linux2

Hey everyone,

I have a 2011 Z71 Suburban I just bought 2 months ago and I've been having vibration issues since. It has 43K on it and was purchased with 39K on it.

To note:
1.) I've have 2 NEW sets of tires put on it. One set was Nexen Rodians, the other and current set are Goodyear Fuel Max (or some similar name).
2.) I've had the tires balanced and road force balanced ($200 bucks out of pocket down the drain!)
3.) The rear driveshaft has been balanced
4.) The vibration is in the floor and seat
5.) The vibration is still there when in neutral on the highway (I've heard this is a good test to determine if it's the torque converter).

I've also noticed when I have the rear of the vehicle up on jack stands and the driveshaft is spinning it still looks bent. It was balanced after I ran a test with it before and quite a bit of vibration came from the rear driveshaft. It is much less now, but you can still sort of tell. Perhaps it's an optical illusion? At higher speeds while watching the driveshaft it doesn't appear bent.

Might it be worth replacing the driveshaft?

I had all 4 wheels off the ground and noticed that the front end seems to vibrate quite a bit. Is there any way to easily disconnect the front axel shafts from the hub, or will I have to pull them to see if they're the problem? Is it safe to pull them and then go driving around? I would thing that the wheel is held to the hub via the lugnuts but let me know if I'm incorrect. (man I miss manual hubs).

I'd like to think the dealer would fix this for me, but I seem to think that they just get annoyed by me bringing it back in (it's been in twice now). Usually I like to determine the problem and then be like "it's this, could you please fix it for me?" since it'll be under warranty.

Does the Z71 Suburban just have a harsher ride so that I feel every little imperfection on the highway. The newer/smoother looking the road surface the more noticeable it is. Should I expect a fairly smooth ride in this Suburban?

Thanks in advance!

73shark

Welcome to the forum.

Since you've had the driveshaft balanced, did they check the U-joints?

Was it OK before the new tires?

If it's still under warranty, then I'd keep taking it back 'til they fix it. I've learned over the years that it's best to tell them the symptoms but not what I think it'll take to fix it. Otherwise they may just do what you said and send you on your way.

trainwreck91

i have the same issue on an 07 ltz burb. it has 112k now and just started a few months ago. i have changed the rear wheel bearings, diff fluid, and the rear u joint. and still can't figure it out. i've also read that a lot of people are experiencing this in full size gm trucks with no luck on a fix!. i was going to get road force balance as well, but haven't had the time. then a lot of people say it's the tires, but i don't want to experiment with $800! for it to not be. please keep up posted since you're still under warranty

linux2

It's now over at the shop so they'll be looking at it in the morning. I took the liberty of going underneath it before hand and I pulled around on the axle/cv shafts. Interestingly the drivers side one has a little bit of up down play where it directly bolts to the axle. The part going into the axle moves up and down. The passenger side does not do this.

I didn't mention this to the shop just yet though, so we'll see. Just be careful about doing tire related things, if your tires are in good shape and a regular reliable tire shop has balanced them they're probably alright.

Also, to note, on my 2010 Cobalt it has had a vibration similar to the suburban since new. It now has 110K on it and it's still there. The dealerships have said it's "normal", but I've been in other vehicles and every road is significantly less vibraty. I've replaced everything I could think of, wheels (all OEM alloys now), tires, rotors/drums, and it's still there. I'm going to be doing the axle shafts on that and I will let you know if that makes a difference. If it does then maybe there is something up with them.

linux2

So it's at the dealership now and they're sticking to "Excessive road force" on 4 brand new tires. They recommend 4 more tires. Seeing as I have already spent $1000 on tires, and this is the second set of brand new tires in the last couple of months (had them swapped) I won't be doing that.

The whole concept of excessive road force seems quite dumb. I can't tell you how many times I've bought tires, had them balanced, put on a vehicle, and they're just fine. I understand that road force balancing can certainly make a little difference in ride quality, but this is definitely more than that. Why don't they put it up on a lift, take the tires off, drive it up to 65mph and then see if it still vibrates. If it does, guess what, it's not the damn tires!

So it looks like I'll be doing this myself and likely pulling the axle shafts and front driveshaft to locate the source. On top of that the rear driveshaft still isn't perfectly smooth. I'm going to locate one from a junk yard, put new u-joints in it, and put it in place of the existing one.

And to answer the above question, the vibration was present on the original tires, but those made an annoying "wub-wub" sound, so I figured it was just the tires.

I shall keep you all posted.

trainwreck91

Just FYI. I changed my cv joints. Both. Front wheel hubs. Both. Thought it might be bad bearings. Rear wheel bearings. Both. All 4 shocks/struts. Including the front springs. Most of this was just maintenance. Not just looking for the problem. And the 1 rear u joint. Front of the shaft looked ok. But I'll probably do that one as well. Now I do all the labor myself. So it just costs me in parts which isn't too bad. So far...but I still have the vibration. It starts around 60-65 and stays all the way through 90. But I haven't gone above 90. So if it was a balancing issue. I believe it would have stopped somewhere around 70-80. Usually what I experience from a balance issue. But I will still have the balancing done. As it's less costly then new tires

SabrToothSqrl

you said it was under warranty?

if you have all the new tire receipts, I'd just leave it at the dealer till it's fixed...

any time it's not, walk right back in and say, no, you didn't fix it.

then call GM's main number.

if they aren't too busy killing other drivers, they may be able to help you out.

trainwreck91

Btw. Something I read on another forum says that the fix was an adjustment of the torsion bar. Some how one side of the vehicle was sittin right on the frame causing the vibration through the body if the truck. And the other side was about a half inch off of the bump stop. Now I looked and couldn't find the location they were referring to. Hope this helps and if anyone can point me in the right direction to where the torsion bars are located. Now this sounds right because everything else that is being done is not correcting the issue. And it seems that this could definitely be overlooked.

SabrToothSqrl

the 2007+ Tahoe uses coil over suspension in the front. not torsion bars.

Torsion bar suspension - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Coilover - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

linux2

The vehicle is under the powertrain warranty, but not bumper to bumper (I was told it was a CPO vehicle when bought, but it turned out not to be).

As a note, the rear left of the vehicle does look lower to the ground than the right. I don't believe there is any kind of adjustment that can be done to the front or rear suspension? As far as the front end goes I'll be performing some tests with it up on jack stands and I will let you know my results. I'll try to take pictures or a video as well.

I plan to lift all 4 tires off the ground, pull the number 19 fuse to disable the ABS and other traction control goodies, and then try bringing it up to 65. I will do RWD first w/ tires on. Then, depending on the results, I will take off the tires or leave them on. Then I will engage 4 Hi and bring up to 65. Depending on those results I will pull the tires and repeat. If the vibration is still there then I'll know it isn't the tires (or at least not entirely).

About how smooth would anyone say their suburban is? I've noticed in some other cars the roads around here, despite being brand new, don't feel particularly smooth. I would just think a vehicle that costs this much would be decent at isolating road vibration away from the cabin, but I could be wrong.