Highway Vibes

Dontech · November 12, 2007

I am getting a vibration at speeds between 65 and 70mph. I thought I had a balance issue. I bought new tires and had them installed. Still have vibration. Taking the truck in on Thursday to have it look at. I am thinking now it may be rotors. Any ideas?

Anyone else have brake work done on a NBS. I only have 17000mi on the truck and would not think I would have this problem already.

fbachman · November 12, 2007

no vibes here.. (NBS with about 3500miles)

new tires.... hmmmm... tire out of round, maybe? Been known to happen.

what kinda tires/size?

hubbycap · November 12, 2007

You have a vibration that is only between 65 and 70? Not above or below?

TheHun · November 13, 2007

You have a vibration that is only between 65 and 70? Not above or below?

I am having the same problems but at 57-52 mph..they think its a TQ Conv. going bad or the rear end somehow

unit731 · November 13, 2007

2008 Sierra 1500 4x4

I got vibration all speeds but more pronounced at 50-60 MPH.

I got to take in to dealer.

Zembonez · November 13, 2007

I am getting a vibration at speeds between 65 and 70mph. I thought I had a balance issue. I bought new tires and had them installed. Still have vibration. Taking the truck in on Thursday to have it look at. I am thinking now it may be rotors. Any ideas?

That is a very common speed range for vibrations. Rotors aren't going to cause a vibration going down the highway. I'd check wheel / tire runout. Possibly a wheel out of round... axle bent... something isn't round if you had the identical problem with your previous set of tires. IF the problem changed or worsened when you installed new tires I would go to the tire store and hae them do a serious rebalance and check for a wheel that isn't round. If they find something it will be easy to have your dealer address it.

Make sure you post your findings in here so we all know what to watch for.

hubbycap · November 13, 2007

I am getting a vibration at speeds between 65 and 70mph. I thought I had a balance issue. I bought new tires and had them installed. Still have vibration. Taking the truck in on Thursday to have it look at. I am thinking now it may be rotors. Any ideas?

That is a very common speed range for vibrations. Rotors aren't going to cause a vibration going down the highway. I'd check wheel / tire runout. Possibly a wheel out of round... axle bent... something isn't round if you had the identical problem with your previous set of tires. IF the problem changed or worsened when you installed new tires I would go to the tire store and hae them do a serious rebalance and check for a wheel that isn't round. If they find something it will be easy to have your dealer address it.

Make sure you post your findings in here so we all know what to watch for.

Adding to Jim's post: In diagnosing and repairing out-of-round wheels I've found that generally, bent wheels' vibration problems show up at street speeds, say, 35-45 mph and tire balance problems show up at freeway speeds. Bent wheels feel better the faster you go and balance problems get worse as you travel faster. However, lateral runout (that'd be a wobble) has a mind of its own and can pick a speed at which to be a problem, based on diameter harmonics.

I'd say check for lateral (side-to-side) run out and if less than about .020"-.030" you probably have a drive-train harmonic problem. Unless you're stepping on the brakes at 70 mph rotors are problably not the culprit. If you feel this in the steering wheel, rotate front to rear and see if it's still there. If it is, forget the wheels, if it goes away, then swap one side to determine which rear wheel is the problem. If it is more than one wheel, harmonic oscillation will occur and the speed/intensity will change.

unit731 · November 13, 2007

Thanks for the explanation. I may just print this out and take to dealer.

Dontech · November 13, 2007

More back ground info.

I had a set of Goodyear at/s and had two vibes. One at 10-20mph a "woble' and the other at 65-70. When I had them checked they were out of round so I replaced them. When they installed the new tires BFgoorich AT/ko's I had them "Road force balanced". I would have thought that if there was a tire wheel issue the Road Force balance would have picked that up. After replacement the low speed problem was corrected. No more woble but I still have a highway vibration that is worst at 66mph.

I do feel it more in the wheel but I feel it in the seat as well. This is why I thought that it might be a rotor or something up-front.

That is why I was wondering if this is a common issue. And if so what others are doing.

Thanks

wlvrn1215 · November 13, 2007

I had the same problem. the wheel would shimmy back and forth. I had the weights put on the inside of the rim so it doesnt screw them up.....same thing. I had the 3M tape weights on there now and The wheel doesnt move anymore. The tires were replaced by bridgestone because they wore right off at 6000 miles.....265-65-18. Lets see how these do. They had to put the same tires on because the only other tire in that size is bfg's AT TA KO. Cant afford 1000 bucks for tires right now

hubbycap · November 13, 2007

More back ground info.

I had a set of Goodyear at/s and had two vibes. One at 10-20mph a "woble' and the other at 65-70. When I had them checked they were out of round so I replaced them. When they installed the new tires BFgoorich AT/ko's I had them "Road force balanced". I would have thought that if there was a tire wheel issue the Road Force balance would have picked that up. After replacement the low speed problem was corrected. No more woble but I still have a highway vibration that is worst at 66mph.

I do feel it more in the wheel but I feel it in the seat as well. This is why I thought that it might be a rotor or something up-front.

That is why I was wondering if this is a common issue. And if so what others are doing.

Thanks

If you can get the truck up on a rack and spin the wheels manually then you may be able to see an axle problem as well. Also, the ability to run the drive wheels in gear (or all 4 w/4WD) and see if there is hop, in wheel/axle assembly could pin-point this.

Road force does a pretty impressive job, but only on the wheel/tire assembly, not drive line. Did they give you a ft/lb reading on your road force balance?

Dontech · November 13, 2007

More back ground info.

I had a set of Goodyear at/s and had two vibes. One at 10-20mph a "woble' and the other at 65-70. When I had them checked they were out of round so I replaced them. When they installed the new tires BFgoorich AT/ko's I had them "Road force balanced". I would have thought that if there was a tire wheel issue the Road Force balance would have picked that up. After replacement the low speed problem was corrected. No more woble but I still have a highway vibration that is worst at 66mph.

I do feel it more in the wheel but I feel it in the seat as well. This is why I thought that it might be a rotor or something up-front.

That is why I was wondering if this is a common issue. And if so what others are doing.

Thanks

If you can get the truck up on a rack and spin the wheels manually then you may be able to see an axle problem as well. Also, the ability to run the drive wheels in gear (or all 4 w/4WD) and see if there is hop, in wheel/axle assembly could pin-point this.

Road force does a pretty impressive job, but only on the wheel/tire assembly, not drive line. Did they give you a ft/lb reading on your road force balance?

Yes, the tech said that they did very well, max was 20psi I think. Does that sound right? I watched them do it. I hate having my truck worked on.

hubbycap · November 13, 2007

More back ground info.

I had a set of Goodyear at/s and had two vibes. One at 10-20mph a "woble' and the other at 65-70. When I had them checked they were out of round so I replaced them. When they installed the new tires BFgoorich AT/ko's I had them "Road force balanced". I would have thought that if there was a tire wheel issue the Road Force balance would have picked that up. After replacement the low speed problem was corrected. No more woble but I still have a highway vibration that is worst at 66mph.

I do feel it more in the wheel but I feel it in the seat as well. This is why I thought that it might be a rotor or something up-front.

That is why I was wondering if this is a common issue. And if so what others are doing.

Thanks

If you can get the truck up on a rack and spin the wheels manually then you may be able to see an axle problem as well. Also, the ability to run the drive wheels in gear (or all 4 w/4WD) and see if there is hop, in wheel/axle assembly could pin-point this.

Road force does a pretty impressive job, but only on the wheel/tire assembly, not drive line. Did they give you a ft/lb reading on your road force balance?

Yes, the tech said that they did very well, max was 20psi I think. Does that sound right? I watched them do it. I hate having my truck worked on.

I think that the "20" reading is pounds of centrifugal force. An ounce or two spun fast enough could weigh tons. But 20 is fine. I've got one wheel on my wife's car that is about a 30 and it has a slight vibe starting at around 82mph.

You may want to intensify your investigation towards the mechanical.

Dontech · November 13, 2007

More back ground info.

I had a set of Goodyear at/s and had two vibes. One at 10-20mph a "woble' and the other at 65-70. When I had them checked they were out of round so I replaced them. When they installed the new tires BFgoorich AT/ko's I had them "Road force balanced". I would have thought that if there was a tire wheel issue the Road Force balance would have picked that up. After replacement the low speed problem was corrected. No more woble but I still have a highway vibration that is worst at 66mph.

I do feel it more in the wheel but I feel it in the seat as well. This is why I thought that it might be a rotor or something up-front.

That is why I was wondering if this is a common issue. And if so what others are doing.

Thanks

If you can get the truck up on a rack and spin the wheels manually then you may be able to see an axle problem as well. Also, the ability to run the drive wheels in gear (or all 4 w/4WD) and see if there is hop, in wheel/axle assembly could pin-point this.

Road force does a pretty impressive job, but only on the wheel/tire assembly, not drive line. Did they give you a ft/lb reading on your road force balance?

Yes, the tech said that they did very well, max was 20psi I think. Does that sound right? I watched them do it. I hate having my truck worked on.

I think that the "20" reading is pounds of centrifugal force. An ounce or two spun fast enough could weigh tons. But 20 is fine. I've got one wheel on my wife's car that is about a 30 and it has a slight vibe starting at around 82mph.

You may want to intensify your investigation towards the mechanical.

Ok, that's why I made a appointment with the dealer. I like to have some info before I go. I just hope they can fix it. I thank you for you help.

pm26 · November 14, 2007

I would not rule out the brake rotors. Good rotors are properly balanced after they are made. Unfortunately, GM started using real junk lately so you never know if these Chinese specials are balanced at all.