Shake or Vibration Issues

[mjj]

I noticed a slight vib at freeway speeds within the first week of owning it. Already owning and driving Chevy trucks I didn't even think about paying attention to the ride quality at all speeds during my short test drive which did not include a drive on a freeway. Who would think the ride quality would be worse than my 9yr old Silverado. So all those saying do an extended test drive at ALL speeds are giving smart advice. My 70mph vib was better after a tire rebalance but I think the 50mph not smooth road shakes have gotten worse this summer. I now have 11k miles on it.

Edited August 22, 2015 by mjj

[abominable z71]

I currently own a 2009 Avalanche and a Camaro ZL1.

 

I am planning to go test drive a new 2015 Sierra crew cab short box with the 6.2L v8 and am glad I ran across this thread before I went.

 

I made an account just to ask a couple questions. Do most people here think the vibration shows up immediately and gets worse over time or is it going to rear its ugly head after a couple thousand miles.

 

Honestly, I am second guessing my decision to trade in my Avalanche, while it does have its problems from having some miles on it, it rides down the highway smooth.

 

If you were going to test drive a new Sierra today, what would you look for and do with the truck to make sure it doesn't have any issues? It seems like running down the highways with varying speeds (50-80MPH) for a couple hours is the way to go.

Mine decided to show up at 2000 miles

[LongrangeLauber]

Didn't really notice mine until 15k

[JacobC1983]

Well --

 

just got back from the test drive. Drove it for about 45 minutes. I did notice a slight vibration (granted I was looking for it) at between 70-75 MPH but it didn't do it the whole time and it seems like something that could have been road related, and now I am hypersensitive to it because I am looking for it.

 

Honestly, this truck doesn't ride as nice as my Avalanche does. It just feels firmer and accentuates the minor bumps more than the Avalanche.

 

The inside of the Sierra is leaps and bounds nicer than my Avalanche though, but the Avy doesn't have leather or any goodies on it and the Sierra has almost every option.

 

And why the hell does the steering wheel of the Sierra not line up with the guage cluster?!

Edited August 22, 2015 by JacobC1983

[C6Bill]

Do yourself a favor and find a low milage 2012 or 2013 Denali and save yourself the aggravation. GM is sending an engineer out to work on mine, I offered to let them keep it as long as needed in hopes that they can figure this out for all of us. I'll keep you all posted.

Edited August 22, 2015 by C6Bill

[BowtieGM3]

 

I had the OEM "black" shocks and struts and the Bilstein 4600 HD's made a big difference,If you have Ranchos,i can't comment.I changed the back shocks first because it only took 20 min.and didn't notice a "big" difference,but when i changed the struts that weekend,the difference was night and day. I still had random vibes after the change,but it rode better.

I have a 2015 Reg Cab Short Bed 1500 also, but mine is a 4x4 with the black shocks. I had serious vibration starting at 40 mph and shake you off the road vibrations at 60 mph + along with a very firm ride. Dealer fixed the vibration issue by installing (2) new tires and rf balancing all (4) tires. All tires are under 10 rf balanced. No more shake/vibration at any speeds. What I do still have is the shudder throughout the whole truck that you feel after the jolt you get after hitting any imperfections on the road surface.

My research found that no matter if you have a Reg. Cab 2 wheel drive, Reg. Cab 4x4 or long beds, or crew cabs, they all use the same leaf springs in the rear, unless you have the max trailering package. The front coils & shocks have different part numbers depending on model. Because the same leaf springs are used on my much lighter weight short wheel base 1500 as the longer wheel base my trucks ride is excessively firm, which lead me to change out the rear shocks to Bilstein 4600HD's. By doing so it stopped the skip out/tire hop/chirping when hitting a small bump in the road going around corners/curves. It also softened it up slightly in the rear. My next step was to install Bilsteins in the front, so I am glad to hear it helped out the ride quality on above members truck. I'll post back on results if I decide to install 4600's on the front.

I'm on the fence on whether to sell/trade or to keep investing more money into fixing the ride quality that is a design flaw on GM. Frame is way too stiff, as well as the suspension. I believe because of this the 14-15"s have minimal tolerance to any rotational parts that are improperly balanced. As parts wear over time I believe it will trigger vibration frequencies that will resonate into the stiff frame/suspension. It will be a repeating pattern. I have very low miles on the truck at this time and nervous that the drive line vibe might show up in the future as many of you have experienced. If I invest in installing Bilstein's in the front and a vibration reoccurs, there may be a conflict with the dealer/GM as to fixing the issue as it no longer has the original shocks. I would have to retain the original shocks and reinstall them if GM were to instruct the dealer not to address vibration issues without the original shocks installed. I have been a loyal GM buyer for 35 years, but I am very disappointed with the ride quality of this truck. I have no other complaints.

[afireinside7444]

I may be the minority but i have a z71 and i love that the truck is very stiff/sporty i never liked the older chevys that used to float. I just wished my 76mph+ console shake would leave.

 

Do the front stut assembly have to be removed, spring compressed, take off the top bolt and swap struts or can the struts be taken out in place? Had a hell of a time w my 08 had to pay a shop to put in bilstiens......

[Britt Lifsey]

...

 

Honestly, this truck doesn't ride as nice as my Avalanche does. It just feels firmer and accentuates the minor bumps more than the Avalanche.

 

Well, yeah, it's a truck.

[JacobC1983]

I know the Avalanche is based off the suburban chassis, but it is obvious that this chassis isn't as refined as it could be. Leaf springs are pretty old school and not required on a half ton pickup.

 

Anyway, this is all just my opinion. Maybe I was expecting too much.

Edited August 22, 2015 by JacobC1983

[C6Bill]

Not sure what you mean by Not Required

[Mickey_D]

The Ram half tons ride great but don't have near the capacity as the GM half tons (I have customers with half ton Rams and when you put a 2000 pound pallet in the back of them it is a little scary, GM half tons are nowhere close to bottoming out). I went with the Ram 2500 CC 4x4 with the Cummins and it makes my previous 2014 GMC CC 4x4 with the Z71 package feel like a Cadillac around town. Even with the rear coil suspension it is VERY firm, and having to run at least 60PSI in the tires to keep the computer from griping does not help. I could not tell much difference between the Ram 2500 and 3500 in ride. On the highway though it really smooths out, or put a couple of thousand pounds in the bed and the ride is great. So far the most I have carried in the bed is 3800 pounds and it still had spring travel and it drove fine. The downside of the Ram is it is not as good looking as the GMC, but like a good dog that is kind of ugly, it grows on you after a while.

[Jesse Davidson]

It is a simple $200 option for "all-terrain" tires (replaces standard tires). You don't get a new set of tires, they just take off the original tires and replace them with what I would assume is an upgrade from the Goodyear Wrangler SRA tires.

 

My issue is, when I went through the BBB process and got GM to MSRP trade me a new 2015, the truck I settled on had this option, BUT, it came with the same crappy Goodyear Wrangler SRA tires that all these trucks are built with.

 

I got into an argument with the service manager yesterday and he didn't seem to know what he was talking about, so back to the drawing board (time to call GM).

not sure if anyone already answered this, but I'm catching up on a few pages, the upgraded tires are the Bridgestone Dueller A/T RH-S 's

[Newm]

I sincerely wish everyone the best of luck solving their vibe issues. I finally fixed my issue today....and I am very pleased with my decision so far.

 

[JacobC1983]

Not sure what you mean by Not Required

I just meant that coil springs can replace leaf springs. Although it isn't as cost effective, coil springs do ride better. Payload can be a wash with either setup, especially in a half ton truck.

 

I am going to go drive the Ram and the Ford sometime next weekend to make my decision. I am sure they both have their problems too; seems like it is just a matter of the finding the lesser of three evils.

Edited August 23, 2015 by JacobC1983

[C6Bill]

Lots of people like the Ram. If you test drive the F150 take the same precautions as there are reports of the same type of vibration. And the 2016 GM"s and updated NIssan should be out soon.

 

Isn't RAM the only one that doesn't use leaf spring, not sure which models do or do not have them, I know air ride is an option on RAM ? I know GM, Ford and Toyota all use leaf spring. No idea on the new Nissan.

Edited August 23, 2015 by C6Bill