14' Sierra Vibration Issue/ drive shaft out of spec

yanzhixiang · March 16, 2015

So I've been getting vibrations that would come and go at highway speeds. After 3 different set of tires and 2 different rims, and a bucket load of anxiety. They finally put some sensors on my truck trying to figure out exactly what is causing the said vibration. They just got back to me, turns out both my front and rear drive shafts are out of spec. Has anyone ever had this problem with their 1500s? Or am I just super unlucky?

pm26 · March 17, 2015

If you read the vibration thread, there are numerous cases of badly balanced drive shafts determined to be the root cause of vibration (sometimes with zero success rate).

GM has been having a lot of problems with parts and assembly quality ever since they flushed the quality control at all levels down the toilet to lower the production costs.

fondupot · March 17, 2015

Consider yourself lucky.

Like pm26 said, people have had issues with vibrations and often times they could not be resolved.

hotrodz37 · March 18, 2015

I had to have my first drive shaft replaced at 7,500 miles (about 500 miles ago) due to a clicking/ticking and popping on acceleration. The new one I have in might be out of spec, not entirely sure. On a trip the other day, at 75 mph it was smooth on the way to my destination, on the way back felt like a pretty good driveline vibration.

Is there something that would cause it to suddenly go out of spec?

newdude · March 18, 2015

Drive shafts , there is also a possibility that if they put hose clamps to balance the driveshaft temporarily to eliminate it, some trucks have gotten ring and pinions due to backlash issues causing the vibrations.

I had to have my first drive shaft replaced at 7,500 miles (about 500 miles ago) due to a clicking/ticking and popping on acceleration. The new one I have in might be out of spec, not entirely sure. On a trip the other day, at 75 mph it was smooth on the way to my destination, on the way back felt like a pretty good driveline vibration.

Is there something that would cause it to suddenly go out of spec?

Could have been the road? For it to be fine and then vibrating the way back...road imperfections could do that easily.

pm26 · March 18, 2015

Drive shafts , there is also a possibility that if they put hose clamps to balance the driveshaft temporarily to eliminate it, some trucks have gotten ring and pinions due to backlash issues causing the vibrations.

Could have been the road? For it to be fine and then vibrating the way back...road imperfections could do that easily.

No. Rougher road surface will not cause the driveshaft to go out of balance. Bending of the driveshaft by some external force or the balancing weight falling off the driveshaft would.

newdude · March 18, 2015

No. Rougher road surface will not cause the driveshaft to go out of balance. Bending of the driveshaft by some external force or the balancing weight falling off the driveshaft would.

Not what I said...He had no vibrations going to Florida, so if certain areas of the road he traveled were smooth and no vibrations to be had, on the way back if there were rough spots in the road, is that what he may have been feeling.

The new one I have in might be out of spec, not entirely sure. On a trip the other day, at 75 mph it was smooth on the way to my destination, on the way back felt like a pretty good driveline vibration.

Fine on the way, and vibrations return trip. Could there have been road imperfections that may have caused this reaction on hotrodz37's truck.

hotrodz37 · March 18, 2015

Not what I said...He had no vibrations going to Florida, so if certain areas of the road he traveled were smooth and no vibrations to be had, on the way back if there were rough spots in the road, is that what he may have been feeling.

Fine on the way, and vibrations return trip. Could there have been road imperfections that may have caused this reaction on hotrodz37's truck.

Certainly could have been road imperfections on the opposite side of the highway, but I have traveled that same stretch of road before and it was smooth. Felt like a constant vibe but not buzzing like a driveshaft - hard to explain.

Sorry didn't mean to hijack the thread. Just was wondering if anyone had any insight. Will let you all know if I come up with anything!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

20L8TSierra24 · March 18, 2015

If you read the vibration thread, there are numerous cases of badly balanced drive shafts determined to be the root cause of vibration (sometimes with zero success rate).

GM has been having a lot of problems with parts and assembly quality ever since they flushed the quality control at all levels down the toilet to lower the production costs.

I had 3 driveshafts on mine first 14 w no fix. Goodluck buddy.

Moxie326 · March 19, 2015

2014 gmc vibration issues, rf tires , new shocks new complete rear end , new ring pinion good luck with your driveshaft problems hope vibration can be taken off ,dealer gave up on my truck and GM would not help I just lost $ 9.000 because I trade my truck for truck with no vibration problems. Good luck hopefully you don't lose thousands because you trusted GMC .

yanzhixiang · March 19, 2015

I had to have my first drive shaft replaced at 7,500 miles (about 500 miles ago) due to a clicking/ticking and popping on acceleration. The new one I have in might be out of spec, not entirely sure. On a trip the other day, at 75 mph it was smooth on the way to my destination, on the way back felt like a pretty good driveline vibration.

Is there something that would cause it to suddenly go out of spec?

They can usually narrow down or find the source of vibration by a picoscope. So have your dealer do that and have them measure run-outs on your driveshafts to make sure they are in spec.

-John

yanzhixiang · March 19, 2015

2014 gmc vibration issues, rf tires , new shocks new complete rear end , new ring pinion good luck with your driveshaft problems hope vibration can be taken off ,dealer gave up on my truck and GM would not help I just lost $ 9.000 because I trade my truck for truck with no vibration problems. Good luck hopefully you don't lose

thousands because you trusted GMC .

I'm sorry to hear that. I myself have to go through 3 set of tires and countless trips to different shops and dealers to find out driveshafts are the problem. Hopefully the vibration ends here...

Esteban Parodi · June 10, 2016

I just bought a 2014 pre owned GMC Sierra last night. I felt some vibration during my test drive, the rear left tire was low 20 psi so I thought it could be the problem. On my way back home I put air on the tire and the vibration was still there.

Today I kept noticing the vibration coming from that spot, rear left I can see through the left mirror the bed vibrating while on the right mirror I dont see anything. I can feel it coming from that end.

I talked to the dealer this evening they asked me to bring it in.

I will be there tomorrow first thing in the morning.

Could I please get some advice.

14silverado4.3 · June 10, 2016

I just bought a 2014 pre owned GMC Sierra last night. I felt some vibration during my test drive, the rear left tire was low 20 psi so I thought it could be the problem. On my way back home I put air on the tire and the vibration was still there.

Today I kept noticing the vibration coming from that spot, rear left I can see through the left mirror the bed vibrating while on the right mirror I dont see anything. I can feel it coming from that end.

I talked to the dealer this evening they asked me to bring it in.

I will be there tomorrow first thing in the morning.

Could I please get some advice.

Seriously, if you have a time period to break the sale do it. Find another vehicle and put your money there. These Silverado's have some issues and if it vibrates now / there is a slim chance that it can be fixed. I am sorry but it is what it is.

I leased a new one and did the dealership runaround for a year and a half for vibration. Multiple balances, new set of tires, out lots of money. They played dumb and promises of fixes in the months to come. I have 40,000 miles on the truck and it has vibrated since about a 1,000 miles. Those fixes never came.

If I could do it all over, I would have forced a buyback but just did not have the time.

I find myself checking in the forum daily looking for some miracle of a fix

Newell33 · June 11, 2016

I just bought a 2014 pre owned GMC Sierra last night. I felt some vibration during my test drive, the rear left tire was low 20 psi so I thought it could be the problem. On my way back home I put air on the tire and the vibration was still there.

Today I kept noticing the vibration coming from that spot, rear left I can see through the left mirror the bed vibrating while on the right mirror I dont see anything. I can feel it coming from that end.

I talked to the dealer this evening they asked me to bring it in.

I will be there tomorrow first thing in the morning.

Could I please get some advice.

Unless you want to spend the next 6 months to a year fighting to get your truck fixed, I strongly suggest that you take the truck back within your 3 day CPO return period. Spend some time reading through the 600+ page vibration thread. Most of the vibrating trucks have not been fixed. DO NOT assume it will get taken care of at the dealer. Did you ask to see the warranty history report on this truck? How much do you want to bet that there's attempts to repair a vibration shown on the document...