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New Member and vibration question

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bigmike585

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Hey All,

I am a new member, first post ever. I stumbled upon this forum while searching for some info a few weeks ago, awesome, I am glad there is a site dedicated to these vehicles. I have already found a wealth of good info. Thanks.


I recently purchased a 1988 Chevy Suburban 4x4 with 137k miles. I love this truck. It has been very well kept, super clean inside and good body, paint is faded from sitting outside most it's life. A/C work great (front & rear +134 conversion), no leaks, zero rust, engine purrs, 700r4 feels excellent, no fluid leaks, 4wd works (low range feels super powerful), everything works from the locks and window to all the stereo. I am excited about it, dedicated my new hunting/fishing rig.

My only concern is the way it feels while running highway speeds. After it hits about 45 to 50 mph, you can feel a wobble or shimmy, probably better described as a bad vibration. From 0-45 mph, it feels perfectly smooth. Sometimes its not bad and you dont really notice it, other times it feels worse. I just had the wheels balanced thinking that could be the problem, it seemed to help, but the vibration is still there.

I did some searching on this site and noticed some folks suffering from what is referred to as "DW" or "Death Wobble", I DONT feel this is what I am dealing with but could it possibly be early stages. Keep in mind I am running a bone stock setup with 30 or 31 inch tires on the stock 15 inch rims.

I checked all the universal joints and all feel solid, no vibration coming from them at all.

Could it need a new steering stabilizer? Any ideas?

Maybe these trucks just vibrate a bit at high speeds? Seems like there should be a way to getting this truck back to riding smooth, just like it does at the lower speeds.

Thanks for looking, glad to be a member now.
 
The steering stabilizer is basically a shock absorber and is more likely to absorb jarring motion than vibration.

First up, switch the front tires left-to-right. Even when balanced, the tires may prefer one side or the other. I've never figured it out, but I had a tire shop tell me this for something similar, and they were right. Anyway, it's free & easy, and while you're doing it lets you check out the front end (see below.)

You should also have your alignment checked; if the toe-in is out of spec, you'll have wobbles. You can check if it's grossly off with chalk and a measuring tape; a little searching here can pull up the scoop.

While you've got the truck up on stands to swap the tires, check the balljoints. Grab the tire at 12 and 6 o'clock (i.e. top and bottom), and rock it back and forth. It shouldn't move; if you feel any slop, the balljoints are suspect. (Could also be really bad bearings or loose spindle nut or something in there, all of which whoever works on it would sort out when tearing down to replace the ball joints.)

Also check the steering linkages. You've got the one long one that goes from side-to-side, the tie rod. The ends go onto the knuckles, and while they rotate, they should not be sloppy or have noticeable play. The short one goes from the steering box to the driver's side knuckle, the draglink. Same deal, no noticeable slop at the ends.

That should getcha started.

Oh, and welcome aboard! CK5 is a tremendous fricken resource, though it can also be very tempting :D You start learning about working on your own truck, and you see the modifications that others have made ... it's a slippery slope. Before you realize it, your once stock truck has heavy duty drivetrain and big tires, you start thinking that a 6" lift and 35"'s on 3/4-ton's is perfectly ordinary, and you find yourself dreaming "1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2" :haha: [You Might Be A CK5 Junkie if you see descriptions like my sig and go "Oh, yeah, everybody does that" ... :D ]

-- A
 
that was my first thought, condition of the front tires? what size? balanced correctly?
 
If the tires balance out OK have another look at the rear driveshaft. I had the same problem when I bought my 1988 Burb. I had all the tires balanced, replaced a slightly bent wheel then even replaced the tires as they had been sitting for about three years and I thought they may be flat spotted. A quick inspection of the u-joints was done and they looked new, but what I didn't realize on first inspection of the joints was a yoke ear on the shaft was bent by whoever installed the joints and this was causing the shaft to run off center. I sent the shaft out to the local driveshaft shop who straightened it out for me and rebalanced it and all my vibration issues are gone.
 
thanks for the info, I just drove it a few places this morning, and on one drive the vibration/wobble was bad, the next short trip, it wasnt bad at all (but still there).

I am gonna swap the front wheels today, then check all the front end stuff per your suggestion. Then I will check that drive shaft yoke (might check this first).

Sometimes I feel like it could be a driveshaft issue, because on another pickup of mine, my yoke was bent and it would vibrate differently at different times.

Thanks for the info, i'll let ya know what I find.
 
and dremu your right about the temptations

I started searching for CUCV axles before I actually had the burban, lol. Probably be in the future sometime, but I would love to get my hands on the dana60 front and 14 bolt rear, but this can wait. Unless I get crazy and snap an axle or something foolish like that. I have been pricing lifts and already know I want 4" with a 33" tire. I love that sticky thread "what size lift, with what size tire" I wasted a good two hours browsing through it, haha.
 
Here's a good way to differentiate between driveshaft vibration or tire/wheel vibration.

A d-shaft vibe is higher speed, resonating through the vehicle more like a buzz. This is because the d-shaft spins 3-4 times faster than the tires.

A tire/wheel vibe will shake the truck, usually at highway speed. It will feel more like a "whumpwhumpwhumpwhumpwhump" and will change with vehicle speed.

So, what exactly are you feeling/experiencing? Through the steering wheel? The seat?
 
I cant really feel it in the steering wheel. When I look over at the passenger seat, it's shaking, then I look down at the console with a bottle of water in it, and the water is sloshing inside because the bottle is shaking pretty bad. I can look down at my leg and see it shaking too, haha.
 
It's the tires. Trust me on this one. Regardless whether they balanced out good at the tire shop, one or more tires has some radial runout. If they are fairly new, and you're the purchaser, there may be some recourse through where you bought them. If they are old or came with the truck, then you are looking at buying new tires.
 
tires are old, they are in pretty good shape but I looked at them the other day and i believe they are from 04 or 05
 
Junk, dryrotted, falling apart internally. Most likely a slipped belt. Replace with new and you'll be good to go.
 
One other trick that no one ever seems to think of.
Get a friend to follow you in another car. Preferably two friends so one can drive while the other watches.
Find a 4 lane, get it to a speed where it vibrates the best, or worst depending on how you look at it, and let them come alongside and look at the wheels.
Then swap lanes and do it again.

If its anything to do with a tire or wheel, they will see it. If its out of balance or not round, it will be bouncing up and down.
If its a bent rim or bearing problem, it will be wobbling.

If its not a tire or rim, the tires will not be bouncing or wobbling, but they will see the truck vibrating and might be able to see what is causing it.

Either way, you will be able to isolate it and know what to look at.
 
Fordum said:
One other trick that no one ever seems to think of.
Get a friend to follow you in another car. Preferably two friends so one can drive while the other watches.
Find a 4 lane, get it to a speed where it vibrates the best, or worst depending on how you look at it, and let them come alongside and look at the wheels.
Then swap lanes and do it again.

If its anything to do with a tire or wheel, they will see it. If its out of balance or not round, it will be bouncing up and down.
If its a bent rim or bearing problem, it will be wobbling.

If its not a tire or rim, the tires will not be bouncing or wobbling, but they will see the truck vibrating and might be able to see what is causing it.

Either way, you will be able to isolate it and know what to look at.
Click to expand...

Ahh, neat trick.

I take great pleasure in explaining to my non-mechanical buddies the value of the "visual inspection." :deal:

It sounds SOOO much higher tech than "Look at it, you'll see what's broken" :haha:

-- A
 
Wouldnt hurt to grease that front driveshaft slip yoke via its zerk, had a vibration from 50mph +(from drag causing it to spin up front). Cleared it up, its magical, cheap, quick, easy. There was no "wobble" with mine though.
 
I drove it on a two hour round trip the other day, and while driving back I noticed the vibration/wobble getting a bit worse, so I exited the highway, still 15 miles from my destination. I could see a the back driverside tire didnt look quite right after I adjusted my mirror down. Also, there was a noise coming everytime the wheel went round. I kept on cruising, all the while getting progressively worse. I pulled into my parking spot and POW! Blew it out, talk about perfect timing.

Luckily I had just found a set of used tires a couple hours before hand. I got a set of Firestone Destination A/T's 33x12.50r15 with 1k miles on them, they still looked brand new, for $250. I thought that was a pretty good deal. I had them mounted up and took off down the highway, and wouldnt you know, the vibration/wobble is no more!

While I was getting the tires mounted up, the fellow working at the tire shop suggested I sell my rims on ebay. I asked him why and he claims he saw those rims go for $1500 for the set (w/ wheel caps). :haha: I thought that sounded kinda funny. These are the alloy 8 hole 6 lug rims, are they really something special or rare? I found this hard to believe.

Anyway, I appreciate everyone's input, and will try and post up some pics of the suburban, new tires, etc later on.
 
Wow! Lucky break! Im thinking i should get a new set of tires cause i think i have a vibration/wobble just like what you describe.
 
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