Chevy shake

[Letdownowner]

So add me to the totally discouraged owner list.  Bought my dream truck at 50 years old.  Been a bowtie owner all my life.  My 2017 z71 ltz with 6.2 and 8 speed now has 3k miles on it.  Vibrations at 65 to 70 coming from rear and thinking axle shafts but tried new wheels and tires at 500 miles with no luck.  Recent has been the vibration in steering wheel at 40mph.  Holy cow what a piece of crap.  At 58k sticker, I am shocked and total disbelief I bought it.  I refuse to take it to the dealer and have them do the experimental fixes, tearing into the truck with no real fix known.  I am to the point of driving until catastrophic failure and problem will then be known.  After playing with different modes and driving it, I have found driving in trailer mode has made the steering wheel vibration go away and the entire truck feels like a different truck except at highway speeds.  Looking into a programmer but no one supports 8 speed yet.   Has anyone found a programmer to support upgrading programming for this tranny? 

[Hooper_c4]

Same. My pos 13 z71 with the 5.3 has only 43k miles is not as much fun as it was the day i bought it in may of 17. Vibrates real bad when in v4 mode starved for power. The transmission is crap! Shifts through all 6 gears wayyyy to quick (by 40 mph) and a downshift will occasionally wanna throw you through the windsheild it's so violent and clunky. Apparently this diablo tuner tuned by Lew is the fix for my issues tho. However, shouldn't have to blow another 500 bucks just to get good drivability.

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[Rambodog]

I did new wheels and tires. Then balance beads in the tires. Sand bags (3) up against the cab in the bed. The weight in the center of the truck oddly helped a little. As did the balance beads. The wheel and tire switch alone did nothing. Most recently I did a full transmission fluid flush and it helped a little also. I have a TCM tune (6 sp) and all of these actions together make for a pretty smooth ride. I took the sand bags out and did a coilover kit and it seems to have cancelled each other out. I can do 70 now with no shakes. Outrageous to have to go thru all of this for a ride I would expect from pretty much any vehicle with 4 wheels and not one that feels like the wheels are out of balance. Although it's better it still isn't like it should be. My ATV with no wheel weights and obnoxious aggressive tires run smoother than my truck before all the changes I made. I think all the time about what if I had purchased a different truck and could have done better. Occasional regret I guess. I could have bought anything and chose the Silverado. I saved for a really long time to buy this Silverado. My first one and likely my last.

Edited April 8, 2018 by Rambodog

[amxguy1970]

16 hours ago, Letdownowner said:

So add me to the totally discouraged owner list.  Bought my dream truck at 50 years old.  Been a bowtie owner all my life.  My 2017 z71 ltz with 6.2 and 8 speed now has 3k miles on it.  Vibrations at 65 to 70 coming from rear and thinking axle shafts but tried new wheels and tires at 500 miles with no luck.  Recent has been the vibration in steering wheel at 40mph.  Holy cow what a piece of crap.  At 58k sticker, I am shocked and total disbelief I bought it.  I refuse to take it to the dealer and have them do the experimental fixes, tearing into the truck with no real fix known.  I am to the point of driving until catastrophic failure and problem will then be known.  After playing with different modes and driving it, I have found driving in trailer mode has made the steering wheel vibration go away and the entire truck feels like a different truck except at highway speeds.  Looking into a programmer but no one supports 8 speed yet.   Has anyone found a programmer to support upgrading programming for this tranny? 

Thanks for being a contributing member of these forums, great first post  Easily could have been placed in another pre-existing thread of the same subject rather than a new complaint thread. Reason you have the shake is you didn't spend enough on your truck, if you would have spent $60k then you would not have had the issue.

 

In reality though what is wrong with the dealer replacing some parts? Many times it is fixed with a replaced part, many times it isn't it. No different than you doing a bunch of experimental fixes and voiding your warranty though but this way you keep the warranty. Could be as simple some bad tires, or as complex as an out of spec axle shaft. Either way why wouldn't you want them to fix it, that is why you buy new and have a warranty...

 

Tyler

[Artie61]

I am Lucky so far smooth as silk was driving to south Carolina hitting 90 and 95 mph  counld not feel a thing , And I am not a speeder it just was too smooth to notice !  I am sure there are a lot more like mine that are smooth 

 Wish I got the 6.2 

I wonder if any body watching this thread of many , if there vin started with a 3 (mexico)  or 1 (usa)

i Am sure it is probably even But just curious mexico makes the  full crew cab , maybe  a design flaw or wear that happens to some and not others, not saying Quality is not any worse at either plant

 

[elcamino]

99% of the issue is the tires.  Tires are not perfectly round, oem tires are lowest bidder and with increased speed the irregularities magnify.  Tire balancing is not perfect and in the hands of amateurs can be useless. It could take many hours to fine tune the tires balance and then they may need a dozen tires to weed out the imperfect ones.  No tire manufacturer make a perfectly balance tire but Michelin comes the closest but at a high price.   

 

Also, bigger tires are more prone to balance problems.

 

The longer you drive with imbalance, they worse the tires will get over time.  

  

In the assembly plant tires/wheels are all mounted and balanced by automation and it has is limits.   

Edited April 9, 2018 by elcamino

[shrapnel]

The "Chevy shake" is something I've only read about online.  None of my trucks have had it nor anyone else that I know with a GM vehicle.  My 2018 is smooth as silk all the way up to the speed limiter around 111 or 112mph.

 

The fix I have seen for the "Chevy shake" is in the driveshaft.  Take it to a specialist and have the balance checked.

[frenchsquared]

My 2018 Sierra does not have it yet. My 2015 had the shake where a water glass in the center console would splash water out. I did the same test on the 400 mile trip home and center console is smooth as could be. Hoping it stays that way. 

[frenchsquared]

2 minutes ago, Zoomie said:

Good news, How many miles on that 2018 Truck?

440

[L86 All Terrain]

My 2014 beater does it. Could not really notice in the sub-zero winter. Making me believe the shock oil and body mount rubbers dampen the vibration better when it is cold and stiff. I also believe it to be the axle shafts out of spec causing it. Some say driveshaft, but I can go around a sharp curve and the shake will stop until I start around another curve. This makes me think axle shafts both are out slightly, when one axle travels further than the other and the bend or warp matches up, the truck shakes, when the out-of-spec axles mate up at the right frequency, the vibration stops until one axle again travels further than the other. I can't see it being the drive shaft as vibrations don't increase at say 60mph in OD, or 60mph in 5th, the vibration remains linear. Stiffer body mounts ard shocks my isolate or mitigate the vibs, but I am thinking true hub faces on the rear axle shafts would solve it. Now If I could find two good axles to try before buying. 

Edited April 27, 2018 by 10SierraA.T.

[Loco-diablo]

21 hours ago, frenchsquared said:

My 2018 Sierra does not have it yet. My 2015 had the shake where a water glass in the center console would splash water out. I did the same test on the 400 mile trip home and center console is smooth as could be. Hoping it stays that way. 

Too many people think the 'water' test is the end all tool to determine if the truck has the 'shake'. Forget the water test. How does it feel is the real test. just MO

[L86 All Terrain]

On ‎2018‎-‎04‎-‎08 at 6:00 PM, elcamino said:

99% of the issue is the tires.  Tires are not perfectly round, oem tires are lowest bidder and with increased speed the irregularities magnify.  Tire balancing is not perfect and in the hands of amateurs can be useless. It could take many hours to fine tune the tires balance and then they may need a dozen tires to weed out the imperfect ones.  No tire manufacturer make a perfectly balance tire but Michelin comes the closest but at a high price.   

 

Also, bigger tires are more prone to balance problems.

 

The longer you drive with imbalance, they worse the tires will get over time.  

  

In the assembly plant tires/wheels are all mounted and balanced by automation and it has is limits.   

It is not the tires or wheels. I have new tires and wheels on my 2014 with no noticeable improvement. Also tried my old wheels and tires off my 2010 Sierra and they too did not make a difference and they were 100% balanced. I have had lots of out-of-balance tires over the years, while the shake may lead you to believe out of balance, this is something entirely different. Think Frequencies. "“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration.” Nikola Tesla 

Edited April 27, 2018 by 10SierraA.T.

[frenchsquared]

6 minutes ago, Loco-diablo said:

Too many people think the 'water' test is the end all tool to determine if the truck has the 'shake'. Forget the water test. How does it feel is the real test. just MO

It felt like it shook all over the damn place. My teeth shock because my arm was on the center console. The water test is just a way to show it on a camera. I hated that truck before I found a fix. The 2018 felt smooth as glass... so I put water in the console to see the difference. 

 

If the water is splashing all over you can darn sure feel it. 

 

 

[Rams01]

I don't have this issue, but am always amazed at the different "fixes" that have needed to be implemented to fix the issue. 2 weeks ago my neighbor approached me needing advice regarding his new truck. We went for a test drive and sure enough, it shook. (2017 5.3 4x4 CC Silverado)  Told him to take it to the dealer and have them take a crack at it. The issue for HIS truck was the "AFM system"... I need to double check and get specifics, but his issue is now gone and it just blows my mind. I mean, the AFM wasn't even active when the vehicle shook so not sure how the hell the AFM comes into play regarding the entire cabin reverberating. 

 

 

[al123]

gentlemen,

 

please consider visiting www.ChevyShake.com to take the next step.

 

i have been wrestling with this for years and am tired with the bully behavior that oem's use to make their errors our problem!

 

the head mechanic at our local chevy dealer told me off the record (he did not wish to loose his job) gm made the frames too stiff & that normal road noise and vibrations are being transmitted into the cab... with other consequences.

 

i believe gm is aware of this & has been for some time.  I also believe gm likely took action in the mid-cycle update to address the issue.  but this leaves all owners with pre-update vehicles with an unsolvable problem that can contribute to other problems or issues.

 

one great question is when did gm become aware this issue was not able to be solved in the field because the timing of that speaks to intent and damages...

 

hope you find this helpful & insightful...

 

it's time we stand together to stop the bully behavior.

 

we love our family suburban - it's a great vehicle!  & while developing new technology unintended things happen - like vibrations that are manageable & forgivable - what is degrading to the soul is the deception and bully behavior - this must and will stop - when we stand together against it...

 

go to ChevyShake.com and share this with many, many others...:)

 

blessing always!