2005 Silverado Extended cab Z71

[budone]

I thought, 'What the hey' let me try over here to get suggestions. Maybe someone may have an idea who has not seen my story in teh other forum.

 

Since purchase in February my truck ('05 Silverado Z71 extended cab) has had a vibration. Below is the service that has occurred and when.

 

04/01/2005

Mileage 3707

Williams Chevrolet

• Free LOF

• Checked for vibration or slipping of transmission NPF

 

This service trip I wanted the dealership to look into the transmission because of accelerating from a near stop, the transmission would not engage or shutter, and then would slam into gear. I was told there was no code showing, the vehicle had the most current computer update and this is normal. (It would not seem normal reading the GM-Trucks forum

 

 

05.19.05

9200

LOF performed by myself

 

05.23.05

9460

Williams Chevrolet

Appt made for vibration complaint, rotors needed turning, rotate tires and balance, some paintwork and a reconditioning of the entire body due to surface scratches.

 

The vehicle was left on a Monday and picked up on Friday.

 

• Rotors and rear drums were turned. (This needs to be done yet again. My last vehicle a 2002 Tahoe Z71 had 131,000 miles when I traded it in and never had brakes replaced or the rotors turned.)

• Dealership could not replicate the vibration of the transmission

 

When I left the dealership I immediately felt a vibration worse than ever. I drove 5 miles and called the service writer. I explained I needed to get back home, but the truck was bouncing all over the road. He stated I would have to come back later in the day. I told him that was unacceptable and the tires needed to be rebalanced.

 

I drove back and he gave me a story that since I had not rotated my tires, (he stated GM wants rotations done every 3000 miles) the tires were chopped and that was causing the vibration. In fact the service writer for Lemmen Grand stated to me every other LOF is fine for rotations. (Roughly 6k-8k)

 

I showed the service writer at Williams where there had been a tire weight and it was missing. He stated he knew it was balanced and it is fine. He did have someone (this person also saw where a weight used to be) lower the Tire Pressure to 30PSI (Door label states 35PSI) and then we went for a drive. The lower PSI did improve the ride….. until the pressure built back up on my way back home and again the truck was all over the place.

 

05.30.2005

10,500

Belle Tire

Had tires re-balanced. This improved the ride from the lousy balancing at Williams, yet the other vibration continued.

 

06.21.205

11,500 (I am estimating the mileage. I thought all work done at a dealership would automatically get logged into GM-Link, but only warranty work does)

Lemmen-Grand (Coopersville)

 

Truck was taken there for the vibration. I explained all that had been done prior, yet the techs could not feel the vibration so the truck was given a Road Force balancing. (Another balancing charge for me to pay for)

 

07.12.2005

14616

LOF performed by me

 

08.05.2005

16,586

Lemmen Grand

Truck taken in for the vibration and a tire rotation and rattle of driver side Suicide door

I explained that maybe it is transmission or suspension

 

• Rear U-Joint and rear propeller was replaced, but the tech really could not feel any vibration. Replacing the U-Joint made the vibration noticeably worse.

 

 

 

 

08.08.2005

Lemmen Grand

 

By this time, the vibration is now at any speed. I stopped by to make yet another appointment and was able to have the Service Director drive the vehicle. He noticed the vibration immediately. In fact he was able another vibration and roar in the transfer case at 61mph. If I placed the truck in 4WD, it quit.

 

Tuesday August 16th visit

 

• Rotors replaced

• Actuator replaced

• Vibration is still there. Dealership used a service bulletin (#11679169) to explain the noise and my vibration issue, stating there is no fix for this. This does explain the roar and vibration from the transfer case at 61-62 mph, but not the vibration I have at any speed now.

• The leaking upper ball joint boot, was not touched.

 

 

 

Tuesday August 23rd visit to Lemmen-Grand

 

• Service Manager takes truck for a drive. He still feels the vibration and also other vibration and roar in the transfer case (The item GM does not know how to fix…how about replacing with new transfer case) He also sees all four tires are ‘chopped’. He determines that it is NOT caused by a lack of rotations of the tires. The tires were chopped at my visit to Williams Chevy back on May 25th.

 

• Even with the front end already well within specs, the tech ‘tweaks’ the alignment and a new set of tires are ordered for the truck.

 

Friday August 26, 2005 visit

 

• Tires are placed on truck and the service manager states he believes the tires were causing the vibration. That is fine if that eliminates the vibration. However, that is not correcting the problem. My contention is, if the vehicle was well with GM specs on the front end alignment, there is another reason for the tires to be chopping like they are were and in 3000 miles or so we will see it again.

 

• In addition, the Repair order states I should be rotating the tires with the crossover method. Would that not be the dealerships responsibility to know????

 

 

Saturday August 27th. Myself and another person (separately) took the truck out for a drive. It was much smoother.

 

Monday August 29th. My happiness in the ride is short-lived. I noticed the tire pressure looked low. All for tires were at 29-30psi (Used three gauges.) Door jam sticker states 35psi.

 

I placed all 4 tires at 35psi and drove the truck, the vibration is back. Service manager states the techs air gauge must not be working correctly.

 

I have suggested balancing the drive shaft and check the suspension, or take a set of rims and tires off a truck in the lot and see if it improves

 

So for those of you that have not read my story in the other forum, what should I suggest (can I demand) be done next???

 

 

Thanks in advance.

[GM-Tech]

Without experiencing the vibration myself, and the confusing amount of things that have been done, mentioned, explained, I haven't a clue what to tell you.

 

Some observations though... The difference between a tire pressure of 30 psi and 35 psi (or even 25 psi and 40 psi) is not going to make a vibration. A lower pressure may make for a slightly softer (though I wonder if you'd even notice) ride, but it wouldn't cause a vibration.

 

Tires that are chopped on the inner or outer edge may make noise, but this also doesn't cause a vibration. I've seen some so bad you could barely stand the noise and they don't vibrate.

 

Have the tires been road force balanced? Simply balancing for weight doesn't account for variations in stiffness of a tire. You need a special balancer to do a road force balance and since these are about $12,000, not all dealers have them. The other option would be to put wheels/tires on your truck from a new one in stock and drive it. Drive the new truck first though! You want to know positively that it rides smoothly before committing its tires as a diagnostic tool.

 

And last but not least, and I know you don't want to hear this, it is a truck, not a softly suspended car. It may have leather, XM and OnStar and power accessories out the butt, but it's still a truck, just like a work truck that has rubber mats and roll up windows. Unloaded, they tend to be kinda bouncy and road quality is a big factor.

[budone]

Yes it has been road force balanced.

 

I truly understand how a truck feels. I have had many of them over the years. Never have I had this much vibration. Now it bounces.

 

I also had the vibration with a load of shingles in it.

 

I drove my buddys 2003, it rides like a dream compared to mine.

 

Thanks for the info.

[BBSilverado]

Just some things that should be checked:

1) are the drums or rotors balanced true? I don't mean turned on a brake lathe.

Most places can't check or do anything about balancing them (just replace them)

Both drums and rotors are balanced by the manufacturer and never need anything done after that, cutting or turning will not correct this problem.

Road force balancing usually will not compensate for out of balance rotors or drums and will usually will screw up the balance of the wheel/ tire by making adjustments that don't solve anything.

 

2) the rear axle shaft/s could be bent or twisted, not the housing, the shaft inside.

[mmmikkke]

...Monday August 29th. My happiness in the ride is short-lived. I noticed the tire pressure looked low. All for tires were at 29-30psi (Used three gauges.) Door jam sticker states 35psi.

 

I placed all 4 tires at 35psi and drove the truck, the vibration is back. Service manager states the techs air gauge must not be working correctly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Back in 1977 I had a Ford Mustang II that had a body oscillation. It was the Pinto-based Mustang II, with a 302 V8 shoehorned into the engine compartment.

 

When driven below 50 mph, no problem. Nice car, nice ride, lots of power. But take it up to 55, and onward to 65, and it shimmied enough to make you want to get the tires balanced. I got the tires balanced, bought new tires, got them balanced again. Nothing seemed to help at all. Got the driveshaft balanced. That made things worse. (Sound familiar?) I ordered a new driveshaft from the parts department which was $75 at the time, put it in, and was back to the original shimmy.

 

But during that period I learned that *all* Mustang-II's with the 302 V8 and radial tires vibrated just like mine. The word on the street was that the only fix was to replace the radial tires with non-radial tires (bias-ply *grandmother* tires).

 

I can remember one time driving on the eway when I had a toolbox in the back (hatch area), and another toolbox on the floor in the front seat (passenger side). As I drove along, first the toolbox in back would rattle, and then the toolbox in the front would rattle, then in back, then in front, on and on. That told me that the vehicle was in some sort of complex vibration mode.

 

So I was honing in on the actual problem. I complained to Ford, and asked them where to weld the roll bars inside to solidify the jiggling chassis! They said, no there's no knowledge of such a fix, but mysteriously, a corporate service rep offered to meet me at the dealership and go for a test drive with me. So I go to do that. When I get there, I find out that he and 2 other grown men, all 3 of them in their 40's or 50's, are all to go with me on the test drive. Imagine a 50 year old guy squeezing into the back seat of a Pinto. Well they did it with straight faces.

 

Result, with all that ballast and fluid weight, was almost no vibration. I was neutralized. I didn't realize it then, but they had done their dirty deed. Probably were worried I'd blow the whistle on their defective design.

 

I traded in my Mustang II within a few months after that, figuring I couldn't fix it and I didn't want to continue to suffer.

 

It was only a few years later that I realized how rediculous, and sinister, the 3 service rep test drive was. They had no interest in fixing my problem. They were only interested in shutting me up.

 

If that's any indication of the kind of people that work at GM, that's the kind of lies you'll be dealing with here.

 

I'd ask to talk to the technician, and ask him to check your tires with the same gage, and show you how it's busted. They won't be able to fake a busted gage. I bet they "can't find" the gage. Bingo, they dropped your psi according to a standard secret fix, just like the 3-rep test drive.

 

Hire a lawyer. Get yourself a new truck.

[GM-Tech]

Hire a lawyer.  Get yourself a new truck.

 

You could definitely look into the lemon laws for your state which should not require you spending money on a lawyer.

 

For instance, here in Florida, after three repair attempts for the same significant defect, you send in a defect notification to the manufacturer. They get one more attempt to fix it. If the manufacturer feels you have no case, they may take it to an arbitration board. Sometimes the arbitrator will request an "expert" opinion. Who they use for this is unknown to me. In the end, the manufacturer is bound by the arbitrator's decision, though the customer is not.

 

Most of the time, GM won't even go that far and will just repurchase or trade the customer out of the vehicle without fighting it.

 

The process in your state may be different.

[GM-Tech]

Bingo, they dropped your psi according to a standard secret fix, just like the 3-rep test drive.

 

I know of no secret fix like this. And being on the "inside" and dealing with many vibration issues, I'm sure something like this would have come up at some point in time.

[budone]

Hire a lawyer.  Get yourself a new truck.

 

You could definitely look into the lemon laws for your state which should not require you spending money on a lawyer.

 

 

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

 

GM Tech, it is the same in Michigan. I sent my 'Last Chance Letter' about 3 weeks ago.

 

I have given GM three add'l tries since they received it.

 

However, he is stumped. He feels it and can not figure out what it is.

 

What has bothered me is the GM rep that was assigned to my case. He calls and sets up a weekly call. He has yet to make the call.

 

On another subject, in my first post I made comment of the other issue I have which is the vibration and roar from the transfer case at 61-62mph. (service bulletin (#11679169)

 

Is there any fix for this coming?????? The bulletin makes it sound like an annoyance, but it definately affects the driveability of the truck.

 

Thanks for all your thoughts

Bill

[GM-Tech]

On another subject, in my first post I made comment of the other issue I have which is the vibration and roar from the transfer case at 61-62mph. (service bulletin (#11679169)

 

That issue sounds vaguely familiar, but we don't see many 4-wheel drive vehicles here in the sunny south, so I have not dealt with ANY problems in any.

 

I tried looking up that number you have (11679169) and it's not a valid document ID and definitely not a valid bulletin number, so I have no idea what that bulletin is about.

[budone]

On another subject, in my first post I made comment of the other issue I have which is the vibration and roar from the transfer case at 61-62mph. (service bulletin (#11679169)

 

That issue sounds vaguely familiar, but we don't see many 4-wheel drive vehicles here in the sunny south, so I have not dealt with ANY problems in any.

 

I tried looking up that number you have (11679169) and it's not a valid document ID and definitely not a valid bulletin number, so I have no idea what that bulletin is about.

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry, I typed a number one too many times.... Here ya go... 1679169