Shake or Vibration Issues

hotrodz37 · May 2, 2014

So here's where I am right now... Dealer and GM worked together on buying(trading my LT Crew 4x4 in) because it had been in the shop for 26 days total or something for the same vibration reason. Dealer gave me 35 and GM another 4k trade in assistance. I didn't want a vehicle that has been nothing but a science project for almost a month anymore..

Here's what was done:

-2 new tires

-tried a set of wheels off another truck

-balanced probably 6+ times

-3 different drive shafts

-complete rear end

-shimmed mount

And vibration was always exactly the same...

I ended up driving a total of 6 new Crew cab 4x4's and every one of them had the exact vibration as mine between 72/73-78 mph... some were far worse than others however. I've come to a conclusion that this is normal and I ended up picking another truck out that felt the best out of all of them which is a blue granite LTZ Z71. I love the newer truck and it rides much better than mine ever did. I can live with it but as others mentioned, I think its frame beaming 100%. I NEVER had this vibration with my bass boat hooked up and comes back when there isn't any weight on the rear end or in the bed. I'm going to play with payload now and just leave the new truck alone lol.

New truck build date : 03/14

Radio knobs work/light up.

Tailgate cables even.

Better radio reception.

No moisture in headlights.

Frame is now coated with some clear like substance and wax don't peel like my old truck.

I'm MUCH happier now and my dealer is amazing.

Could it be possible the new rear end was out of spec as well? Did they pull the new one apart before installing it or just "hope for the best" that it had better quality control than the last one? I think you and HDNitehawk have both had the rear end replaced with no luck but who's to say the new ones weren't just as bad as the old ones. Just a thought here. Obviously you don't want to have to keep putting rear ends in it, but I would be curious to see if they pulled the new one apart if it indeed had the same parts out of spec as the original.

Glad they put you in a new one! My dealer stepped up and did the same but now my new one shakes as well. So that's fun!

20L8TSierra24 · May 2, 2014

Frame beaming in a 2014 new 1500. Wow. That's a tough pill to swallow when Ram and Ford's ride silky smooth. I really want a new Silverado b/c it's got the better interior, quiet cab and highest safety ratings and good brakes. But Jeez.

Including my first 14, ALL 7 shook the same... I doubt the new rear ends that are going in are defects... I picked one where its barely noticeable. I'm super hyper sensitive now on the vibration and other people probably don't even notice it. My new one you can BARELY feel it. I'm happy, I love the truck and I'll put 500 pounds of sand in the back or something and go for a ride and I'll let all know the results later. I'm really not concerned about it anymore because I thought my first had a problem ans that others didn't but 7 now? I think its a design fail... I've driven z71, reg 4x4, and even a 2wd rental and they all have the EXACT feeling. Like I said before, some are MUCH worse than others.

Silverado-Hareek · May 2, 2014

Including my first 14, ALL 7 shook the same... I doubt the new rear ends that are going in are defects... I picked one where its barely noticeable. I'm super hyper sensitive now on the vibration and other people probably don't even notice it. My new one you can BARELY feel it. I'm happy, I love the truck and I'll put 500 pounds of sand in the back or something and go for a ride and I'll let all know the results later. I'm really not concerned about it anymore because I thought my first had a problem ans that others didn't but 7 now? I think its a design fail... I've driven z71, reg 4x4, and even a 2wd rental and they all have the EXACT feeling. Like I said before, some are MUCH worse than others.

Yeah after reading everything that you went through, it's most likely the design, amplified with some bad tires and the updated stiffer suspension on these trucks over the previous body style. Let me know how the sand works out for you. I'm not a fan of these stock Wrangler tires anyway. I plan to drive them for a bit since they came with the truck but I'm definitely putting Michelin AT2's on there next. Sucks BFGoodrich only makes an 18" all terrain in the load range E tire. I kind of miss my 17" rims on the old truck. But I agree it's barely noticeable on mine as well and the only reason I ever even picked up on it was because I read this thread one day. I kind of wish I didn't because now I'm like you I'm super sensitive to it and paying attention constantly when I drive.

Edited May 2, 2014 by Silverado-Hareek

bowflygsp · May 2, 2014

Update on my double cab, Z71, 5.3, 4x4, 3.42:

Took my truck to the dealership for the first time on Wednesday and told them about the vibration I was experiencing when decelerating from 50 to 40 mph or so. I got there and went for a ride with the shop manager. He said he noticed a 'tire vibration' and an 'engine vibration'. I have a leveling kit installed and larger than stock Bridgestone tires installed so I didn't expect much help with the tire vibration. Actually, the tire vibration never bothered me. As I had noticed also, he mentioned the engine vibration while decelerating seemed to happen when the AFM switched to V4 mode.

When I left my truck with them after the ride, the manager seemed like he was going to really look into it. He said he would have to do some homework on the engine vibration. And that they would need the truck for 3/4 of a day to go through everything (including the vibration analyzer tool). That was at about 3:30p Wednesday afternoon.

They called me at 10:15 am on Thursday saying my truck was ready. They claimed three out of four of my tires had excessive road force. They said they balanced them the best they could and that the vibration is much better but I should go back and try to get the tires replaced by Bridgestone because they were bad.

When I asked about the engine vibration, he said it's normal. I explained that this is at least the third truck I have had with AFM I've never felt this before.

I picked up my yesterday afternoon and, at first, it did seem like it was better. But driving to work this morning, the vibration decelerating around 50-40 mph is the same and now the truck shakes like hell at 70mph. It never did that before.

So now I have to go to my tire shop and have them check the tires. I will try to play nice and do what the dealer says for this go-round, but this isn't off to a good start.

In summary, by 'fixing' something that I wasn't concerned about they made it worse and they said the issue that I was concerned about couldn't be fixed.

More to come......................

SLESierra · May 2, 2014

Here's a video destroying the Ram rear suspension design. Although this video now kind of makes me want an F150 haha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMDQ8Yl7Ndk

use a manufacturers advertisment to prove a point? Sort of like a Milk ad saying water is more harmful imho. Here is a comparison by Edmunds which suggest your ad is wrong http://www.edmunds.com/ram/1500/2013/comparison-test.html

pm26 · May 2, 2014

So here's where I am right now... Dealer and GM worked together on buying(trading my LT Crew 4x4 in) because it had been in the shop for 26 days total or something for the same vibration reason. Dealer gave me 35 and GM another 4k trade in assistance. I didn't want a vehicle that has been nothing but a science project for almost a month anymore..

Here's what was done:

-2 new tires

-tried a set of wheels off another truck

-balanced probably 6+ times

-3 different drive shafts

-complete rear end

-shimmed mount

And vibration was always exactly the same...

I ended up driving a total of 6 new Crew cab 4x4's and every one of them had the exact vibration as mine between 72/73-78 mph... some were far worse than others however. I've come to a conclusion that this is normal and I ended up picking another truck out that felt the best out of all of them which is a blue granite LTZ Z71. I love the newer truck and it rides much better than mine ever did. I can live with it but as others mentioned, I think its frame beaming 100%. I NEVER had this vibration with my bass boat hooked up and comes back when there isn't any weight on the rear end or in the bed. I'm going to play with payload now and just leave the new truck alone lol.

New truck build date : 03/14

Radio knobs work/light up.

Tailgate cables even.

Better radio reception.

No moisture in headlights.

Frame is now coated with some clear like substance and wax don't peel like my old truck.

I'm MUCH happier now and my dealer is amazing.

Maybe it is just me, but there is no way i would have settled for one of those trucks if every one showed SOME vibration. You may be rather happy with your new truck now, but what if it gets worse in the next 4k miles? What then?

HDNitehawk · May 3, 2014

FIXED?? MAYBE??

Update on mine for those following.

Today the GM Engineer looked the truck over. The dealer has equipment to measure vibration but I was told the Engineer had equipment more sensitive. He found the drive shaft was causing the 43 mph vibration issue. They balanced the drive shaft and so far I have driven about 30 miles and do not feel it. I believe it may be gone.

Also it has always felt like the truck drug and pushed back. I made them check alignment and it was indeed out. While it didn't cause the vibration I believe that it amplified it.

I have the larger Nitto's on the truck and I know that if you have larger tires it magnifies the vibration as well.

The problems were compound and here were the fixes;

Tire balancing fixed this. Vibration in the seats and center console. Vibration in the back seats.

New rear end fixed this. Highway Speed Vibration 70+.

Properly balanced drive shaft fixed this. 42 mph vibration.

Alignment corrected this. Front end feeling like it drags.

My other issue the Rough Ride of the High Country, I was told that is just the way it is. It rides rougher than the Z71, but ask a salesman if the High Country rides smoother than a Z71 and you will get a $54K BS sales pitch.

I have a 300 mile trip this weekend, if the vibration is really gone after the trip I am changing the shocks to smooth the ride.

After this weekend if the fixes do not hold up / or do hold up I will post.

Edited May 3, 2014 by HDNitehawk

anthony2558 · May 3, 2014

FIXED?? MAYBE??

Update on mine for those following.

Today the GM Engineer looked the truck over. The dealer has equipment to measure vibration but I was told the Engineer had equipment more sensitive. He found the drive shaft was causing the 43 mph vibration issue. They balanced the drive shaft and so far I have driven about 30 miles and do not feel it. I believe it may be gone.

Also it has always felt like the truck drug and pushed back. I made them check alignment and it was indeed out. While it didn't cause the vibration I believe that it amplified it.

I have the larger Nitto's on the truck and I know that if you have larger tires it magnifies the vibration as well.

The problems were compound and here were the fixes;

Tire balancing fixed this. Vibration in the seats and center console. Vibration in the back seats.

New rear end fixed this. Highway Speed Vibration 70+.

Properly balanced drive shaft fixed this. 42 mph vibration.

Alignment corrected this. Front end feeling like it drags.

My other issue the Rough Ride of the High Country, I was told that is just the way it is. It rides rougher than the Z71, but ask a salesman if the High Country rides smoother than a Z71 and you will get a $54K BS sales pitch.

I have a 300 mile trip this weekend, if the vibration is really gone after the trip I am changing the shocks to smooth the ride.

After this weekend if the fixes do not hold up / or do hold up I will post.

I hope your vibration issues no longer return. I just have this weird feeling that GM will never issue a recall or even a TSB stating rear end replacement, needed if customer complains of highway speed vibrations at 70+mph. Its probably going to be a tooth and nail pull between dealers an customers and how far your sales person/service manager wants to push your issue. Unfortunately its comes down the the all mighty $, GM's profit earnings, vs operating costs.

Tapatalk via Moto X

gdadlow · May 3, 2014

Anybody noticed if the cylinder deactivation (aka active fuel management) is kicking in while they experience the vibration? I believe you can see the status on the driver info screen in the middle of the dash. I could see a truck lugging and vibrating if 4 cyl is not enough power to keep up the current speed. I test drive a chevy z71 yesterday and when accelerating I noticed a big slip when flooring the gas pedal, engine RPMs shot up 5,000 when shifting. I was planning on ordering a 6.2 with 3.73 gears but after reading some of the posts, vibration and tranny issues I may hold off.

Spend $200 and get the module from Range technologies. It make a difference keeping the AFM from kicking in. I bought one and enjoy my truck so much better. Have 2014 GMC Sierra.

Silverado-Hareek · May 3, 2014

use a manufacturers advertisment to prove a point? Sort of like a Milk ad saying water is more harmful imho. Here is a comparison by Edmunds which suggest your ad is wrong http://www.edmunds.com/ram/1500/2013/comparison-test.html

Sorry didn't realize that video was created by ford. I guess that makes it suspicious. That Edmonds link you posted though talks about the f150 having vibration issues too though. Interesting I guess it's not just Chevy.

HDNitehawk · May 3, 2014

Just now had time to look under the truck.

The GM Engineer's way of balancing the drive shaft is the DIY method of using two clamps.

Thoughts anyone?

FL335i · May 3, 2014

^ two clamps? Really. Pic? I think a high speed spin balance by a shop is in order.

HDNitehawk · May 3, 2014

See Photo

pm26 · May 3, 2014

Just now had time to look under the truck.

The GM Engineer's way of balancing the drive shaft is the DIY method of using two clamps.

Thoughts anyone?

That's quite acceptable as a temporary measure, however drive shafts are balanced by spot welding a weight onto the shaft. Be it as it may, if there are no more vibration probelms, I would leave it alone.