Wheel shake after RC leveling kit install

2011SilveradoZ71 · May 21, 2014

I just installed the 2.5 inch rough country leveling kit and right away I had major steering wheel shake around 60mph. Next day I had an alignment done. Still shakes. Multiple people said to get my wheels balanced even though they were fine before. I did and still shakes like crazy. Anyone know what it could be?

MMC · May 21, 2014

You may have changed the CV joint angles when you raised the truck so the vibration may be from that.

fondupot · May 21, 2014

Something aint right....either you got a bad ball joint, CV axle or tie rod

daxr · July 1, 2014

When does it shake? If it shakes only under acceleration, then its a power-transfer issue like the differential pinion angle. They make drop-kits for the differential to correct the pinion angle. Sometimes you need a spacer for the front driveaxles to correct the length, as you can also get a shake on acceleration if the inner joints are extending out too far.

If it shakes whether you are accelerating or coasting, then its a rotating part out of round or out of balance. 90% of the time its wheel balance. Just "having the wheels balanced" doesn't mean it should be fixed, as there are more ways to balance the tires wrong than there are to balance the tires right. Make sure its a "dynamic balance" - dual-plane with weights on the inside and nearest the outside as practical. And make sure the tires were "spun twice", once to get the weight placement, and a second time to verify that they zeroed out. I've seen no end to sloppy work and disinterested wheel balancing...

If it shakes in a way that gets worse by itself, especially after going over bumps, and you have to slow way down to get it to stop, that's called the "death wobble". That can happen if you have a lot of weight in tires, more than the suspension was designed for. It doesn't happen on GMs much as they have a fairly low caster angle, but a steering stabilizer usually takes care of that.