Suburban 2500 Questions

[ksu_j]

Hi all. I have a 2008 Chevy Suburban 2500. It only has 61,000 miles on it. I was curious if anyone with a similar vehicle has had the drivetrain vibration issue? This one used to be REALLY bad. I put $1000 worth of new tires on it. No different. Asked to have them road force balanced. No different. I finally demanded that the mechanic take the drive shaft off and rebalance it and then reinstall it. This took out about 85% of the vibration.

My question is, is there anything else to be done? It still has a pretty bad vibration whenever there's a decent crosswind. I don't know why that would matter, but it seems to. Even under good conditions, I can still feel it vibrating, but it's more of a hum further back in body of the car than the all out dashboard rattling that was happening.

Would new shocks all the way around help? The ride is really pretty bad now and it seems even a minor pothole or crease in the road thunks pretty hard. I put most of this on being a 2500 heavy vehicle with 10 ply tires.

I've heard others reference Bilstein shocks? Yellow ones? Think that would help with the little remaining vibration left?

Sorry for the long post. Just curious about other's thoughts on both the driveshaft issue AND the shocks.

For what it's worth I did have this into a transmission/driveshaft shop to have them look through the entire drive train to include driveshaft, U-Joints, etc. They said all looked fine. (even before I had the driveshaft rebalanced).

Any and all ideas or opinions welcomed!

Thanks.

[JBarca]

ksu_j wrote:


Still interested in hearing from anyone about better shocks for a truck like this one also.

Thanks!

I had a 2003 K2500 Burb, really great truck but did not have drive line vibration issues. Mine even had the Quadrasteer rear wheel steering. That was a really nice feature.

A question on the shocks, on your Burb, does it have the Auto Ride feature? On my vintage years of the Burb, the 2500's Auto ride was more like, auto dampening shocks. Not like the 1500 Burbs Auto ride. There was even a potentiometer or LVT between the frame and body that was part of the control system with the shocks. When in Tow Haul I believe it may have allowed it to be at a different dampening setting then non tow haul.

If you are on standard shocks, Blistens are good. I have had good luck with them. If you have the Auto Ride, those are big bucks to replace those same shocks or some have converted to traditional shocks and dealt with electronics that has to be removed to some how adjusted/defeated.

Hope this helps

John

[PUCampin]

I will add to the U-joint band wagon. I had a Ranger that gradually acquired a vibration that started about 55mph. Everything looked fine. When I removed the driveshaft, the u-joint connecting to the axle, one direction of movement was ok, the other had a bind. U-joints are cheap and relatively easy to replace. If the shop does not explicitly state they replaced it, I would.

Also, could be a loose inner or outer tie rod. If there is any play at all, it will quickly cause a uneven wear spot on the tire, which then will cause a vibration. Been there done that with my small car.

[BigToe]

You said you have $1,000 worth of new tires. But you didn't say whether or not those tires are the stock size as exactly listed on the doorplate of your vehicle. If you've changed tire sizes, that could add another dimension to your diagnosis.

[ksu_j]

Thanks All. I appreciate all the responses. Thinking U-Joints will be the next thing to check as it seems the ideas get more expensive after that.

Still interested in hearing from anyone about better shocks for a truck like this one also.

Thanks!

[2003silverado]

I am guessing u-joints as well, if they didn't put new ones on when balancing the driveshaft.

2 reasons I am leaning towards a bad u joint...

1, when u "float" over a bump you are changing the angle at which the u joint is operaing.

2, you said balancing the driveshaft helped 80% of the vibration. Either it was actually the driveshaft, or by simply removing the drive shaft the u joint was manipulated in such a way as to make it ride different in the yoke.

As much money as you have thrown at it, u joints would be pretty cheap.

[ksu_j]

STEVEO496 wrote:
Is the vibration still there if the vehicles is coasting in gear and/or in neutral? Does the vibration get worse when the rear wheels are under power?

It is there all the time. It only happens at about 75 and above, so I'd have to be going pretty fast to feel the vibration for very long just by coasting. 75 and below, it drives pretty well normal. Of course when I have camper on I never go over 65, so you can't tell anything is wrong at all.

[APT]

Is there some issue with these vehicles? I was not aware of a platform wide "drivetrain vibration issue". We have 90k miles on our 2011.

[colliehauler]

ScottG wrote:
I would check U-joints at this point. That means pulling the drive shafts and actually manipulating the joints.
You can have a dry, tight joint that wont show up just reaching up and trying to move it by hand. I chased a vibration caused by one of these for several years!
Shocks dont cause vibrations.

This happened on my Chevy Blazer, mechanic said it looked fine, took it apart and had a dry u-joint. Wasn't loose but would bind driving down the highway and give a vibration.

[donn0128]

Forgot to mention the carrier bearing.

[STEVEO496]

Is the vibration still there if the vehicles is coasting in gear and/or in neutral? Does the vibration get worse when the rear wheels are under power?

[ksu_j]

STEVEO496 wrote:
Check the carrier bearing on the rear driveshaft if equipped.

Yep. Thought about this one. This particular model of suburban apparently doesn't have a carrier bearing. I was really hoping that was the problem.

[STEVEO496]

Check the carrier bearing on the rear driveshaft if equipped.

[ksu_j]

Thanks all for the ideas. Let me through this out there too.

If I'm running down the road with the cruise on, the vibration feeling (although pretty slight now) is very constant. That said, if I go up onto a bridge or something where there's a pretty decent bouncing feeling from going from pavement to the bridge, while the car is "floating" over the bumps, for just a little bit of time while it feels like it's not as heavy on the tires, it feels 100% normal and smooth. As soon as the truck settles back down to normal riding and not bouncing from the differing road conditions, it's right back to the vibration.

Not sure if that makes sense or helps at all.

[ScottG]

I would check U-joints at this point. That means pulling the drive shafts and actually manipulating the joints.
You can have a dry, tight joint that wont show up just reaching up and trying to move it by hand. I chased a vibration caused by one of these for several years!
Shocks dont cause vibrations.