Shake or Vibration Issues

HDNitehawk · May 3, 2014

So far they seemed to have solved the 42/43 mph vibration issue.

I am debating whether to call the dealer and demand a new drive shaft, and tell them they have to send it to a shop and have the balance checked and corrected properly before installing it.

This clamped driveshaft establishes that the mid range vibration was the drive shaft. Another properly balanced drive shaft should perform equally as well.

I am trying decide now if the repairs are acceptable.

FL335i · May 3, 2014

^ LMFAO. Band clamps. on a brand new truck. That's great for testing. But this confirms a lot if they did fix the vibration.

2strokesmoke · May 3, 2014

If this ends up being the fix for the 40-55mph and 70mph vibration, this will only proves there is a serious quality control issue going on at GM....factories!

What about others who had their driveshafts replaced many times, only to be replaced with another bad part.

I would like to know the new part number of the current good driveshaft or the "propeller shaft" as it is known now.

Where is this company headed! This should have been sorted by now and TSB issued for a known speed vibration issue!

Good for the engineer if he just learned this out now, but shame on GM for not having a safe guard in place to catch these issues early on.

This explains alot of the blue marks on my driveshaft, looks like mine was rebalanced improperly....this could be vary dangerous at highway speeds too!

This c clamp fix is not acceptable for a permanent solution! Please the Driveshaft is the culprit, demand that a good balanced part be installed! If there are no good parts available then a proper licensed driveshaft balancing company must preform and correct the rotational mass issue with welded on weights!

I have this exact issue also, my truck will be checked this week now!

Gm reps, you should be asking your technical dept to look at this case very closely for a line quality change to be preformed now!

pm26 · May 4, 2014

I have already stated several times that I consider random replacement of a driveshaft ridiculous for these reasons: It is easy to determine if the original shaft is welded properly, if it is straight (within maximum permissible radial runout), and if it is properly balanced. It not only saves time and money, but also helps zero in on other potential causes if one unknown is eliminated. The same exact reasoning applies to replacing the entire rear end axle assemblies. Gear adjustment can be checked easily enough, also, they can determine if there is some axle housing problem by performing a set of measurements.

Edited May 4, 2014 by pm26

2strokesmoke · May 4, 2014

Yeah I agree, the problem lies with GM sending out vehicals with bad driveshafts, and dealers with untrained tech's. The dealers have maybe 2 licenesed mechanics and the others are usually just workers.

Rotational run out is 1 thing, or unbalanced driveshafts is another issue again. This whole thread and hundreds of thousands of dollars could have been saved if the parts and the machining was at a level of acceptance. Too often everyone asumes the new machined parts are good!

Shame on GM for so many trucks out there with this vibration! My dealer said my truck was vibrating less then some others on his lot and mine is preforming as intended!

SLESierra · May 4, 2014

See Photo

what I find funny about this "fix" is GM had a bulletin in the 80s stating screw type band clamps were insufficient and should not be used to clamp radiator hoses. but yet they have found out they will take the RPMs of a driveshaft and remain clamped ;)

2strokesmoke · May 4, 2014

what I find funny about this "fix" is GM had a bulletin in the 80s stating screw type band clamps were insufficient and should not be used to clamp radiator hoses. but yet they have found out they will take the RPMs of a driveshaft and remain clamped ;)

No this is not an accepted fix from my point of view but a temp testing fix at best. As the driveshaft heats up and cools down over time the c clamps are not a rust resistance metal and can weakened and can be projected outwards like a missile!!!!

Remember driveshafts will turn at pinion gear 3.42 × wheel speed that is fast when at highway speeds no room for error!

Edited May 4, 2014 by 2strokesmoke

beetle · May 4, 2014

My 2012 Sierra I traded had a "flywheel" appearing device attached to the driveshaft, I wonder if it's purpose was to minimize vibration and/or stabilize the drive shaft and if it could possibly be the solution???

Edited May 4, 2014 by beetle

pm26 · May 4, 2014

Are they at least using all stainless hose clamps to balance these driveshafts? You can check, all stianless clamps used primarily in marine industry, have "All Stainless" stamped on the worm gear drive. There are also "stainless" clamps out there, using only stainless band, but the worm gear drive is plain carbon steel that will rust. You should have the "all stainless" type. When in doubt, check them with a magnet. A magnet shoudl not stick to a good grade stainless steel part.

Edited May 4, 2014 by pm26

2strokesmoke · May 4, 2014

There is a reason why weights are welded on to the driveshaft, say your wheels are turning 1500 rpm, and your gear set is 3.42 then your driveshaft would be turning 1500 x 3.42 = 5130 rpm. This is a missle if dislodged from the driveshaft!

Chappy 1901 · May 4, 2014

An out of balance drive shaft should have the vibration every time held at the same speed in the same gear. My issue is random. It comes and goes. Went through one buy back, can't afford to have GMs way with me again. Haha. My truck has been smooth for over 2 weeks then it had a hesitation during a shift going through an intersection from a stop. Vibrated constant for 18 miles (my place of business). Drive home and no vibration. Explain that please. Search for my earlier posts if you want to see the history on mine.

The issue is the randomness of the "issue". Very difficult to track down.

2strokesmoke · May 4, 2014

Intermittent issues are the hardest to diagnose, but eliminating the known you only get to the unknown!

I would be looking at the torque converter, or shift solenoids, then the rear end.

Edited May 4, 2014 by 2strokesmoke

Mad Max · May 4, 2014

^ LMFAO. Band clamps. on a brand new truck. That's great for testing. But this confirms a lot if they did fix the vibration.

Band aids and bubblegum comes to mind

FL335i · May 4, 2014

I was reading some financial articles this morning. Some as new as Friday. The old 2009 model F150 has sales up 3.9%. Ram is up like 22.5%, outselling Silverado now. Silverado is down a few points. So GM threw April money and now May money at these '14's. GM is worried about losing the #2 spot to Ram making them 3 for the year. I think for one, maybe GM should build a truck that doesn't shake and vibrate, then maybe people taking test drives won't be like... "Man this Ram drives smooth compare to the Silverado I drove this morning". Same with the F150. GM is losing sales to a 2009 F150 and 2009 Ram platforms. Pretty sad, the F150 is a 2009 truck with updated engines from 2011. And the Ecoboost V6 has a slew of issues on the ford forums too. Ram only was updated in 2012 with cosmetics really. And the Ford's interior is outdated. Sad GM will let the best truck of the 3 get hammered over not addressing some QC issues. GM's new truck has the highest safety ratings, good brakes, quiet cab etc. But you can't buy a $37-45k truck that shakes going down the road in 2014. And people do not take "it's a truck, that's normal". That' old school mentality is gone.

I did watch the fast lane truck pulls going up Ike Gauntlet on youtube. I watched the 1st and 2nd round they did. The 6.2L Silverado was outperformed by the Ecoboost F150. Again, a truck from 2009 and engine from 2011 with a bad wrap. And right now, as of this morning Ford has minimal May incentives for the F150 and GM has 8k+. I was thinking, hey I'm looking for a work truck, who cares about the interior as much. I have my BMW and wifes new car. But the old F150 is actually more expensive!!!

Edited May 4, 2014 by FL335i

HDNitehawk · May 4, 2014

Final Conclusion Followup;

Short of the vibration returning, I am going to say it has been resolved at this point. I just finished a 300 mile trip, drove the truck all weekend and while the ride isn't a perfect ride I think the vibration is acceptable now.

To recap again this is what it took to fix the truck, each of these items corrected some of the vibration. It took the correction of all to eliminate the vibration.

Road forced and balanced the tires, make sure there are no bad tires. Eliminated seat and console vibrations.
Changed the Drive shaft eliminated some of the mid range vibration.
Changed the rear end, this eliminated the high speed vibration.
After the rear end, balanced the replacement drive shaft,this eliminated the 40mph vibration.
Aligned the front end, eliminated the drag in the front end.

Some comments;

The vibration issue is a compound issue. If you only have one type great for you it will be a an easy fix. If it has multiple sources you are not so lucky.

It took 4 1/2 months to get to this point. There are still issues I am working through. One is the repair and balance on the drive shaft, you can see my pervious posts. At least I know the drive shaft fixes the last vibration issue. The High Country rides rough, more so than a Z71. I have been told this is the nature of the truck. At my expense I am going to upgrade the shocks. If I find the stock shocks are defective I will be going back to GM and asking for them to pay for the upgrade.

It took me over 2 months before the dealer to take notice. I had to file a complaint with GM to get them to move. Even then they wouldn't acknowledge the problem until I demonstrated it to them.

Once I was able to convince them that it was a problem they did stay with the problem until resolution.

If you have this issue be prepared for a long drawn out resolution. Be prepared to document and show your issue.

I have been a Chevy man for over 50 years. After the 2014's I have now I should evaluate if I should let my Chevy Loyalty die with GM's 2009 bankruptcy filing. The new GM isn't the old GM I grew up loving.

I am beyond disappointed.

Edited May 4, 2014 by HDNitehawk