2015 Sierra Denali 1500 Vibration Issues

[DanaDenali]

I purchased a new Denali 1500 a month ago; it has 1100 miles on it. It has Nitrogen Filled Goodyear’s on 18 rims. I noticed a high frequency, side to side, vibration the first day I drove it on the interstate. I felt the vibration mainly in the seat and in mid-cabin, it was present but not as severe in the steering wheel. The vibrations were present at around 65 mph and worsened while accelerating to 75 - 80 mph, at around 85 the vibrations were less apparent, but as soon as I decelerated the side to side shaking started. Thinking my tires weren’t balanced correctly; I took it back to the dealership and asked them to fix it. The service dept told me they road balanced the tires and the vibration should be gone. It’s not - the vibration is more prevalent in the seat and mid-cabin area than before, there’s very little vibration in the steering wheel. At 78 to 80 mph the vibration will eventually shake my DC plugs out of the 12 volt socket (I just drove it for 5 hours on the interstate and witnessed just that). The vibration will also shake my sunglasses down my nose when I place my head on the headrest. Again, this vibration is side to side, almost perfectly so, I’ve had vehicles vibrate with unbalanced tires and this isn’t the same. I called my dealership from the road and made another appointment for next week. Is there anything I should make them aware of, other than unbalanced tires?

[DanaDenali]

My mistake, I have 20" rims, not 18's.

[Doug_Scott]

Don't tell them what you think it is. You have already stated that you know what our of balance tires feel like, and this vibration is different, so why would you tell the dealership you think it may be balance issue? Is the interstate paved or concrete? Can you try a secondary road and see if the vibration is still there? Take the service person out for a drive and show him/her what you are experiencing. If they see the issue, they stand a better chance at fixing it.

Have you tried running the truck in 5th gear to see if vibration is there? Have you noticed if the truck is going into 4 cyl mode when this vibration starts?

[DaDude]

You have described, exactly, to a T, what i had occurring in my new 14 silverado. I've got the crappy Goodyear wrangler tires. After i noticed it, I also went back to the dealership to get them road force balanced, where all 4 were found to be out of spec. After they "made it a lot better" but not fixed, i drove it and found that it was now worse. I then took it to an independent tire shop where they checked the balance and found that the tires balanced by the dealership were in fact over 3.5oz off and very unbalanced. They got them truly balanced and it was a lot better. I stood next to the guy and watched each tire spin and noticed all 4 were about 1/4" to 3/8" out off round. Therefore no matter how balanced the tire is, it's still not round and will vibrate a little bit. Bottom line: i can almost guarantee its your tires still out of balance because the tech who road force balanced your tires did not know what he was doing, and likely is using a machine that needs recalibration. I highly suggest taking it to a real tire shop that just does tire and wheel related services (i personally do not trust discount tire, though so don't try it there). I wrote a more detailed version of this in another thread here about this shaking/ vibrating silverado issue. Again, you are describing perfectly without a single discrepancy what i was experiencing.

 

I've got 2,900 miles on these crappy Goodyear wrangler tires now with the good balancing and they have gotten a little better with time. I'm guessing they have become more round with use. I don't even notice the vibration anymore unless I'm looking for it.

[Doug_Scott]

The last post reminded me of what we used to do. 20 years ago the dealership did not do any warranty work when it came to tires. Car had to go to local tire dealer for that brand of tire. Have either of you taken your truck to the local Goodyear dealer/store?

 

Seeing a tire appear to be out of round on a balancer is not uncommon. The tire is spinning in the air, with no contact on the tread of the tire. Once the weight of the vehicle is applied to the tire, that our of round you saw is gone. Side to side movement however is not corrected by the tire on the ground like the out of round tire is. The only time I have seen out of round effect the driving is when the tire is actually experiencing a "broken belt" or "separation". A separated tire will have both types of "out of round" and will pass the movement back through steering wheel at low speeds..

[DanaDenali]

Picked truck up last night, service tech was certain it was a tire problem. My original tires failed the road force this time (had passed 2 prior times). Put new Goodyears on and re-tested them. This time the left side tires (both) failed too. Put a third set (left sides) on and finally passed the road force. I got in the truck and drove from dealership to interstate and within seconds the vibrations started at 75+ mph thru 80 mph. Drove it home (service dept was closed), took it back today. Loaded up the shop foreman and took him out on interstate where he felt the vibrations at freeway speed. Truck is back in service. One point the foreman made was that the road force spins up to 35mph and with “force” emulates 70mph top end and wouldn’t pick up the vibrations I’m having at 75+. In the mean time I’ve been test driving 3 new Denali’s. The first one I drove was exactly like mine, same tire and engine config, same build date and it had same vibrations at freeway speed. The second one I drove was the same tire and engine configuration, but one month later build date, drove PERFECTLY at all speeds. Third was different configuration: 22” Bridgestones, different build date, drove differently (firmer) but no side to side vibration. Now it is “wait and hope” on my truck once more.

[Doug_Scott]

I think you actually have a chance now to get it fixed. Sometimes the hardest part is getting past the "truck drove fine for me" argument.