K2 frame stronger and more rigid so to improve ride quality, quietness, etc, which was a good idea. however, the end result is that under certain conditions when certain parts, sub assemblies, etc, when certain tolerances align just right the Chevy Shake is created. There have been a few other posters on this thread who have I believe correctly labeled the problem as "frame beaming" which I think accurately describes what's happening. What's interesting is that from what I've read the new 2019 platform will be even stronger and more rigid than the current frame. But, it's my guess that GM has done a ton of research and testing on this and my expectation is that the 2019 will be "smooth as a gravy sandwich". But, what do I know. Guess we shall see ...

2017SierraSLT · October 13, 2017

7 minutes ago, Snoringbear said:

Noticed your handle is 6sigma and your comments refer to small deviations, tolerances, etc.. Just curious if you might work for Motorola (now Freescale)? You seem knowledgeable in statistical process control as am I. My theory about the root cause of the Chevy Shake is not the various individual parts or components are out of tolerance as due to automation, computerization and SPC being used to control these tolerances outgoing quality across the industry continues to improve. I believe the villain is the frame. GM made the decision to make the K2 frame stronger and more rigid so to improve ride quality, quietness, etc, which was a good idea. however, the end result is that under certain conditions when certain parts, sub assemblies, etc, when certain tolerances align just right the Chevy Shake is created. There have been a few other posters on this thread who have I believe correctly labeled the problem as "frame beaming" which I think accurately describes what's happening. What's interesting is that from what I've read the new 2019 platform will be even stronger and more rigid than the current frame. But, it's my guess that GM has done a ton of research and testing on this and my expectation is that the 2019 will be "smooth as a gravy sandwich". But, what do I know. Guess we shall see ...

The frame on a GMT900 is virtually identical to the K2XX. If the frame was the sole cause, don't ya think that they would have been shakers too?

Snoringbear · October 13, 2017

Well, that's not what I've read. But, concerning the root cause I've only offered guesses and opinions which I freely acknowledge are like @$$ holes, everybody has one . Btw, at 36,000 miles my 2015 doesn't have The Shake. However, full disclosure; at about 32,000 miles my truck did come down with torque converter shudder. However, problem was fixed with service bulletin prescription; complete flush of tranny and cooler, new filter, 23 qts of new type fluid.

lylknutsak · October 13, 2017

On 10/12/2017 at 3:08 PM, jpcons said:

Well I am happy to say mine has been fixed. The biggest problem was the ring & pinion. The ring had a tooth that was higher then the others so that was why at certain spped it would vibrate. I put a set of tires on and run snow tires in the winter and no vibration with either.

What gear set do you have? I have the 3.23 gears and I have the "vibration" over 60MPH.

kthomas72 · October 14, 2017

16 hours ago, tnchevy said:

I know what the purpose here is as I dealt with and kept up with this problem longer than most that are still visiting this thread. After 4 model years people are still buying and GM is still selling 3/4 of a million of these things a year. If vibe problems are so wide spread how come they are still selling these trucks? How come there has not been a successful lawsuit? The reason is that it effects so little trucks. If 1% are effected than that is 7,000 or so trucks a year and that would be about 28,000 over the last 4 years. I think that it is strange that some people including your self claim that every body you talk to has a vibe problem while myself and others can't find any body with the vibe problem (outside of the internet). There will never be a real fix from GM for those effected and they will probably remedy it when the truck is re-designed. If re-balancing or new tires won't fix and you can't stand it then your best bet is to move on to something else or continue coming back to this thread just hoping there is a miracle fix but after 4 years there has not been one yet.

You definitely have valid points that I agree with. I still feel that the issue is under reported as well. I do know for a fact that one dealership that was doing all the initial exploratory procedures on my truck actually never reported it into the system as a vibration issue but rather just a service for tire balancing etc.... which would definitely lead it to not being reported. The second dealership that has been more than helpful let me know that for some reason they were not reporting it as a vibration issue so over a year later on paper my truck never had a problem but just rather a service record. Its just a rather frustrating situation for me and I don't know what to do at this point. I have paint on the drivers side with moisture bubbling behind it and flaking it off, the AC condenser just went out last week and the constant vibration makes it impossible to sell without spending another $2.5k to fix the poor quality parts and paint and then screwing someone else over with the vibration.

lloydsmale · October 14, 2017

well the dealership called on mine yesterday. Said they think they finally have fixed it. After 4 road force balancings of the bfg tires they put on a set of take off stock tires and it still shook. So this time they took an entire set of wheels and tires off of a truck on the lot and also replaced one shock that was questionable. They said its smooth now. We will see Monday when they bring it back. Funny thing is that last week I contact gm directly about this and got assigned a rep. The dealership has been dealing with him too trying to find the cause. When he called yesterday to say it was done he said the service rep said to give me a 4 year 60k warrantee on the truck too in case this vibration has caused problems. I seriously doubt they would have done that if they didn't know this problem exists. Funny thing too is when I got home yesterday and checked the mail there was a letter for a class action law suit over these vibration problems in the mail. Say what you want. Claim its an overblown problem that a bunch of winers are bitching about but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't waste the time on a law suit if there wasn't a big problem with them . Funny thing too is my neighbor just bought a new 17 silveardo. I talked to him and he said his truck didn't shake. Two days later he came up to me and said it did. He said after I told him about mine he started paying more attention and had never noticed it before. I think that is the case with a lot of them. People who buy them ignore it and think its just rough road surface or are like my wife and aren't mechanicaly inclined enough to even know something isn't right. Lots buy there first truck and think its normal because its a car not a truck. If anything id bet this problem is NOT overblown one bit on here. Id bet just the opposite. Id bet theres probably twice as many truck out there that have a problem then are reported. Why else would there even be a class action law suit started against gm. In fact mine is probably one of the ones that wasn't as bad as most. One that many would have just overlooked or not paid attention enough to realize it wasn't right.

Edited October 14, 2017 by lloydsmale

jpcons · October 14, 2017

18 hours ago, lylknutsak said:

What gear set do you have? I have the 3.23 gears and I have the "vibration" over 60MPH.

3.42

gbdweller · October 14, 2017

I’ve just fixed my vibration issue by unloading my shaking squeakerado. I wish all of you still suffering with these issues the best of luck. It’s clear to me that GM has zero desire to rectify this issue and they have lost a customer for life.

Edited October 15, 2017 by gbdweller

2017SierraSLT · October 14, 2017

Bye! I'd like to see how well that Rubicon can haul 1,000 lbs..

Colossus · October 14, 2017

3 hours ago, gbdweller said:

I’ve just fixed my vibration issue by unloaded my shaking squeakerado. I wish all of you still suffering with these issues the best of luck. It’s clear to me that GM has zero desire to rectify this issue and they have lost a customer for life.

losing a customer for life doesn't really bother anyone anymore. There are thousands of babies/potential customers born every day. That being said- I hope the Jeep serves you well. I loved my 89 Wrangler. it's no truck, but as something fun to drive, it worked.