Shake or Vibration Issues

Stevens03 · November 11, 2015

Front runner - Your one of the lucky ones. My last silverado shook so bad at 75 mpg that it could nearly shake a bottle out of the center console. At times, I felt it was actually unsafe to drive it was that bad. Some trucks are obviously worse than others. When I first purchased the truck, it was smooth as butter going down the road but as mileage was added, the shake got worse. The dealership balanced the tires more than once, I took it to a tire shop and determined 1 tire was bad.. Smoking gun I suppose or so I thought. I had the tire replaced and all seemed better at first, but was obviously still not 100% smooth. With my truck I would observe smooth the truck riding smooth, then start into a violent shake, then smooth out, and repeat. Almost like a harmonic issue. I rotated the tires and still had the vibration. Always from the rear no matter what position the tires were in. I switched tires with another truck and the vibration was still there. For that truck I believe the rear gear set or pinion gear was the issue. I never got it resolved and like others here, traded. My excuse was I wanted a crew cab to justify the trade. My new truck is smooth, but not as butter all the time which is disappointing. My new truck is more than tolerable and is no where near what the last truck was. More annoying than anything really because I'm so sensitive to the issue now. My wife or passengers don't even feel it anymore. I actually believe this time it is the tires. I'll run them till I need new ones and will replace them and hope for the best.

Some trucks have a serious vibration and it's not an easy fix. I would think that GM will see/find a real solution soon since there's more than 2 years data of dealerships diagnosing it. I do believe that alot of these trucks had bad tires on them and that's all they needed to fix the issue but others have a pretty violent shake that isn't from the tires. That's the real problem here.

Jesse Davidson · November 11, 2015

Serious question: Does anyone notice that vibration seems less pronounced on wet roads?

Traveled the same highway for years; rained yesterday vibration was there but livable. Today dry: Vibration was much more pronounced.

yes I have noticed that, and believe i posted about it somewhere back in the 350-380 page range

C6Bill · November 11, 2015

I was with Jesse on a test drive on wet roads and it was noticeably better on a wet road, that is why we thought it could be that smooth road jitter software at fault.

Edited November 11, 2015 by C6Bill

Jesse Davidson · November 11, 2015

hahaha yea Bill, we also tested my 18's and that only made a slight difference aswell. I can't wait to dump this truck

ziemer · November 11, 2015

With my truck I would observe smooth the truck riding smooth, then start into a violent shake, then smooth out, and repeat. Almost like a harmonic issue. I rotated the tires and still had the vibration. Always from the rear no matter what position the tires were in. I switched tires with another truck and the vibration was still there

This is exactly what my truck does. It's had several tires replaced, road forced, new shocks, new left rear axle, etc but it's still there. The dealer said the tires were well within spec after the last visit but the more miles I drive the worse it seems to get. It's still in the 70-80 mph range. I've filed online with BBB and received a call from GM the following day. Waiting to hear back on a possible resolution. My paperwork to BBB will go back in today.

Smithr66 · November 11, 2015

Same deal here, they first replaced my driveshaft and that made absolutely no difference. After all four shocks replaced and front right tire it felt like it did when I first took it out on the expressway (about 300-500mi on the odometer at that time). Not as bad but still there. When they gave it back to me last week all tires were within spec but the two rear tires were just barely at the road force limit which they told me was 15lbs. Something on this truck has to be causing all these parts to wear prematurely! The mechanic that replaced the driveshaft said he could see it bouncing around like there was something not right with it. Now it's back at the dealer and I'm afraid this time their gonna tell me it's all normal, but I know the vibration will come back as it wears out more parts. That sucks because thats more money out of my pocket if they eventually do buy it back.. Even worse, the dealer has two trucks ahead of mine with the same problem so it could be weeks till they get a field rep out to look at it.

Jesse Davidson · November 11, 2015

at least they attempt to do things with your trucks, all my dealer does is say normal operation. or there is no solution so there is nothing they can do.

Smithr66 · November 11, 2015

at least they attempt to do things with your trucks, all my dealer does is say normal operation. or there is no solution so there is nothing they can do.

My purchasing dealer said I should take my truck somewhere else. So I found a dealer that has experience in the shakers and took it there. They've been great so far!

CCDenali · November 11, 2015

Sigh...Terrible to see this is appearing so frequently. Does not give me much hope for my new truck. Count me as one of the sufferers of the dreaded vibration/shake.

2015 GMC Sierra Denali 1500 5.3L purchased a few weeks ago. Haven't even made first payment on it.

First 600 miles drove as smooth as can be. Received many compliments on the ride quality...620 miles in I noticed vibration. At all speeds. Center console has some shake and passenger seat feels like a massage chair. I do notice the slight surge people bring up when transitioning but the vibration does not matter if it is in V4 or V8 mode accelerating or decelerating.

Have just got it back from the dealer after round 1. This does not bode well after reading some of these comments... In my case the first time around they noticed one of the tires was bad and their road force balance machine was saying that 27lb's of weight needed to be added to the tire to correct it.....WOW I don't understand how this was driving on the road with that much of a weight being required...

After doing some reading it makes me want to have this done at an independent shop or other dealership to confirm......Some recommended a shop in San Antonio which is likely worth my drive. http://southwestbrakeandalignments.com/index.html at any rate for the meantime I will go with the cost free warranty option as who wants to pay service money on a vehicle the just drove off the lot.....

I received the truck back today QC and shop signed off on it as being "fixed" however when driving away from the dealership I immediately felt the vibration again. Drove it on different roads at varying speeds and with someone else in the car to confirm i'm not losing my mind (this forum also greatly helps in that regard).

Will be taking it back next week when a rental car is available so that it can be looked at once more. From what I can gather from my reading through the forums thus far is this seems to be a combination of issues with varying experiences. I am trying to gather a full list so I can be educated as to what I need to speak to my dealer about. Please feel free to add or correct me if I'm wrong in this summary/assessment.

Most common appears to be Tires, out of spec, need "trueing" or road force balancing. Many people appear to go through multiple tires. (using the stock goodyear btw in my case)

In order of what I feel is most common so far (tires being most common)

drive shaft alignment or out of spec

pinon preload weight

hubs

differentials

U joint

ball joints

tie rod ends

shocks

axle

rear end

motor mounts needing to be shimmed 3mm

body frame mounts

I'll be sure to update after my 2nd visit to see what is changed and try to get some specific details as to how the tires are testing (Picometer if possible, tire weights being used, road force test results)

Edited November 11, 2015 by CCDenali

Newell33 · November 11, 2015

at least they attempt to do things with your trucks, all my dealer does is say normal operation. or there is no solution so there is nothing they can do.

Jesse,

I know you've been shopping for law firms, but have you read this article and tried a lemon law attorney? As the article indicates, the statute states that YOU have to make an attempt to get your vehicle repaired, not the dealership. If they refuse to work on it, just document that YOU made an attempt. I'm not sure exactly what you've tried already, but nevertheless, the article clears up the law a bit.

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/when-the-dealer-refuses-to-fix-your-new-car-1716196888

Jesse Davidson · November 11, 2015

My purchasing dealer said I should take my truck somewhere else. So I found a dealer that has experience in the shakers and took it there. They've been great so far!

My local dealer is supposed to be very good, they just wont do anything. there are a couple other dealers around, very few of which I would let within a stones throw of my truck.

Best Chevy (current dealer) won't do anything because GM says not to

tracy Motors... not a chance

quirk auto group... not in this life time

mcgee Chevy... possibly, need to look at them more

mcglaughlin chevy... C6Bill goes there, they couldn't figure out his truck

Jesse Davidson · November 11, 2015

Jesse,

I know you've been shopping for law firms, but have you read this article and tried a lemon law attorney? As the article indicates, the statute states that YOU have to make an attempt to get your vehicle repaired, not the dealership. If they refuse to work on it, just document that YOU made an attempt. I'm not sure exactly what you've tried already, but nevertheless, the article clears up the law a bit.

http://thegarage.jalopnik.com/when-the-dealer-refuses-to-fix-your-new-car-1716196888

I've had my truck in 3 documented times, and stopped by a couple others to show them different issues, given them all documentation I have accumulated, opened a case with Chevy Customer Assistance, and still can not get any help from anyone. There isn't much more I can do.

Newell33 · November 12, 2015

I've had my truck in 3 documented times, and stopped by a couple others to show them different issues, given them all documentation I have accumulated, opened a case with Chevy Customer Assistance, and still can not get any help from anyone. There isn't much more I can do.

That's the point of the article. If you're interested in going the lemon law route, then you can treat the times you tried to get the dealer to look at the truck, not just the times they actually worked on it, as one of your 3 or 4 attempts at repair.

Jesse Davidson · November 12, 2015

That's the point of the article. If you're interested in going the lemon law route, then you can treat the times you tried to get the dealer to look at the truck, not just the times they actually worked on it, as one of your 3 or 4 attempts at repair.

right, but lemon law is highly restrictive in what the plaintiff can go after and recover. While I am trying to recover damages to cover the loss I will have to take on my truck, we are also looking into other consumer protection cases such as fraud, deceptive practices, possible EPA violations etc. basically trying to force GM to address the issues for you all.

mikegmi2 · November 12, 2015

So 2nd Silverado, 3rd repair attempt...they took the body off the frame and remounted it. They also swapped in a new obligatory tire (they have put on at least 1 new tire every single time I have taken in my truck for service...that's 7 times on 2 different trucks).

Truck ran pretty good for about 400 miles, then the vibes were back in full force. They never completely left, but were minimized to about 20-30% of what they normally are.

Just filed 2nd BBB case.

For me, I am not mad anymore. There is no point in getting mad.

The way I see it...because of GM's incompetence, I will be driving new trucks for free until they learn how to build a truck that doesn't shake and vibrate all over the place.

The BBB or lemon law are the only ways out. Start a BBB case if you haven't already.

Oh, this time around, I am also going after GM for putting normal all season tires on my truck, instead of the AT upgrade tires I paid $200 for. Not that it matters much to me in the end, because once they exchange this truck for a new one I will end up getting new tires anyhow...but I want the BBB to understand how GM is ripping people off.

Goodyear Wrangler SRA tires are NOT all terrain tires! Wake up GM, stop scamming and learn how to build a truck correctly!