Have you inspected the engine/transmission mounts?

 

I don't think a leaking rack.

I think you have tires that are flat spotting when sitting and cooling. as the spots go away (with temp) the flat spots change some times better, but not always. once the tires are up to temp they become round and the spotting/vibration goes away.

easy test. swap out the tires and wheels (only easy if a buddy has a set of wheels and tires you can borrow for 20 minutes).

not so easy test.
drive the truck till the vibration goes away. bring it back and park it and quickly jack all 4 tires off the ground. let them cool for 2-3 hours (in the air). and go drive it again. has the cold start driving vibration gone away? or at least changed???

I am running some very high performance summer tires and these things go square every night. but 4-5 miles into my drive then there is peace and the vibrations are gone. (the handling is worth my coke going flat in the mornings)

tire shop to have the balance checked. some can do a road force test as well.

P.S. there are not a lot of things on a vehicle that get better as you drive it. once it starts it tends to just get worse. resonating vibrations can be tricky.

 

The tires immediately came to my my mind as well. What load rating are they? Sometimes a heavy duty tire on a light truck can, as VPF said, develop a flat spot overnight. Usually worse when it's cold out, but it's one of the few causes for a shake that resolves with distance.

 

Good suggestions guys. Usually, front end issues you feel in the steering wheel and rear end problems you feel with your butt, but you seems to have both. Have the tires been changed recently? I think if it were the tires, it would not be a new problem. Motor and transmission mounts sounds like a good thing to check. It may take a buddy to check those. It it's an automatic transmission, with the hood open and foot on brake pedal, put in D and rev the engine a little and see if engine lifts on one side. Do the same, but put it in reverse and motor may lift up on the other side. If it does, while in gear, rev and release and have your buddy (very carefully) look and see if he can see what's allowing motor to move.
One more thing - have you recently had to slam on brakes and skid? If it was significant, you could have created flat spots on your tires. ABS system probably would have prevented this if it's working correctly. You mentioned replacing tie rod ends, but with rack and pinion, you have both inner and outer tie rod ends. The inners screw in to the rack. If you replace those, it would be a good time to replace the seals on the ends of the rack if that's where it's leaking from. If it's 4WD, how about the CV joints? They don't make the traditional "click"ing noise when turning unless you're in 4WD, but if they have some "slop" in them, they can cause a vibration. If you've recently gotten into some mud, you may have "mud in your tires"! (I watched "My Cousin Vinny" last night!). Check to see if you have clumps of mud on the back side of your wheels. If you've been in some mud and got it on the back of your wheels and it sat and hardened, it's like having huge wheel weights where they're not supposed to be.
Good luck figuring this out. It sounds like a terribly uncomfortable ride right now!

 

Thanks for the suggestions. Tires are at about 5k miles right now. I will get more in depth with the mounts if the tire balance doesnt fix it. I checked the inner tie rods and they seem stout, but who knows how temperature affects that. It is 4wd, and I dont appear to have any CV slop. Certainly an issue i am familiar with (my mazdaspeeds love to blow those up) but doesnt appear to be the problem here. Was the first thing i thought, and hoped it was LOL. I also do plenty of mud driving, but have driven through some floor-deep puddles lately too that I would have thought would clean it up well. The wheels themselves have no mud on them.

The tires immediately came to my my mind as well. What load rating are they? Sometimes a heavy duty tire on a light truck can, as VPF said, develop a flat spot overnight. Usually worse when it's cold out, but it's one of the few causes for a shake that resolves with distance.

I don't think a leaking rack.

I think you have tires that are flat spotting when sitting and cooling. as the spots go away (with temp) the flat spots change some times better, but not always. once the tires are up to temp they become round and the spotting/vibration goes away.

easy test. swap out the tires and wheels (only easy if a buddy has a set of wheels and tires you can borrow for 20 minutes).

not so easy test.
drive the truck till the vibration goes away. bring it back and park it and quickly jack all 4 tires off the ground. let them cool for 2-3 hours (in the air). and go drive it again. has the cold start driving vibration gone away? or at least changed???

I am running some very high performance summer tires and these things go square every night. but 4-5 miles into my drive then there is peace and the vibrations are gone. (the handling is worth my coke going flat in the mornings)

tire shop to have the balance checked. some can do a road force test as well.

P.S. there are not a lot of things on a vehicle that get better as you drive it. once it starts it tends to just get worse. resonating vibrations can be tricky.

Yeah, it certainly is the easiest answer. Wonder if nitrogen fill would help my cause. The tires were smooth when I got them put on right before duck season, and were good all the way through. Also great through winter, but I suppose the issue did start to emerge once we started getting above freezing again.

Have you inspected the engine/transmission mounts?

I have, nothing visibly seems out of place. Rubber where it should be and nothing resting where it shouldnt.

Thanks for all the help guys, and sorry for addressing these in reverse. I appreciate you taking the time to talk out these issues with me. Ill take it to the tire shop tomorrow for a little love.

 

Follow up: Took the truck to discount tire today and got the tires road force balanced. No issues with balance or separation of tire. The tires did not need to be rotated on the wheel at all.

Also tried to eliminate torque converter from the list; As I was driving with the shake, I kept my right foot on throttle and applied mild braking with left. The issue persisted through this. Once I braked hard enough for the throttle to no longer overcome the engine, however, the issue seemed to dull down a bit. But not disappear. Wondering if I dont need to take a closer look at U joints....

 

glad to hear the tires are good.
Bummer your still hunting the vibration.
I had 1 the other day where the drum was so warped it shook.
do you have brake pulsation?

 

I dont, but I dont want to count that out yet. When i first got the truck the ebrake was stuck, and I wonder what kind of a toll that took on my shoes and drums. Probably something I should look into. Planning on really digging in this weekend.

 

My money is on those tires.
Too bad you cant just grab another set and drive on them for a day or 2 to see what happens.

passing road force means its not a structure thing. but it could still cold flat spot on you.


Are you in Maryland you can borrow a set of mine.

 

Appreciate the offer, but I am in the Motor City.

I have a pretty good relationship with those guys and they always take good care of me. I asked them to give them a good look and make sure that the tires don't have any separation happening, and they said they didnt see anything that would signal that happening. Flat spotting is certainly a possibility but yesterday the issue came back in full force within one hour of parking the truck. Really doesnt seem like enough time for that to happen but I could be wrong.

 

Driving home without the issue yesterday, I decided to throw it in 4HI in my neighborhood as I recalled some shudder from that over the winter. I know that our 4wd system says for "low traction surfaces only" but I also remember not having any binding or shudder when I forgot to turn it off after pulling the boat out of a steep launch. Now, it binds heavily around corners and upon straight line acceleration, I get a very noticeable shudder from low speeds. I believe it may be a CV or something with the 4WD unit.

 

I got under and tried yanking all over the driveshaft and had no play in the U joints. I oiled them well anyway, thinking it could be them binding, again to have no effect on the issue.

I would suggest that the u-joints on the front driveshaft are causing your symptoms, even though you tried yanking on them. I see this often on trucks that come in to the shop with your description. This isn't something that you will be able to see or feel with the wheels on the ground, and might require removing the drive shaft and rotating the joints by hand. Frequently, it's because the joints are actually seized up, rather than loose. I hope this helps.

 

I am battling similar shakes and this has crossed my mind, but why would it shake in 2WD as well then? The front driveshaft should not be spinning in 2WD right? Otherwise the T-case would burn up, right?

 

Thats what I am thinking too, Killer. Good thing front axles are 51 bucks with 2 day shipping on amazon prime. LOL. gotta love a cheap truck

 

I'm not talking about the axle(s), I was referring to the u-joints on the front propeller shaft that connects the transfer case to the front differential.

 

I believe that the front CV is indeed the issue. I have never torqued on it when it was warm, but did when I got home yesterday. I have slight play, but any is too much. New part is on the way, and we will find out soon.

 

I had an Isuzu Trooper and on one very rare occasion when we got snow here in Georgia, I put it in 4WD when taking off from a traffic light with a little elevation. When it started going it made some awful noises and I felt all kinds of shimmy and shake in the front end. I realized that the 4WD had not been activated in the 3 years that I had owned the vehicle and no idea when the last time the prior owner had used 4WD. When I contacted the friend that I purchased the vehicle from, who owned it for 6 years, he said he didn't even know it had 4WD! So, for at least 9 years, the 4WD was not used. The U joints were locked up and the transfer case had pure sludge in it. Ever since then, I have made it a point to shift into 4WD a few times a year just to get everything moving and "stir up" the grease in the u joints and the oil in the transfer case.
Don't know if this helps at all, but It makes me feel better knowing that the 4WD system at least gets tested to make sure it's working and will be there when/if I need it.

 

I got the front CV, and went to replace, and realized once the drive shaft was off that the U joint was bad too. Sent back CV and opted for assembled drive shaft, and my problem is gone. Also getting about 2mpg better. lol

Thanks for the help everyone!

 

Glad this worked for you, but I still do not understand how can the front driveshaft can introduce driveline vibration in 2WD? The front differential is open and there is a physical disconnect on the left axle so the driveshaft will not spin when the wheels do, and from the other end the transfer case is not engaged. Of course there may be something that idk about going on?

 

So I am having a kind of opposite situation. My 06 Canyon 4WD vibrates and shakes intermittently while driving along. It doesnt seem to be speed related, but it will often start when I go over a bump in the road. It will either go away on its own or will sometimes go away when I hit another bump again.
My shake goes away entirely though when I switch it into 4WD. I only have the shake when in 2WD.
Any thoughts?

 

So I am having a kind of opposite situation. My 06 Canyon 4WD vibrates and shakes intermittently while driving along. It doesnt seem to be speed related, but it will often start when I go over a bump in the road. It will either go away on its own or will sometimes go away when I hit another bump again.
My shake goes away entirely though when I switch it into 4WD. I only have the shake when in 2WD.
Any thoughts?

Old topic I know , but I have been searching these forums looking for anything and this is the closest I found to my issue , but I am having a similar situation as you (hopefully you are still around , which is why I quoted you , in hopes you see this ....) , I have been trying to figure it out for months , and I made a post about it , but really have not got much action , even with my recent updates to the issue , the Chevy Dealer "thinks" its the front diff (I quoted Thinks because they are not sure , but have no issue saying it will be $1700+ and that's with a USED front diff , but if it doesn't fix the issue , then they will not continue to fix it for free after the misdiagnosis) , I was thinking the front driveshaft U-Joint , so I just 2 days ago replaced it because the issue which had stopped about July , has now suddenly returned after months of no vibration whatsoever and about 1,000 miles , now its back to doing it several times a day , I am also wondering about the rear of the front driveshaft , its like a CV kind of joint , and it seems to move around , though its not flopping around , but moves with hand pressure grabbing it and pulling around , but I'm not sure what its actually supposed to "feel like"

I took it to Les Schwab yesterday , and they Test Drove it , but of course , it did not vibrate while they drove it , but they really don't drive more than a few minutes around the block , even though I told him its random and usually requires a pothole or something in the road to trigger it , anyway , they put it on the rack and could not find anything that they thought would cause the vibration , and as mentioned by you and others , stick it in 4wd and the issue immediately stops , or if I come to a complete stop , then start off again , it will stop

So I am hoping you were able to find a solution , as so far , nothing had helped my situation , as the U-Joints was what I thought was going to fix it , but replacing it did not change anything .... my truck has 218,500+ miles on it and as far as I know everything is original , I know the U-Joint was , and it was not looking real good , but it didn't help anything by changing it , and know the rear driveshaft has the original U-Joints too , but I don't think its going to fix anything if I replace them either

I am not sure what to look for with the diff or the front CV axles or how to "test" them to see if they are the issue , the boots are good on the CV's , and truck (for now) is stock height so no binding of CV axles and the issue never happens when its in 4wd , which is why I don't think its the front diff (I do have a 2-3" lift kit for it , but have not installed it because of this issue , I have the Diff Drop Spacers and Torsion Keys and Shackles and shock extenders)

Anyway , I am hoping you found a solution , as yours seems to be the closest scenario to mine

Which is , ... Seems to be triggered by a bump in the road , whether pothole , or just change in the road surface , it feels exactly like you are going down a washboard road or hitting the rumble strips on the side of the highway/interstate at 50+mph , but it does not matter what your actual speed all the way down to a walking pace is , and that is when it seems to stop , basically when you stop , and the vibration does not change in intensity with speed changes , its exactly the same sound/feeling till it stops doing it and its throughout the entire truck , the steering wheel , the floor , the seats , its literally like you are on a really bad washboard road that makes the entire truck chatter like its going to vibrate apart , then if you finally stop the truck , the vibration suddenly stops right about walking pace , or like with you , if you push the 4wd button and as soon as it actually engages it stops and you put it back in 2wd and its fine till the next time , which could be 20 miles or 20 ft , and you can go over potholes 20 times and it not do it , so that part is confusing , since the bump triggers it , but the same bump does not trigger it every time ...

Anyway , hoping you found a solution , or if someone has had this happen , and found a answer , but it "feels" like its in the front end somewhere , and is definitely triggered by a bump , but also stopped when engaging 4wd or stopping the truck , its also very random , so that makes it harder to locate , and so far the 2 shops (local Chevy Dealer and Les Schwab Tire Center) has not conclusively found anything that is 100% the issue/cause , and not sure what to look for aside from the obvious if the CV Boots were torn or something , but they look fine , so I'm stumped ....... Thanks .... Jim

 

Remove the front driveshaft and inspect the u-joints on both ends.

 

Okay, and I am looking for any binding or stiffness in the u-joints then eh?
I will be on the road for the next weekish, but will be taking that out and inspecting it ASAP once I get back.

 

Yes. The joints should rotate freely and without any play.

 

So u-joints were good, driveshafts, CV all good.
It's seeming like it might be coming from the front diff. Does that make sense...? I still don't know why the bumps might be causing it.

 

Is the shaking felt mostly in the floor, the seat, or the steering wheel?

 

The shaking is felt in all three. I think there could be a sliiiight bias to more being felt in the steering wheel. but only if I was forced to choose one.

 

If the shaking is worse in the steering wheel, possible causes include an improperly mounted front wheel/tire, wheels that are not centered on the hub, or have a missing centering ring. Possible ball joint(s) or connecting rod end(s) that is/are severely worn. Suspension bushings that are cracked or rotted.

Vibrations that are felt primarily in the floorboard and seat are usually driveline or axle related, and occasionally rear wheel or suspension problems.