Shaking at 70+ mph

[roving1]

Make sure the tires are not failing the road force portion of the balance. I just had to ditch a $250 tire because it was failing the road force and was either out of round or not structurally the same throughout its rotation and causing vibes no matter how well it was balanced.

One other thing is check driveshaft and pinion angles. As bushings on multi link setups age and wear and leafs on other things age the pinion angles can get wonky enough to cause high speed vibration. Often the vehicle isn't loaded up enough during a static check but the pinion can move enough under a steady freeway load to then cause vibration.

 

[Ouiwee]

I had a similar driveline vibration that I could not sort out. It turned out to be the rear drive shaft and would vibrate at about 80 mph and over time would cause brinelling of the u-joint cross (trunnion). The drive shaft was new and balanced when I changed the u-joint (about 5k miles on it). I had it re-balanced with the new u-joint and the vibration was just as bad. The driveline angles were exactly as should be.

I took the rear wheels off and put the rear axle on jack stands. I put a worm clamp around the driveshaft and moved it around until the vibration got better/worse. I added a second worm clamp and like magic, the vibration disappeared.

I have no idea why a balanced drive shaft needed balanced on the truck. I don't believe it was bent. It has been 15k miles since and it is still as smooth as silk.

 

[DCN82162]

When the vibration occurs at a specific speed it is usually tire related. What has happened to me once, is a tire was full of water from a compressor that was never blown down. It took forever to find, I think I found it when I saw water mist coming out when I let air out of the tires. The only solution to that problem is to remount and balance the tires.

 

[teddyrevenge]

Alright. Well brand new pare of Falken Wildpeak AT3s. New front shock bushings and new rear spring bushings. It has made the problem better, but not solved it. Since the mud terrains arent on there anymore, Im noticing a 'rumble' from 45mph to 60ishmph. You can feel it in the steering wheel as well as the truck. The best way I can describe the feeling and sound is driving on a smooth dirt road just after it was grated. From 60 to 75, it disappears, but once you hit 75, the shaking and bouncing begins again. That now feels like you have a heavy load in the back, just hit a bump and its taken the truck longer to stop bouncing. I havent been able to get it past 80 because its currently rush hour, but Im going to try and get it faster tonight and see if the bouncing goes away or just gets worse.

Im currently also not thinking transmission because it doesnt matter what gear its in, even neutral.

 

[teddyrevenge]

Well then. Got it out on the highway and up to speed plenty of times. The main difference now is the shaking isn't near as bad, but its also not consistent. I tried the same lane on the interstate, the same direction, multiple times at the same speed and sometimes it would shake. Sometimes it wouldnt. The only consistent thing I have going for me now is the dirt road feel from 35mph to 60ish. That stays the same no matter what road Im on.

With the all-terrain tires, the dirt road feel is coming from the entire vehicle, while the shaking at higher speeds is coming from the rear (I think. Still really hard to tell). However I was able to hear a brake that wasnt happy on the rear end that I originally wasn't able to hear over the mud tires roar initially. It sounds like a brake that you're trying to use but has some sand dirt in it, but it sounds like that consistently. I've already inspected the brakes in the initial assessment and visually they looked fine. No warp or rotor shutter when stopping either. So probably just going to completely replace them.

The quest continues! By my calculations I will have a brand new 2006 suburban by the end of the year.

 

[calicamper]

Alright. Well brand new pare of Falken Wildpeak AT3s. New front shock bushings and new rear spring bushings. It has made the problem better, but not solved it. Since the mud terrains arent on there anymore, Im noticing a 'rumble' from 45mph to 60ishmph. You can feel it in the steering wheel as well as the truck. The best way I can describe the feeling and sound is driving on a smooth dirt road just after it was grated. From 60 to 75, it disappears, but once you hit 75, the shaking and bouncing begins again. That now feels like you have a heavy load in the back, just hit a bump and its taken the truck longer to stop bouncing. I havent been able to get it past 80 because its currently rush hour, but Im going to try and get it faster tonight and see if the bouncing goes away or just gets worse.

Im currently also not thinking transmission because it doesnt matter what gear its in, even neutral.

Drive lines. Doesn’t matter what gear. My new texas drive line was $400. Made all the difference in the world. Given you get it at low speeds also try running in 4hi see if any changes happen. A friend had a front drive line that was really out of whack right from the factory. Dealer nearly rebuilt the whole truck and he told them to just swap out the drive lines to test his theory. Bingo smooth as silk.

Several mechanics told me no way my rear drive line was my vibration issue text book list of what if’s like here. I just said screw it and found the drive line shop and had a new one built. Far better quality than the Toyota oem junk that was on there. Instantly fixed. Drive lines have so many factors being straight, balanced etc all things easily knocked out of whack. In my case prior owners wife rear ended some one. Damage wasn’t major. But I suspect she mashed the go pedal not the brake and tweaked the rear drive line. With torquey engines I could see it possible to tweak a drive line under the right conditions.

 

[teddyrevenge]

Mounted a go pro underneath and took it around. I didnt notice anything that was loose or wobbling that shouldn't be. I also confirmed that the 4wd was completely disconnecting.

 

[teddyrevenge]

Drive lines. Doesn’t matter what gear. My new texas drive line was $400. Made all the difference in the world. Given you get it at low speeds also try running in 4hi see if any changes happen. A friend had a front drive line that was really out of whack right from the factory. Dealer nearly rebuilt the whole truck and he told them to just swap out the drive lines to test his theory. Bingo smooth as silk.

Several mechanics told me no way my rear drive line was my vibration issue text book list of what if’s like here. I just said screw it and found the drive line shop and had a new one built. Far better quality than the Toyota oem junk that was on there. Instantly fixed. Drive lines have so many factors being straight, balanced etc all things easily knocked out of whack. In my case prior owners wife rear ended some one. Damage wasn’t major. But I suspect she mashed the go pedal not the brake and tweaked the rear drive line. With torquey engines I could see it possible to tweak a drive line under the right conditions.

I've already taken both the front and rear driveshaft to a reputable drive line company in town and they balanced it and made sure it was straight. With that being the case, what possibility is it that its still either one of those?

 

[calicamper]

I've already taken both the front and rear driveshaft to a reputable drive line company in town and they balanced it and made sure it was straight. With that being the case, what possibility is it that its still either one of those?

I found that checking run out and balancing drive lines is not really done anymore at least in the West where I am. Couldn’t find anyone within 500 miles that did it. And the one shop 500+ miles away wasn’t exactly a popular place to send stuff. So… How confident are you in the checking of the drive lines?

You have pretty much gone through all the stuff that could cause these issues. Bent wheel hub? I went through all this on my Sequoia. Checked wheel run out for bent wheels or bent hubs got nuthin. Alignment, tires, fancy balancing, engine/ transmission mounts, bushings etc. Nothing was amiss.
The camera idea is a good one though. That was my next step but I was pretty confident the rear drive line was my issue. $400 was a cheap fix considering tires and all that mess was $900. LOL

Maybe just swap a used drive line see if anything changes.

 

[Wilbah]

This might sound like a stupid idea and I have no idea if it will work but it might be hard for you to discern where the vibration is coming from as you are driving. I wonder if having someone sit in the 3rd row and put a glass of water in the cup holders on both sides. Get the vibration going and see if they can see a difference in the water on either side. And maybe do the same up front. You are getting all sorts of feedback through the wheel that might make it difficult to discern which corner its coming from. As I said, it may be a stupid idea but it might give you a sense of back/rear left/right for where it might be coming from. Presumably if its driveshaft the movement in the water on each side will be pretty much the same. If its one bushing on one side or something bad in one wheel you might be able to isolate it seeing the movement of the water on one side v the other. It's also a cheap test. Good luck. That sucks chasing something like that. Not to mention expensive!

 

[teddyrevenge]

I found that checking run out and balancing drive lines is not really done anymore at least in the West where I am. Couldn’t find anyone within 500 miles that did it. And the one shop 500+ miles away wasn’t exactly a popular place to send stuff. So… How confident are you in the checking of the drive lines?

You have pretty much gone through all the stuff that could cause these issues. Bent wheel hub? I went through all this on my Sequoia. Checked wheel run out for bent wheels or bent hubs got nuthin. Alignment, tires, fancy balancing, engine/ transmission mounts, bushings etc. Nothing was amiss.
The camera idea is a good one though. That was my next step but I was pretty confident the rear drive line was my issue. $400 was a cheap fix considering tires and all that mess was $900. LOL

Maybe just swap a used drive line see if anything changes.

Its one of the driveline places that most of the 4wd shops in the area use so Im fairly confident they did a good job, but its not a bad idea to go to the junk yard and pull another one to see if that helps at all.

 

[teddyrevenge]

This might sound like a stupid idea and I have no idea if it will work but it might be hard for you to discern where the vibration is coming from as you are driving. I wonder if having someone sit in the 3rd row and put a glass of water in the cup holders on both sides. Get the vibration going and see if they can see a difference in the water on either side. And maybe do the same up front. You are getting all sorts of feedback through the wheel that might make it difficult to discern which corner its coming from. As I said, it may be a stupid idea but it might give you a sense of back/rear left/right for where it might be coming from. Presumably if its driveshaft the movement in the water on each side will be pretty much the same. If its one bushing on one side or something bad in one wheel you might be able to isolate it seeing the movement of the water on one side v the other. It's also a cheap test. Good luck. That sucks chasing something like that. Not to mention expensive!

That idea is why I come to this forum. I never would have thought of that, but I will be performing the test tomorrow.

 

[teddyrevenge]

So completely replaced rear brakes. They needed it anyways. And now both of my front CV axles are brand new. Still getting the shaking at 35 - 50 mph. But this time I did notice that it isnt as bad when the suburban is still cold. But once it heats up, its very consistent. I've got 2 wheel hubs coming in and I will replace both the front ones. I have a suspicion that my passenger side is going bad even though theres no shake in it.

Also I noticed a leak on the passenger side of my front diff right where the CV axle bolts up. Anyone ever have a problem where the front diff caused shaking?

 

[Wilbah]

So completely replaced rear brakes. They needed it anyways. And now both of my front CV axles are brand new. Still getting the shaking at 35 - 50 mph. But this time I did notice that it isnt as bad when the suburban is still cold. But once it heats up, its very consistent. I've got 2 wheel hubs coming in and I will replace both the front ones. I have a suspicion that my passenger side is going bad even though theres no shake in it.

Also I noticed a leak on the passenger side of my front diff right where the CV axle bolts up. Anyone ever have a problem where the front diff caused shaking?

I'll bet on the hubs, especially given the cold v hot aspect. Well also bc you already replaced the axles. I used a come-along (and a hammer and pry bar) to pull the one I replaced on my Yukon. They're kind of a ********** to get off. Good luck I hope this fixes it for once and for all!

Did the water idea shed any light on it or no? Kind of curious if there would be a difference in vibration that could be seen or not.

 

[teddyrevenge]

I'll bet on the hubs, especially given the cold v hot aspect. Well also bc you already replaced the axles. I used a come-along (and a hammer and pry bar) to pull the one I replaced on my Yukon. They're kind of a ********** to get off. Good luck I hope this fixes it for once and for all!

Did the water idea shed any light on it or no? Kind of curious if there would be a difference in vibration that could be seen or not.

Well the water idea showed me that there’s more vibration in the front than in the back. But no change on the side to side. I also had my wife drive it around while I was changing seats to feel the difference and that confirmed the same thing. Thanks for the idea. Now I’ve got to see what’s in the front that’s messing it up.