15 Denali - Shake and Bake Ricky Bobby - FIX

[Cbell13055]

Hey all,

 

First off, I have a 2015 Sierra Denali 6.2 8-Speed, Magneride, etc. Since I bought it December 17 it’s had the “Chevy Shake”. Between 67mph and 77mph the whole truck would shake any fillings out of your teeth. With a newborn baby on the way due in December 18 I didn’t want my son suffering while I drive my near new/new to me $63,000 original msrp truck.

 

I brought it in a bunch of times to the dealer and they were really nice but never fixed anything.

 

1st visit)They rotated and balanced tires

 

2nd) They road force balanced the tires

 

3rd) They updated the transmission

 

4th) The replaced the transmission. 

 

After the transmission i even replaced the tires hoping this would maybe fix it. $800.00 nearly wasted.

 

Still shaking. At this point I figure I go to these great forums and try to solves this myself. I’ve seen a ton about driveshafts, rotors, axles, etc.

 

The other day I pulled the driveshaft and brought it to a great local shop RPC in Pennsauken. They found it was out of balance and balanced it up. $85 bucks. And the shaking was reduced quite a bit but still present.

 

I read another article about rear u-bolts being problematic. A board member Ron.S mentioned he had success with a company Boise Spring Works in Boise Idaho who made him a set of U-bolts. They have a finer thread and use a higher grade metal which allows torque spec to 125ft/lbs instead of factory 79ft/lb. They made these same day and shipped them to my house. 

 

I threw them on last night and HOLY COW what a difference. The truck feels phenmoneal now. Lower speed the truck feels much more planted and connected with the road. Over bumps it handles it so smoothly now. It used to feel way too stiff. 

 

On on the highway to shake is virtually eliminated. The is a hair of a nibble from the steering wheel which I’ll try and have the front tires balanced, but the body/seat vibration is gone.

 

I’ll work on updating this thread throughout the upcoming weeks to ensure the shake doesn’t return. Overall, after 1 day driving I’m

suoer happy with how it drives. Drives like it should have day 1!!!!!

 

 

[Brant78]

That’s great! Thanks for the info!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[diyer2]

Good job!

Too bad GM engineers aren't smart enough to fix the problem.

 

Edited November 22, 2018 by diyer2

[L86 All Terrain]

40 minutes ago, diyer2 said:

Good job!

Too bad GM engineers aren't smart enough to fix the problem.

 

They are, and know damn well what the problem is. The thing is they don't want to fix 200,000 trucks at $700 a piece. That would be a $140,000,000 cost to GM to fix their screw ups. So until it becomes a safety concern, which it isn't, they wont recall them. 

[diyer2]

Well said.

We are all just a source of revenue to all companies.

 

[Eddie 70]

How much for the U-bolts minus the shipping? I can't see a price on their website. Interesting fix.

[Cbell13055]

13 minutes ago, Eddie 70 said:

How much for the U-bolts minus the shipping? I can't see a price on their website. Interesting fix.

They were $45 bucks. I can’t guarantee it will be the be all end all...im only on day 1 of driving it but it feels like a brand new truck. No vibrations either! Highly highly recommended! 

[Cbell13055]

38 minutes ago, L86 All Terrain said:

They are, and know damn well what the problem is. The thing is they don't want to fix 200,000 trucks at $700 a piece. That would be a $140,000,000 cost to GM to fix their screw ups. So until it becomes a safety concern, which it isn't, they wont recall them. 

 

Being in the business and having worked on the manufacturing side in the business it would need to impair the use, value, or safety of the vehicle. The vibration that nearly all of them exhibit would be declared a “inherent normal characteristic” of the vehicle. However, balancing the shaft and installing the ubolts for roughly $125 bucks is money WELL spent IMO.

[L86 All Terrain]

2 hours ago, Cbell13055 said:

 

Being in the business and having worked on the manufacturing side in the business it would need to impair the use, value, or safety of the vehicle. The vibration that nearly all of them exhibit would be declared a “inherent normal characteristic” of the vehicle. However, balancing the shaft and installing the ubolts for roughly $125 bucks is money WELL spent IMO.

100% agree anything is better that dealing with the shake, however you just should not have to spend a single dime on a $60,000 vehicle in order to make it ride as good as a 1992 Chevy. We should not be spending more, to revert in technological advancements and engineering designs. The fact that this was not detected and corrected in the supposed 2 million miles GM put on testing the K2, it a complete embarrassment and failure in my opinion. I am a contractor, that is like me being contracted to dig a basement and doing it all wrong, charging more than my quote and expecting the customer to return to my services later on. Not going to happen in the real world, but GM can get away with it due to their size, political influence on Governments, and little market competition. Basically, they are big enough to say screw you guys, buy our junk and like it or else. 

[Cbell13055]

5 hours ago, L86 All Terrain said:

100% agree anything is better that dealing with the shake, however you just should not have to spend a single dime on a $60,000 vehicle in order to make it ride as good as a 1992 Chevy. We should not be spending more, to revert in technological advancements and engineering designs. The fact that this was not detected and corrected in the supposed 2 million miles GM put on testing the K2, it a complete embarrassment and failure in my opinion. I am a contractor, that is like me being contracted to dig a basement and doing it all wrong, charging more than my quote and expecting the customer to return to my services later on. Not going to happen in the real world, but GM can get away with it due to their size, political influence on Governments, and little market competition. Basically, they are big enough to say screw you guys, buy our junk and like it or else. 

 

I will absolutely agree with you! So many of these trucks on the road suffering from this problem absolutely should be rectified. The arugement may be able to made that because of the publicity it would impair the value of these vehicles. 

 

I fell in love with the truck from the moment I saw it on the dealers lot. I’ve been mostly disappointed with the truck for the past year driving it due to the shaking. Im glad so far that it’s driving much better now. I have to say that GM not addressing this has potentially turned me and I’m sure thousands of others from considering a GM for their next truck. 

[Cbell13055]

Day 2 - Still really smooth. Probably have 100 miles on it so far. Still much firmer to the ground, bumps are smoother, and the highway shimmy is nearly non existent. Happy camper so far 

 

[Jimmyc!]

I've had a '15 Silverado - head on collision totaled, '15 Sierra, and now an '18 Sierra and have not had the shake. I think it sucks ass that those that do are treated like it's some phantom issue. But it is nice to know that there appears to be a fix, albeit at your own expense.

[sk]

So who is going to contact Boise Spring and set up a group buy??  

[Cbell13055]

6 hours ago, sk said:

So who is going to contact Boise Spring and set up a group buy??  

I’m going to contact them soon to report back on my findings with their U-Bolts. So far so good for me. Again, if you’re really connected with how your truck performs....this is a MUST!!!!

[Mike GMC]

I'm glad the U bolts have helped your shake issues.  But I'm confused as to how this could help.  Are the stock bolts too weak and allowing unwanted movement?  I'm not calling BS, I just don't understand.  Mine doesn't happen to have the shake, but if the U bolts are inadequate or interior, then I might want to replace them anyway.