Shake or Vibration Issues

[abominable z71]

Also this vibration is happening in the v6 trucks which have the 8.6" 10 bolt carry over axle so it's not just in the 9.5" axle

No wonder GM can't fix it. The FMEA chart on this problem is probably all over the place, or they know what it is and the fix is so expensive the accountants have done the math and it's still cheaper to ignore it and deal with lemon law buy backs and trades instead of admitting there's an issue and making the required repairs.

 

I wonder how many people have this problem and don't notice it or think its just road surface problems.

[afireinside7444]

Well i get to start the process Wensday got the good ol "im sure its just a tire flat spot from sitting" or the just a bad tire line over the phone. I am predicting a buyback in 4 to 6 months....... not even 600 miles

Edited July 20, 2015 by afireinside7444

[Mcarlo24]

Mcarlo24, on 29 Jun 2015 - 08:17 AM, said:

 

 

Had mine in Saturday for my first Free oil change and tire rotation... Had them look into my 70-75 MPH Vibration and agreed it has one... They rebalanced all 4 tires and say the LF needed 1 1/2 OZ... Is that alot? She made it out to be but I have no idea... They also tell me that it is better but may still have a vibe and for me to test it... I didn't get a chance to talk to them directly or test it with them because I got there after service dept hours... I haven't had a chance to test it yet but will today after work... I don't have a worm fuzzy about it especially after reading this Thread...

 

Stay Tuned.

 

 

I finally got a chance to test it out after the re-balance and rotation and I am Happy to report that it is much, much better... It was so bad that it may still have some vibe but it feels like nothing to me now... I am headed on a couple hundred mile trip in a week and should get a better idea of where I am at... I will keep an eye on it and keep you all posted...

 

Keep the Faith

Relieved to report that after my 300+ mile round trip that my vibration issue is gone... To recap, I had the 70-75 MPH Vibration that was really bad and after they re-balanced my tires (one was way off and needed 1 1/2 oz of weight added) my vibration is gone... I will keep a watch to this thread incase the vibe returns..

 

Good luck to all still having the issue..

[Jesse Davidson]

Well i get to start the process Wensday got the good ol "im sure its just a tire flat spot from sitting" or the just a bad tire line over the phone. I am predicting a buyback in 4 to 6 months....... not even 600 miles

My truck is in the same spot, about 650 miles and going to the dealer for the 2nd time this afternoon for vibe and radio

[zachybean]

I've been wondering if anyone has put a confirmed "vibrator" on a stationary dyno,get it up to speed(70-75) and see if they can replicate the vibe without having to go on the highway.Would be smooth/consistant ride,unlike highway where little bumps can set it off,Seems like this method could narrow down the possibilities.If it still vibes on dyno,that would eliminate anything up front (Tires,wheels,Smooth Road Shake from the new electric power steering,suspension,aerodynamics) narrow it down to the rear tires/wheels,driveshaft,rearend gears/axles,transmission.....Still chuckle about the guy who was told it shakes because he put running boards on.

[FormerFordGuy]

I have a 2015 Z71 4x4 CC Sierra SLT 3.42 rear end that started vibrating at about 2k miles. It has Rancho quick lift rs9000 struts on the front and rs9000s in the rear. Aftermarket wheels and toyo at II tires. After reading all the forums this is what I have done thus far trying to track down the issue in hopes of finding something that could solve the problem and possibly help others get theirs fixed as well. I used an app on my phone to use the internal accelerometer to find the resonance frequencies it vibrates at. Got a spike at 13, 26 and 39 hz at 72 mph. 13 hz is a first order vibration that matches tire speed directly, 26 and 39 hz are second and third order "vehicle speed" vibrations that could also be tire related. Had the tires road forced and 0 gram balanced 4 times. The 13 and 26 hz vibrations went away but the 39hz still remains unchanged. Could be a third order tire problem that is usually unfixable without replacing the tire. So I swapped the after markets for the factory wheels and tires. 39 hz vibration still there. Then I tried every combination of after market and factory. Took the better part of the weekend testing everything. 2 factories on the front, 2 after markets on the rear then cycled each wheel to each corner. The odds of every wheel and tire having a third order vibration is extremely unlikely which I think rules them out as the vibration source. Next step checked radial and lateral runout at all 4 corners. No smoking guns there either. Truck still vibrates from 70 - 75 mph. Tried re-settling the body mounts as posted here, no dice there either. Next step is to road force and 0 gram balance the factory wheel and tires and see if that changes anything. If not, I'm going to put the factory shocks and struts back on and test again not hopeful this will fix anything either.

 

After reading this forum and numerous others on this issue and the problem occouring in all cab configurations in both 2 and 4wd my suspicion is that the problem is the rear end, likely a bad ring gear. The ring gear spins at the same speed as the tires, a warped ring gear or bad spots in the tooth cut furing mfg. or heat treating could cause a 3rd order vehicle speed vibration. I did some research and found out the 9.5 inch rear end in the K2XX platform is a new design, and uses different internal parts from the 2013 and older 9.5 rear ends. Even though this rear end has been out for 2 years there are no after market gear sets available for it. Is this a possible known design flaw and things may be changed so no one wants to invest in tooling???? Rebuilding a rear end with the only parts available from the same company that made the original garbage parts doesn't give me a warm fuzzy but may be the only avenue to try and solve this problem.

 

The only other thought I have on the issue is a tolerance stack issue. Multiple items rotating at tire speed (hubs, axle shafts, rotors all technically within tolerance individually but when combined to form a rotating system cause just enough imbalance to make the truck vibrate and these new lighter stiffer frames transmit the vibrations right into the cab. testing this theory would require dynamically balancing all these parts which seems unreasonable. I'm trying to arm myself with enough data to avoid multiple trips to the dealer where they just rf balance the tires over and over before actually looking at the rear end or other drive train components as the source. I won't accept "normal operation" or "they all do it" out of a $55k truck.

Excellent post. Thanks for the great info.

[1997SierraSLT]

I would not put it past GM to closely monitor this 340 page thread and just wait patiently for the loyal GM truck owners to correctly diagnose the root causes(s) of these vibration issues themselves.

Edited July 21, 2015 by 97SierraSLT

[Stoney371]

I have been reading posts on this site for some time and had to sign up. I too am very frustrated with my 2014 Silverado 1500 crew. I noticed vibration at around 50 mph. Not to re-hash the previous 340 posts on this I just wanted to share my experience. When I first noticed the vibration I asked the service mgr about it and he said that it was the variable valve timing and was normal. I was skeptical, but had no reason to believe otherwise. So 15000 mi later I decided to take it to another larger dealership 30 miles away for another opinion. They said that it is a know problem and took my concern very seriously. First trip to the dealership they had it for several days and could not find the problem. They said they had a new vibration detection device that they had just received and my truck was its first customer. Well that didn't seem to diagnose the problem. It's Not the tires or wheels as they were force balanced. GM told them to replace the drive shaft because it was .0020 out of spec. They had to order the new shaft. So I took it back today and the drive shaft was not the problem. I asked what the next step was and was told they were going in the rear end next. I love my truck but am starting to regret my choice. I apologize if this is simply a repeat of everyone else's problem. So my question is when do I say enough is enough? I will say that I am more that happy with the way the dealership has treated me. Heck today they gave me a 2016 DMax Z71 as a loaner. Any suggestions is appreciated. Thanks

Edited July 21, 2015 by Stoney371

[Stoney371]

How has GM responded to customer contacts regarding this matter?

Edited July 21, 2015 by Stoney371

[Jesse Davidson]

So I did more testing in my truck yesterday before dropping it off at the dealer again, The highway was pretty free for a change and I was actually able to get up to 82MPH for the first time in about a month, and I did not have any SERIOUS vibe issues, just the light vibe I get at all speeds (no its not standard road imperfections) , It did continue to have a worse vibe/shake when going around a curve on the highway at speeds of about 45+ MPH. The AFM still sucks, Ironically they gave me a Tahoe for the loaner and I only noticed the AFM vibe once in it, all other times it was flawless (audience gasps here) and guess what else.... The radio actually works properly (wispers among crowd in shock). So when I dropped it off, I specifically requested that they examine the steering position control sensor (figured what the h*ll, maybe they will find something wrong with it and the "smooth road shake") I also specifically asked them to roadforce and re-balance the wheels (figured what the h*ll, maybe I'll get lucky and it will help). They looked up the Service Bulletin for the Radio and were surprised that I knew about it when they didn't (So I thank you all here, please take a bow), we already know that the software is up to date, but they are going to check again, and they said they would try to play around with the radio again to see if they can figure anything out, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

So when he read the TSB, he said that GM is blaming it on obstructions such as buildings and poor signal quality from the provider. I said "thats a load of sh*t, these stations have been around here for years, and I've never had issues with them before, even in my old 2007 with the stock Ford/Lincoln deck that I traded in for this" and he agreed with me.... further proof is the Tahoe, It has not issues picking up the same stations that my truck can't do.

 

He is supposed to call me this afternoon about anything they find, what they can/ are doing for it, and when I'll be able to get my truck back. I'll keep you all posted with any findings

Edited July 21, 2015 by Jesse D

[Jesse Davidson]

I have been reading posts on this site for some time and had to sign up. I too am very frustrated with my 2014 Silverado 1500 crew. I noticed vibration at around 50 mph. Not to re-hash the previous 340 posts on this I just wanted to share my experience. When I first noticed the vibration I asked the service mgr about it and he said that it was the variable valve timing and was normal. I was skeptical, but had no reason to believe otherwise. So 15000 mi later I decided to take it to another larger dealership 30 miles away for another opinion. They said that it is a know problem and took my concern very seriously. First trip to the dealership they had it for several days and could not find the problem. They said they had a new vibration detection device that they had just received and my truck was its first customer. Well that didn't seem to diagnose the problem. It's Not the tires or wheels as they were force balanced. GM told them to replace the drive shaft because it was .0020 out of spec. They had to order the new shaft. So I took it back today and the drive shaft was not the problem. I asked what the next step was and was told they were going in the rear end next. I love my truck but am starting to regret my choice. I apologize if this is simply a repeat of everyone else's problem. So my question is when do I say enough is enough? I will say that I am more that happy with the way the dealership has treated me. Heck today they gave me a 2016 DMax Z71 as a loaner. Any suggestions is appreciated. Thanks

depends on how committed you are to the truck and Chevy/GM if you are pissed get it in for the 3 repair attempts then give them a fourth with a final repair attempt notice, if you love the truck, let it go and keep going back until they figure out how to fix it. After reading abominable Z71's post above, I would tend to agree with him, alot of parts that may be near then end of their tolerances could very easily end up being the problem. It just becomes a matter of finding any and all parts and replacing them with parts that are to a tighter tolerance. Maybe GM should just tighten the tolerances on ever part, yes it may cost more to make the truck, but they won't be dealing with all these service issues and pissed off people.

[14silverado4.3]

Jesse D, let me know what you find on the steering issue. I have the same vibe at highway speed turns.

[Jesse Davidson]

Jesse D, let me know what you find on the steering issue. I have the same vibe at highway speed turns.

So I got a call from the dealer this afternoon.... They did NOTHING for the whole day, apparently they normally have a GM rep in on Tuesdays, but he kindly decided not to show up today, and will be there tomorrow. So they are keeping my truck so that he can see/ hear/ feel all of the issues. The service rep from the dealer told me that they "didn't do the roadforce/ re balancing" because they "want to rule out the drivetrain on the shakes first, and that way it may save me a few bucks on the rims/tires" I asked how it would save me anything since I'm not going to be responsible for defective parts that come stock on my truck from the dealer. he just said "ohh"

 

I'll keep ya posted on any updates

[Enforcer]

It sincerely hurts me to see so many more new people with the vibration issue

 

Sadly, 97SierraSLT just might be right

 

" I would not put it past GM to closely monitor this 340 page thread and just wait patiently for the loyal GM truck owners to correctly diagnose the root causes(s) of these vibration issues themselves "

 

Since the fall of 2013 GM has skated by on this and what's to stop them ?

 

@ 75mph I considered mine a Safety Issue, Yes it was that bad shorty after I made that statement the procedure

except for the actual check went a bit quicker.

[20SierraL8T24]

Been there done that... Dealer replaced everything rear of my tranny..(3 driveshafts, 3 of the 4 tires were replaced, tires off another truck and diff rim size, rear end, engine shims and forgive me if I forgot anything... After they replaced the rear end and nothing changed, I knew my issue was most likely the transmission or torque converter... They "bought back" my truck and gave me 5 k trade in assistance towards the neg equity. My first truck was a 5.3, 4x4, 3.42, crew cab short box w 7k miles on it. The dealer offered me a free upgrade to an LTZ if I decided to purchase another Chevy. I gave them another shot and this one has been nothing but smooth for 17k now.