• Help Support Hardline Crawlers :

2005 Silverado driveline vibration?

TacomaJD

I LIKE CHEAP STUFF.....
Joined
Oct 28, 2010
Messages
14,441
Location
Rainsville, AL
I know several of you have had these trucks and I'm wondering if any of you have ran into the same vibration issue and figured out what it was.

Getting an annoying, significant vibration that I thought for a long time was to blame on "big ole mud tires" being hard to get balanced. But after having 3 different sets of tires and 2 different sets of wheels on it in the last month, the same vibration has been present through all 3 different setups. Never once being felt in the steering wheel either, even after several rotations of the big knobby mt's I took off it that had spent 17k miles on the truck. I feel it in the seat and console, can happen anywhere above 45ish mph, severity changes with throttle input, accelerating, coasting, bumps in road, etc, but always present.

Had this truck 4 years now, can't recall if it was doing it when I first got it with the 285/70/17 Terra Grapplers on it, but definitely remember it all through the time it had the black wheels and 295/70/17 Maxxis Razr MT's on it, then the short time it spent on stock wheels and worn out AT's after selling black wheels and MT's, and now it does it with the brand new set of 285/70/17 Federal RT's on stock wheels.

Checked driveshaft u joints in rear drive shaft, all seem good, however there is some play in the t-case tail shaft when pushing up on front of drive shaft. You can hear a slight clunk inside the t-case housing when you push up on the driveshaft. Nothing is worn enough to where it has leaked any fluid out of the t-case.

Done some reading and I wonder if it might be from the front drive shaft, as the front driveshaft u joints didn't feel as tight as the rear ones. Does the front driveshaft spin all the time in 2wd on these trucks? I didn't think it did, but after reading I think it might spin all the time. Where exactly is the disconnect at for 4wd/2wd on these trucks? It has the "Auto" option for 4wd, but is always driven in 2wd, never even used the Auto option.

Also, pitman and idler arms are both due for replacing, as well as one tie rod end, but I don't think that has anything to do with the vibration I am getting, otherwise I'd feel it in the steering wheel, and there is absolutely nothing felt through the steering wheel.

2005 Chevy Silverado 1500, 4wd Z71, L33 5.3L, 143k miles.
 
the front driveshaft doesn't turn if it's in 2wd (well, it doesn't have power applied to it, but it can still and probably does turn)
In "Auto" the front axle disconnect is engaged (connected, like in 4wd) and everything spins, BUT the front driveshaft has a clutch pack in the transfer case that engages and applies power when there is a difference in speed between the front and rear output speed sensors.
In 4wd HI and LO, the front driveshaft clutch is at full power.

have you checked the fluid in the front diff, tcase, and rear axle?

the slip yokes tend to wear out on these trucks, I'd pull the rear driveshaft and check the splines on the slip yoke and the tail shaft, put some heavy grease on the splines and put it back together if it's not too wore out. Also, when you pull the rear driveshaft, you may find a joint that is binding, but doesn't have any play in it yet. Since the joints are not greaseable, they tend to get notchy and cause vibration before they completely **** the bed and explode.

a set of Cognito steering arm braces will really tighten up the steering and keep the joints alive for a lot longer (it keeps the dum-dum bent centerlink from rotating and stops it from pigeon toeing around corners)
 
Good info Nick, thanks. Also, hope everything is well up your way.

I have not checked fluid in either diff or in t-case, as there are no leaks. I might end up changing u joints in rear drive shaft and see. Worst case, I eliminate those being a problem for a long time even if they don't fix it. I hate throwing money at **** and not getting the problem fixed though.
 
yeah man I've been through a bunch of **** on these 99-07 model trucks, I think between me and dad we've had 10 or so, and probably 3 million miles on them.

I forgot to add, I had the same issue on my duramax, that is where the dry/notchy ujoint experience came from.
 
I've had this on my 06 Dmax forever. Depending on throttle/load it would happen anywhere from 45-52ish mph. Always when running empty. I researched it at one point after changing various mounts/ujoints/road force tire balancing etc and it seems to be a fairly well-known issue with these trucks. Its been a while but I believe GM calls it "beam shake" or something like that. There is at least one TSB but I don't think any recalls. It has to do with resonant frequencies between the drivetrain, suspension, cab, and frame rails and the road. Supposedly there are updated rear cab mounts that can eliminate it but the correct part numbers were hard to source. I never ended up changing them as most said it did not fully eliminate the issue. If you put a couple of hundred lbs of bagged sand or similar material in the bed behind the rear wheels and it stops then its beam shake.
 
Yeah, went back to stock wheels and some Federal tires. First I sold the black wheels and tires, and put on a set of stock wheels and wore out all terrains until new tires came in. So I have had the old black wheels and mud tires, stock wheels and wore out at's, and now stock wheels and new Federal tires on it, same vibration/shake throughout all of them, never being felt in the steering wheel.


The beam shake sounds like what it is. Although it still does it when I tow my trailer and motorcycle. I remember reading about that back when I had that 2006 3/4 ton GMC gas burner because it done it a little too. I probably just won't worry about it and keep driving it. If something breaks, at least then I'll know what it was...

20200926_151832.jpg


20200921_162930.jpg
 
The Chevy 2500 trucks were very bad for the"beam" shake, usually around 45-50 feels like the back tires are oval, I put the upgraded rear cab mounts on my truck, helped a lot, but not a 100% fix.
 
You got disc brakes on the back? I've seen wheel flanges that are bent and make a wheel wobble that create a vibration.
Pull the driveshaft and see if the ujoints bind.
 
You got disc brakes on the back? I've seen wheel flanges that are bent and make a wheel wobble that create a vibration.
Pull the driveshaft and see if the ujoints bind.
No sir, discs on front drums on back. I will check the ujoints in shaft though, hopefully that's it, but that's usually not how my luck goes Lol.

If a man were to replace the u joints in the driveshaft, what joints would be recommended? Plain ole basic $35 Spicer joints, or opt for some of the higher dollar models in the $50-60 range?
 
No sir, discs on front drums on back. I will check the ujoints in shaft though, hopefully that's it, but that's usually not how my luck goes Lol.

If a man were to replace the u joints in the driveshaft, what joints would be recommended? Plain ole basic $35 Spicer joints, or opt for some of the higher dollar models in the $50-60 range?
Spicer's all day.
 
Wtf. I posted that damn comment at 2:30 this morning. Look at that damn time stamp...
 

Attachments

  • 05AF0B02-9C46-495D-9418-C5CD7F65B428.png
    05AF0B02-9C46-495D-9418-C5CD7F65B428.png
    323.2 KB · Views: 321

Latest posts

Top