WQFTruckster
TYF Newbie
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2017
- Posts
- 18
- Reaction score
- 7
Hello all,
I'm relatively new here, but I've been reading this forum a lot since I picked up a 2011 Tahoe LT 4x4 about a year ago. It has been a great resource and I'm learning a lot.
I'm hoping to get some input on diagnosing a vibration/shaky ride. I first noticed it a couple of months ago. It was very minor, to the point I almost thought it was just my imagination. But it seems to be slowly getting worse. It is bad enough that a passenger can now tell, but only if I point it out first. At times it feels like a very out of balance wheel but It is not a perfect rhythmic vibration, it feels more random but it is almost constant when in motion. Its a jerky front to back shake almost like the motor is misfiring, but I have no codes and it feels more like driveline to me. I do not feel it through the steering wheel at all and it seems to be coming from the back end, but hard to tell. I mostly feel it through the seat and floor board. It is most noticeable cruising on the highway at 50-60 mph but it is still noticeable even at very low speed. It doesn't seem to get worse at higher speeds or when passing vehicles--if anything it smooths out a little. Going over rough patches in the road seems to aggravate it. I have tried the 45mph swerve test and it doesn't seem to be any worse on one side or the other.
My best guess is that a rear bearing may be on its way out, but there is no noise that I can hear. I have jacked up the rear and wiggled both rear wheels. There is very slight play on both wheels but nothing that would seem out of the ordinary. I have tried to shake everything I can get my hands on-- drive shaft u-joints, shocks, sway bar, tie rods, cv joints, etc. and everything seems solid. Bouncing on the bumper the shocks still seem good.
I have changed both front hub bearings recently. An alignment shop said the front left was going out last fall so I changed it back in November. The front right started making a little noise so I changed it a couple of weeks ago hoping that might resolve my issue, but no dice. I used Timken hubs.
Truck has ~104K miles. I do have a 2/1 leveling kit and 285/70/17 AT tires on it since October. FWIW I just did the plugs/wires and transmission service. Next up is diff and transfer case service. I was going to pull the driveshaft, check the u-joints and lube the slip joint splines while I was at it.
Any thoughts? I hate knowing something is wrong and not being able to track it down. I have a 1000 mile road trip coming up in a couple of weeks and would love to have this taken care of before then but I'd rather not just start throwing parts at it either. Any direction would be greatly appreciated.
I'm relatively new here, but I've been reading this forum a lot since I picked up a 2011 Tahoe LT 4x4 about a year ago. It has been a great resource and I'm learning a lot.
I'm hoping to get some input on diagnosing a vibration/shaky ride. I first noticed it a couple of months ago. It was very minor, to the point I almost thought it was just my imagination. But it seems to be slowly getting worse. It is bad enough that a passenger can now tell, but only if I point it out first. At times it feels like a very out of balance wheel but It is not a perfect rhythmic vibration, it feels more random but it is almost constant when in motion. Its a jerky front to back shake almost like the motor is misfiring, but I have no codes and it feels more like driveline to me. I do not feel it through the steering wheel at all and it seems to be coming from the back end, but hard to tell. I mostly feel it through the seat and floor board. It is most noticeable cruising on the highway at 50-60 mph but it is still noticeable even at very low speed. It doesn't seem to get worse at higher speeds or when passing vehicles--if anything it smooths out a little. Going over rough patches in the road seems to aggravate it. I have tried the 45mph swerve test and it doesn't seem to be any worse on one side or the other.
My best guess is that a rear bearing may be on its way out, but there is no noise that I can hear. I have jacked up the rear and wiggled both rear wheels. There is very slight play on both wheels but nothing that would seem out of the ordinary. I have tried to shake everything I can get my hands on-- drive shaft u-joints, shocks, sway bar, tie rods, cv joints, etc. and everything seems solid. Bouncing on the bumper the shocks still seem good.
I have changed both front hub bearings recently. An alignment shop said the front left was going out last fall so I changed it back in November. The front right started making a little noise so I changed it a couple of weeks ago hoping that might resolve my issue, but no dice. I used Timken hubs.
Truck has ~104K miles. I do have a 2/1 leveling kit and 285/70/17 AT tires on it since October. FWIW I just did the plugs/wires and transmission service. Next up is diff and transfer case service. I was going to pull the driveshaft, check the u-joints and lube the slip joint splines while I was at it.
Any thoughts? I hate knowing something is wrong and not being able to track it down. I have a 1000 mile road trip coming up in a couple of weeks and would love to have this taken care of before then but I'd rather not just start throwing parts at it either. Any direction would be greatly appreciated.
