Rattling Sound From Rear and Highway Vibration

[KerryBoehm]

This is on a 2007 GMC Yukon XLT 1500 4WD with about 130K miles. Noticed this last weekend while on a longish highway trip last weekend. At 75 mph there is an annoying vibration seemingly coming from the rear of the vehicle. At 80 it mostly goes away.

This weekend I rotated the tires to see if the vibration moves to the front and afterwards drove around on side streets a bit with the windows down. Got some looks being temps are in the 20's here. Anyway, I notice often when accelerating from a dead stop I hear a loud tapping sound up to about 20mph.

I'm suspecting differential, U joints, or transfer case. Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[petethepug]

If it’s at the rear, you’re right, u joints, diff or loose lugs on a rim. Rear of these vehicles usually pretty uneventful.

 

[KerryBoehm]

I can rule out loose lugs. I rotated tires and they were all tight. My Kobalt impact struggled a bit getting them off in the below freezing temps. Taking it out today I'm sure the vibration will still be there. Next I'll jack up the rear wheels and see if I can replicate the noise I'm hearing spinning them by hand

 

[Joseph Garcia]

Welcome to the Forum from NH.

Lots of knowledgeable folks here who freely share their knowledge, experiences, and perspectives. Knowledge is power.

I hope that you will become a participating member in the Forum's discussions.

Pics of the truck, please.

You are already receiving clarifying questions from the knowledgeable folks on this Forum.

 

[rdezs]

I wouldn't rule out the transfer case, either. Look for any sign of leakage at either output shaft seals. More likely it would be the rear seal, indicating the bearing that supports the output shaft has worn out. Grab your drive shaft where it goes into the transfer case and try to move up and down. If it moves you've confirmed it. That would likely send a vibration down the length of the drive shaft, and the drive shaft itself would have issues being out of balance in effect. Tapping sound could be the drive chain in the transfer case. If the bearings are that worn, you'll get more slack in the chain and it will tap against the case. And as you know, sound travels and it's hard to determine exactly where it's coming from sitting behind the wheel.

.... Or a really bad u-joint but I think you would have seen that?

 

[ScottyBoy]

I had similar symptoms on my 2001. But I also had some clunking noises when driving low speed over bumps, like speed bumps in a parking lot. It turned out to be the pinion bearings in my rear differential. I'm NOT saying that's what is wrong with yours, but I wouldn't rule it out, it's definitely worth checking it to rule it out.

 

[rdezs]

He really needs to get under there and check the whole drivetrain. All the way to the caliper mounts, and check for axle end and radial play.

Vibration quits at 80 mph.... Lol, that takes some nerve going that fast knowing there's something wrong!

 

[Doubeleive]

This is on a 2007 GMC Yukon XLT 1500 4WD with about 130K miles. Noticed this last weekend while on a longish highway trip last weekend. At 75 mph there is an annoying vibration seemingly coming from the rear of the vehicle. At 80 it mostly goes away.

This weekend I rotated the tires to see if the vibration moves to the front and afterwards drove around on side streets a bit with the windows down. Got some looks being temps are in the 20's here. Anyway, I notice often when accelerating from a dead stop I hear a loud tapping sound up to about 20mph.

I'm suspecting differential, U joints, or transfer case. Anyone have any suggestions?

sounds like drive shaft/u-joints to me
rotational noise is different than just rattles
your definition of the noise sounds rotational
but if you haven't changed the rear differential gear oil out yet, now would be a good time to take a look in there for metal
if the rear diff or ring/pinion is leaking that would be a sign, or the oil has leaked out.

 

[donjetman]

shock bushings?

 

[Doubeleive]

shock bushings?

bushings would cause noise/feel when coming to a full stop or when accelerating from a stop, or if driving on a uneven surface in which case unless there are no other rattles/noise it can be hard to say. I don't think they would cause vibration on a smooth surface

 

[KerryBoehm]

Thanks all. I took it for a 30 mile drive yesterday. Going from Park to Drive, Park to Rev I heard a crack, feel a thud. I'm really thinking U joints too. Will get under it in the next couple days and check it out. Probably been 30 years since I changed one.

 

[rdezs]

I recently did the u-joints in my wife's 2014 Escalade when it had around 162,000 miles, just as a preventative maintenance thing. Each bearing cup still had plenty of grease. But OMG, those bearing cups were rusted in pretty good. I've got all the fancy presses and u-joint tools, a torch, and both rear u-joints fought for every 1/32nd of an inch. Never been so frustrated on simple u-joints. Just start off using the torch to heat it up till the plastic retainer starts oozing out. The front ones however didn't put up a fight....

 

[petethepug]

Check out this sitch …

Thread '08 Tahoe Vibration - SOLVED'
https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/08-tahoe-vibration-solved.149734/

 

[Doubeleive]

Thanks all. I took it for a 30 mile drive yesterday. Going from Park to Drive, Park to Rev I heard a crack, feel a thud. I'm really thinking U joints too. Will get under it in the next couple days and check it out. Probably been 30 years since I changed one.

ya these are not the old school type, they have to be melted out.
probably easiest to pull the drive shaft and check them with the shaft out.
just don't have a guy work on it on a saturday that doesn't want to be there

 

[KerryBoehm]

Check out this sitch …

Thread '08 Tahoe Vibration - SOLVED'
https://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/threads/08-tahoe-vibration-solved.149734/

Thanks! I did some searches before I posted and read through that thread. I've been trying to source compatible vehicles for drive shaft. I have a 2007 4WD with the 4L60E. Not finished researching but that seems to limit my choices to just 2 years. I frequent junk yards and would like to find a jy driveshaft to put in while I fight with U joint replacement

 

[KerryBoehm]

ya these are not the old school type, they have to be melted out.
probably easiest to pull the drive shaft and check them with the shaft out.
just don't have a guy work on it on a saturday that doesn't want to be there
View attachment 447821

What do you mean by melted out?

 

[donjetman]

What do you mean by melted out?

Factory u-joints since forever have been glued in place and not held in with inner or outer clips. Replacement u-joints use clips.
Heat (torch) melts the glue so they can be removed easier.

 

[KerryBoehm]

Factory u-joints since forever have been glued in place and not held in with inner or outer clips. Replacement u-joints use clips.
Heat (torch) melts the glue so they can be removed easier.

Ahhh, thank you. I'm showing my age . It's been a very long time since I replaced a U Joint. Probably late 80's / early 90's on a vehicle from the 70's

 

[KerryBoehm]

I ended up ordering the Dorman Driveshaft. Due to arrive Thurs. I was a bit leery attempting heating/beating the old ones out and then have a disabled vehicle occupying the driveway. I was going to pull a whole drive shaft from the U Pull It nearby but they only had one vehicle compatible and now we got a bunch of snow. Figured I could just put that one in and then take the shaft up to the shop where I have a lot more tool options or vice versa. Probably only would have saved $200 (I don't have a tool for U Joints) going that option and all the hassle so just went with new. Looking at the old one I probably want to make sure I'm up on tetanus shots with all the rust and I've heard rust can throw them off balance.

So now the question is how likely are the drive shaft bolts at the differential to come out easy ?