Highway vibe better with Tire rerplacement???

NH_Silverado_6.2 · August 22, 2016

Hi, I just bought a new 2016 Silverado LTZ Midnight (Z71). It has Goodyear Duratracs from the factory. It has some of that infamous vibration. I wanted to share my thoughts regarding how the tires may be a factor.

Brought into dealer for Service at 500 miles. They did road force balancing or the tires. All were above 20 lbs, one was 46 lbs. After balancing all were under 15lbs except one remained at 30 lbs.

Brought into dealer (around 1200mi) for replacement of the 30lb tire. Dealer got it down to 20lbs. I test drove it and told the tech I wanted the roadforce within specifications (under 16lbs). So he checked the tire and it was 4 lbs now (after the road test and after he lower the tire pressurte from 38 to 35PSI). I still had vibration, but it was a little better.

Since then I have driven my vehicle another 700 miles (1800 mi total). The tires seem to have less vibration as they get broken in. Viibrations vary by the day. On a series of cold summer days (70F) where the tire pressure went from 31 cold to 34PSI Hot I felt vibrations above 40MPH. On hotter days (80-90F) after flat spotting subsided and tires warmed up to 35-36PSI the ride was noticeably better than on colder days.

I wonder if the subtle vibrations I feel could still be improved by replacing the Duratracs with something else. Has anyone fixed their vibrations by replacing their tires? If so, what tire did tyou goto? Please post before tire info and after including tire brand, tire size, and tire pressure.

Oldbay · August 22, 2016

I have a 2017 6.2L Midnight Edition with the DuraTracs coming in two weeks. I'm curious...what is your overall opinion of the tires? How do they ride out on the open highway? Do you find them to be too "squishy"?

CounterMeasure · August 22, 2016

I replaced my stock Goodyears with Michelin LTX AS/2s. Had them mounted by a competent tire shop, and it got rid of my vibrations. It is an excellent tire that I've had on my previous trucks as well, and what a Denali should come with.

This was all within the first 1000 miles, where the dealership had already replaced one Goodyear as bad as they couldn't RF balance it, and then the others wouldn't hold a balance. Honestly, I've never found a Goodyear tire that was actually any good compared to competitors.

You are correct that a new or cold tire will show vibrations more. The rubber is too stiff. In fact, the TSB on vibrations is that tires shouldn't be RF-balanced until after a drive of X miles to get them warmed up. That said, the Michelins are a pretty soft tire already and I don't feel any difference between cold or warm days with them.

NH_Silverado_6.2 · August 25, 2016

I have a 2017 6.2L Midnight Edition with the DuraTracs coming in two weeks. I'm curious...what is your overall opinion of the tires? How do they ride out on the open highway? Do you find them to be too "squishy"?

The tire performs well on the road. If you look at reviews of the tire it has very high reviews. I do get more roll of this vehicle over my 2011 with Maax trailering. But the max trailering has one more leaf spring and did not have the Ranchos, so hard to tell. Road noise of the Duratracs is pretty low.

Primary concern is vibration which does subside significantly over the first 500 miles, but make sure they are RF balanced even if you have the smallest vibration. It took Qty 22 - 1/4 oz weights to get my tire within the 20/4 lbs limit.

NH_Silverado_6.2 · August 25, 2016

So I went to my local tire dealer where all the inventory is on the floor and walked around pressing on the tread trying to figure out the difference in tire sidewall and tread area stiffnesses. I tried to compare tires of the same rim size (18"), but may have been one size different. Here is a summary of the results from my uncalibrated evaluation.