Tango270

This is my 8th new Silverado in 20 years, all 1500s. Everyone of them has had steering issues pulling left and or right. I figured a 2500HD would be have a more stable steering system and front end. However, it still pulls left and right and even sways at times. Does anyone have and explanation or a reason why this happens on Silverados, before I bring it back to the dealer for service. Thanks

tech2

maybe its following the crown of the road.


on a level road with no crown, driving at 50 mph with the truck centered in your lane. let go of the wheel and start counting. if you count to 7 and the tires have not touched the center line or right lane marker. the truck is fine. Its unlikely 8 vehicles can't have the same problem.

Tango270

I discovered that the pressure in the front tires were over by 15psi and rear tires were over by 8 psi. After correcting the tire pressure the truck rode much better and the steering was much more stable. In fact I was able to drive at 50 mph and let go of the wheel for 7 seconds and stay in the lane.

tech2

thank you for reporting the fix

noname_com

Just bought a new 2016 2500hd ltz crewcab and ive owned a 2001 2500hd crew and a 2008 1500 ext cab. This new model sways like its floating in the back end of the truck. its a little un-nerving. THe front tires are at 65psi and the rear are at 78psi. FIlled with nitrogen.
I think im going to take the tires down to 65 all the way around to see if it helps. will report back.

Tango270

My 2500HD has Michelin tires and there is a placard on the driverside door jamb on the center post with the tire pressure for those specific tires. It suggests 60 psi for the front tires and 70 psi on the rear tires (cold tire psi). I did that and It helped with the sway. I'm also considering keeping some weight in the back to firm up the ride.

noname_com

Ive lowered the backs to 70psi and the fronts are at 60. They have nitrogen in them. Guess all new gm vehicles are coming that way. Never had nitrogen in tires before. Not even sure any place around me has a fill system for it. Anyways the sway has reduced quite a bit. Thanks hopefully with a travel trailer it will be even less.

Cowpie

I keep my 2015 2500 tires at around 55 PSI front and back. The PSI numbers recommended by the OEM are for max loading, not needed unless one is grossing the pickup out. Ride is greatly improved, handling better (especially in winter and on gravel roads I frequent), less rear end wheel hop which also tended to improve mpg a slight bit. Tire wear is excellent and mpg averages are as good or better than most of what others post. Sure, it causes the TPMS to have a fit, but I just dismiss it on the DIC and ignore the light on the dash. Keep in mind, along with other things, tires are designed to take some of the beating off of the suspension. The harder the tires are compared to the loading, i.e. high tire pressure with light load, the suspension has to take more of the shock.

Unfortunately, the OEM and the tire folks are of little help regarding proper tire inflation based on load. On the commercial truck side of things, the tire makers provide some very good load/pressure charts for their tires. I got 447,000 miles out of my last set of drive tires on my semi truck sticking religiously to tire load / pressure chart numbers. Still had 8-9/32 tread left and got $150 each for the old tires from the dealer. Using the same basic principle and extrapolating basic numbers, I zeroed in on 55 PSI for my tires for general running. Only if I am going to really load it up do I increase the PSI in the tires. Never got into the nitrogen game. The atmosphere is already 78% nitrogen for free.

As a side note, I dropped the back end by 2" with a set of McGaughys shackles to take some of the rake out so my 2500 didn't look like a cat in heat. Still a moderate amount of rake, and I have hauled over a ton several times and no appreciable back end squat. Probably just perception, but I think it helped handling as well.

cleveland63b

the recommended PSI on the placard is the recommended PSI for the vehicle with stock size tires and has little to do with load.


Tires can make or break ride quality and in some cases handling

Cowpie

Look at the sticker. It shows the PSI and the load rating pre axle. The recommended PSI is based on the land rating. There is no reason to run 70 PSI in tires on an empty pickup truck. Just looking at the different PSI recommendations from front tires to rear tires should tell you that! The loaded rating of the back is higher than the front, hence, the recommended tire PSI is 70 as opposed to 60 up front. They are tipping their hand that they know that proper tire PSI is a function of the load on the axle. When empty, the front of the pickup weights considerably more than the back, just take it to a scale and weight it. And when empty, even the front is lighter than the load rating of the front. Hence, using this information, and extrapolating percentages based on decades of my experience with commercial truck tire load inflation tables, I have settled in on 55 psi for the general pressure when I am running around empty, and inflate more if the load requires it.

Most folks don't even properly manage tire pressures as they should. Can you imagine giving those same people load inflation tables that show different pressures based on load? But there are some of us that have extensive experience in managing tire issues that could easily benefit from such tables. Instead, I have to use reason and determine inflation levels for myself. My only complaint is that the TPMS is not set up to be user defined to reflect running different pressures. But then, TPMS was also implemented to fix stupid when it comes to keeping tires aired properly. It just does it on a one size fits all kind of basis.