2015 Colorado/Canyon Shakes Vibrates

[SuitUpAdventures]

I have a new 2015 Chevy Colorado Crew Cab Z71 2x4 and i have had it for about a month now after waiting 2 months ordering it. I am hoping someone here can help or possibly provide some insight beyond what I have already been able to figure out.

 

I am getting a pretty strong left to right shake on the freeway that starts almost exactly at 79/80 mph and doesn't go away as i go up. I live in Southern California so 80mph is a pretty standard speed on the freeways here. If no one is in the passenger seat you can see it moving back and forth. I don't feel it at any lower speeds.

 

I have had it to the dealership 3 times so far. 1st time they balanced the tires and it didn't fix it. 2nd time i took the tech on a ride and he said he definitely felt the shake and thinks it is most likely the drive shaft. So i take it the 3rd time and they had it for a week only to find out they only balanced the tires again. They claim to have done the vibration test and couldn't find anything and obviously didn't listen to the tech that was in the car with me. They have since claimed there is no issue and I am basically making it up/ it is a normal shake. Personally, i don't think they even tested it at 80mph because they keep trying to say that since it is over the speed limit they can't test it. I would love to hear them say that to someone who bought the Corvette and had this complaint.

 

I am not an idiot when it comes to cars, i have worked on my own cars for a long time but this is a brand new car that I feel the dealership and Chevrolet/GM should be doing a far better job of insuring it is issue free and SAFE. I do have another scheduled appointment with the dealer set up through Chevy/GM customer service where i will show them the video i recorded with my GoPro that proves at 80 and over its shakes like a massage chair so bad you can't even see the cars/lanes through the window.

 

I love the truck and really want to get this issue fixed but if Chevy keeps denying it and wont stand behind their products I will have to get the lawyers involved and lemon law. If the truck would have came with a disclaimer that you can't drive over the speed limit without it shaking I wouldn't have bought it.

 

I would love to hear if anyone else is having the same issue or any professional mechanics that might have an idea of what it could be.

 

Thanks

[Desert Lake]

Drive shaft angle is off by 23 degrees which is hard to believe that could happen. driveshaft angle on google explains it

 

23 degrees of rotation is what I think we're talking about here, not driveshaft angle. 23 degrees of driveshaft angle out of spec isn't mechanically possible. The lands for the u-joints should be perfectly aligned front and back, any degree of rotation between the two u-joints would cause a crazy amount of vibration. 23 degrees is nuts if that is truly the case.

 

I am having this same issue and run around with my '16 LT Z71, they have had it three of the six weeks I've owned the vehicle and have tried all the same things. Amongst checking the ring and pinion and screwing around with tire swaps, they swapped a driveshaft out of a new truck on the lot, and claimed that fixed it. It did not, at all. Ordered a new shaft, which are on national backorder for 4-6 weeks and I'm stuck with a brand new piece of shit with 2000 miles on it. I have been a mechanic all my life, professionally for a number of years, and the things they are telling me about driveshafts are ridiculous. I've contacted GM about starting the buyback procedure, and I'm not backing down from it. I will hire an attorney if necessary, and if it is, there will be a lawsuit stacked on top of it. It's 100 miles roundtrip to my dealer and I'm pretty done with the run-around already and they have lead me to believe this could be a long process. Not acceptable. The dealership folks have been great, its not their fault, and they are trying hard to help. This is a corporate GM problem.

[MA-Silverado]

Update,

 

Received my truck back from the dealership last week Friday with half the problem resolved. Dealership put almost 300 miles of testing within 20+ days of them working on it. GM engineer found the exhaust manifold was causing the vibration issue. They replaced the parts and now I am vibration free as long as I am driving in 6 cylinders. The moment it goes into 4 cylinders the vibration is back at the specific speeds of complaints. Dealership says that GM knows this is an issue and is working on a resolution but he does not have a time frame for the fix. I asked if they can disable the feature and he said that it’s a possible solution but cannot disable it until GM makes it official. I will update the post when I get a resolution for the 4 cylinder issue or if the vibration comes back in 6 cylinder mode.

[Pinnacle]

I would like to know what "23 degrees out of spec" means, because it does not make any sense.

Drive shaft angle is off by 23 degrees which is hard to believe that could happen. driveshaft angle on google explains it

[SuitUpAdventures]

Update 2015 Colorado Z71 Crew Cab Long bed (2000 miles):

 

Dealer had the truck for a couple days and put 100 miles on the truck. This was their 3rd time holding it but 5th time test driving. They swapped drive lines with a truck that did not have the shakes and my truck still had the shakes. They then swapped wheels and tires and supposedly mine didn't have the shakes so they then started looking at my tires again which had already been rotated, balanced, road forced multiple times but this time found out one tire road forced at 29pounds (not sure what that really means). So they replaced that tire and so far it feels much better. I am not 100% that it is fixed as i have only been able to test for short periods because of very abnormal rain here which locks up the freeways. Normally it would start to shake at 75mph (100% the time) and continued from then on. Since they replaced the tire (3 days ago) i have been able to go 75 without it shaking me like an earthquake. Tomorrow i am going to try and get on open freeway where i can go for a few constant miles and really make sure but at the least thus far it is not as severe at 75mph. So they may be on to my particular issue. Fingers crossed and i will update tomorrow hopefully.

 

@MA-Silverado - I had not tried to put mine in neutral but i had let off the gas multiple times and the shake persisted. Also, I don't think i have a secure lock nut.

[MA-Silverado]

Update,

 

Hope all of you had a great a 4^th! Here is the latest from the dealership.

 

Replace the original driveshaft with another BAD driveshaft and BAD tire. When driving, the vibration is still noticeable but not as bad from what the dealership has noticed. So, they have ordered another driveshaft and tire but cannot rule out a backend issue. Honestly I have no idea what a backend issue really means nor do I believe the dealership does either. I cannot get a date/time on when the new parts will arrive other than we will call you. This is the second week they have had the truck and I’m starting to lose patience and confidence they will get this resolved. Will update once they replaced the parts again.

[MA-Silverado]

Update,

 

Received a call from the dealership that the driveshaft and tire have been replaced and it seems the issue is gone. Service manager and tech working on the truck assured me they test drove it and they did not feel the vibration. Excitingly I dropped everything I was doing and b-lined to the dealership. Well sure enough the issue has NOT been resolved and at 62mph the vibration starts. I looked over at the service manager who was in the truck with me and asked him if they really test drove the truck. Driving down the highway the service manager noticed the vibration in the steering wheel and throughout the cabin. After the service manager acknowledged the vibration issue has not been resolved we returned to the dealership. I asked what was next and their response was “well, we will hook it up the computer again and see”. Clearly they have no idea what is causing this issue and in my opinion they will not be able to fix this issue. I have not been without a truck going on two weeks and every time I ask for a loner truck, it’s out. I am stuck with a loner Equinox at this time.

 

I called GM customer care and opened a claim. I explaining the issue to the service rep and she had the guts to say that this maybe a characteristic of the truck. I told her that was preposterous, misleading and false advertising. I told her that if this was a characteristic then the vibration should have been listed on the sticker of truck as a feature that the truck may vibrate around 60-75mph. I told her that if I knew of this feature I would not have purchased the truck. Customer care rep asked what I wanted. I told her I wanted my money back. She claims they are not sure if they can do that. I tell her, GM can sell a defective truck but can’t take back a defective truck; there should be a law for this. I asked her what their interpretation of the lemon was and she said I don’t know and we don’t have any lawyer’s for this information. I am now waiting for call back from a manager at the dealership on what my options are.

 

Also, service manager told me that the Colorado’s have an open bulletin on a vibration issue caused by a software issue. To resolve it, an update to the truck’s software has to be updated. Asked if the Silverado has the software issue and he said no.

[trem99]

I am having the EXACT same issue with my 2wd 2015 Colorado. The shake can be felt at above 70mph but at 80 (my normal commute speed) the entire truck resonates. I have had the wheels and tires road force balanced with no improvement. I have also swapped all the tires with the spare and this made no difference. If I put the truck in neutral at 80mph the shake continues, so it seems to originate somewhere between the transmission and the rear wheels.

 

My dealer would not take the truck above 55mph, so they "cannot duplicate the issue".

 

I'm very interested to hear what you find out.

 

 

[SuitUpAdventures]

@Tremm99

 

I would highly recommend taking the service manager for a ride and show them the shake. They tried to pull the same thing with me about the speed limit so i told them I would take them for a ride and both times they have felt it. The problem now will be making sure they can fix it. The shake in these things is not Normal no matter how many times they want to say it is. Mine will not be back into the dealership until next week at earliest so I wont have an update on a fix or attempted fix till then.

 

I did get a call from GM stating my complaint has been "escalated" but then tried to once again tell me that above the speed limit the shake might be normal. If that's the case they should not be making vehicles.. Might be better suited for vibrating chairs or toys.

 

@MA-Silverado - I do not think its the tires or rims for most the cases. I did read how some of the silverados were fixed with tires or new rims but i think those were not quite the same issues. Both the tech and service manager think it has something to do with the drive line or rear end somewhere. But then again from reading all these it could be ANYTHING. Just hoping they can get it fixed and stop wasting all our time going to the dealership.

['01LS1]

Thanks for the updates everyone.

 

I've spent some time under the truck the past couple days - my driveshaft seems to have several large weights on both ends. I measured runout of the driveshaft and it was 0.035" nearest the transmission, so it seems they correct the runout with weights to get everything back in balance. Makes sense I guess. The transmission mount/dampener there seems really soft (I could shake the driveshaft/trans with my hand quite noticeably) so I can see how a slight balance issue might shake at high speeds.

 

For fun, I strapped a couple of washers to the driveshaft to see if I could affect the shake - well sure enough it seems to really have calmed down to a point I barely notice it, at least in my quick test drive this evening.

 

I wont have a chance to try anything else over the next week or so as I am heading out of town, but maybe this info helps.

 

Maybe look for a local shop to balance your drive shaft properly. I know it will cost a few dollars vs warranty, but if a couple of washers were noticeable, it may be worth it.

[MA-Silverado]

Update,

 

Truck has been at the dealership today and they found two problems. The right rear tire is bad and driveshaft is 23 degrees out of spec. They have ordered a replacement tire and drive shaft. Hopefully parts will arrive Monday/Tuesday depending on shipping because of the holiday weekend. I am not holding my breath but I sure hope this fixes the issue. Will update once parts are replaced, have a great holiday!!!

 

@trem99 - You may be onto something.

[Pinnacle]

You have got to be kidding, same thing on these as the s/s

[MA-Silverado]

@SuitUpAdventures - I agree, dropped off the truck at the dealership this afternoon so they can work on it. They advised me that it's okay to drive but I disagreed and got a loner instead. Since the vibration started after 800+ miles, something happened and I fear the more I drive the worse it will get. All I need is for GM to come back with a lame excuse that I should not have driven the truck making the issue worse after notifying the dealer. Will update the post once I hear from the dealership.

 

Also, dealership claims they have never had/experienced this issue before. I doubt it but we will see.

[MA-Silverado]

Update,

 

I received a call from the dealership (thought they forgot about me) that GM has been working on a solution for the 4-cylinder vibration issue. Dealer would like me to drop off the truck to apply the fix. Not sure what their fix is but I'll find out. I’ll be dropping the truck off at the dealership on 10/13/15, will update when I get it back.

 

Thanks,

 

MA

[Not1lost]

On 6/27/2015 at 1:05 PM, SuitUpAdventures said:

I have a new 2015 Chevy Colorado Crew Cab Z71 2x4 and i have had it for about a month now after waiting 2 months ordering it. I am hoping someone here can help or possibly provide some insight beyond what I have already been able to figure out.

 

I am getting a pretty strong left to right shake on the freeway that starts almost exactly at 79/80 mph and doesn't go away as i go up. I live in Southern California so 80mph is a pretty standard speed on the freeways here. If no one is in the passenger seat you can see it moving back and forth. I don't feel it at any lower speeds.

 

I have had it to the dealership 3 times so far. 1st time they balanced the tires and it didn't fix it. 2nd time i took the tech on a ride and he said he definitely felt the shake and thinks it is most likely the drive shaft. So i take it the 3rd time and they had it for a week only to find out they only balanced the tires again. They claim to have done the vibration test and couldn't find anything and obviously didn't listen to the tech that was in the car with me. They have since claimed there is no issue and I am basically making it up/ it is a normal shake. Personally, i don't think they even tested it at 80mph because they keep trying to say that since it is over the speed limit they can't test it. I would love to hear them say that to someone who bought the Corvette and had this complaint.

 

I am not an idiot when it comes to cars, i have worked on my own cars for a long time but this is a brand new car that I feel the dealership and Chevrolet/GM should be doing a far better job of insuring it is issue free and SAFE. I do have another scheduled appointment with the dealer set up through Chevy/GM customer service where i will show them the video i recorded with my GoPro that proves at 80 and over its shakes like a massage chair so bad you can't even see the cars/lanes through the window.

 

I love the truck and really want to get this issue fixed but if Chevy keeps denying it and wont stand behind their products I will have to get the lawyers involved and lemon law. If the truck would have came with a disclaimer that you can't drive over the speed limit without it shaking I wouldn't have bought it.

 

I would love to hear if anyone else is having the same issue or any professional mechanics that might have an idea of what it could be.

 

Thanks

have a 2017 Canyon V6, 4x4 SLE started doing the same thing at about 12000 mi continually getting worse! The worst shudder shaking is at about 55 steady speed with slight off and on exelaration to hold the speed in cruise or whatever. However it will do it at nearly any speed at times. Yes it helps when cruising at hwy speeds to downshift to 7th but that’s not what you should have to do! Besides it will do it in 7th too when it pulls just right up a grade.I thought the tires were out of balance and took it back to the dealer which re-balanced all of them and didn’t help at all. So I have another appointment next week. Going to give them a ride and shake their teeth out to show them what it is doing! The truck only has a little over 14000 mi. On it so this is completely unacceptable! And getting worse! I noticed the transmission temp. Probably already damaged the internal parts... After all I have read on this forum and other about this I don’t think I’m going to go along with all the “we’re going to fix it crap” and tell them either buy it back or give me another “new” different kind of truck and transmission maybe like the Duramax since it has the 6 speed in it. 

——————————

update: Took it to the dealer another day and had the service manage ride with me to show him and have it documented that it will shake your teeth out while cursing. however when he got into the truck he said "I'll take a ride with you but I am well aware of this problem, I know what it is doing.” I'm sure he does... he then told me they have to go through "the process" and do triple flush to see if that fixes it. said it probably would but if not they would put a new torque converter in it. I said if that will for sure fix it why not just go ahead and put it in there? GM says have to do the flush first... yeah$$$ I told him even if it fixed it how much damage has already been done to the longevity of the truck? Oh he said the transmission is fine... yeah sure. I had the lemon law book laying in the console so he could see it but said nothing. He knew what that meant... this whole thing makes me sick. I have always trusted GM and now they are trying to cover up an obvious recall issue. sickens me.

——————————-

Update again:

Next visit to the dealership to do the triple flush on the shuddering transmission. while I was in the lobby waiting (only a few minutes) reading my lemon law book; the service manager came out and said it looks like we have an update on fixing your transmission. now GM is saying go ahead and skip the triple flush and replace the torque converter. well well, that's what I asked about to begin with if they knew it would fix it, why not!? so  they kept it about a week to replace the torque converter. I've driven it about 700 miles so far and it is very smooth, no shaking or shuddering so far. the thing that worries me is how much damage did it do to the rest of the transmission driving it with the wrong fluid in it and the torque converter going out (metal shavings pumped throughout the transmission) what is going to happen say 50,000 miles down the road? this was to be my last new truck since I am retired and on a fixed budget. I won't have the money to pay for replacing a transmission... concerned, don’t know what I should do even if it seems like it's fixed?

[MA-Silverado]

Appreciate the info, will bring it up to the dealer.