Vibrations...Tires??

I have a 2002 Silverado CCLB 3500 4x4 D/A dually that has almost 83000 miles and must say have had very few problems with the truck until recently. I had replaced the original goodyears at about 70k only because wet weather traction was poor to say the least. I did some work for a friend of mine and as payment he gave me 6 Firestone Transforce 235/85/R16E's. The truck rode fine for about 10,000 miles. It started wandering and vibrating while cruising at highway speeds over 50mph and didn't take bumps very well. I then replaced the shocks with Bilsteins and also added pitman arm and idler arm braces from Kennedy and i must say that made a tremendous difference in the ride quality. The truck felt much more responsive in steering and kept the tires on the road. Now i have a bad vibration throughout the truck at pretty much any speed 35mph and up and the truck seems to be very unpredictable on dry and even worse on wet pavement. I checked the balance on the tires and rotated them again just for the hell of it but to no avail. While it was on the lift i checked the driveshaft, and didn't feel any tight u-joints or bad hanger bearing. However after driving the truck to work today i noticed the vibration seemed to be alot worse and seemed to be most noticeable in the front floor. I do see some sidewall flaws, like a 1/2" wide indent that goes completely around the center of the sidewall of two of the tires. I'm thinking that the tires are giving the problem, but i want to know what tires are best for everyday driving and towing a car trailer maybe once or twice a month? I'm also going back the stock tire size. I was looking at either Michelins or Goodyears. Thanks

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Originally posted by PLENTIPOWER:
I have a 2002 Silverado CCLB 3500 4x4 D/A dually that has almost 83000 miles and must say have had very few problems with the truck until recently. I had replaced the original goodyears at about 70k only because wet weather traction was poor to say the least. I did some work for a friend of mine and as payment he gave me 6 Firestone Transforce 235/85/R16E's. The truck rode fine for about 10,000 miles. It started wandering and vibrating while cruising at highway speeds over 50mph and didn't take bumps very well. I then replaced the shocks with Bilsteins and also added pitman arm and idler arm braces from Kennedy and i must say that made a tremendous difference in the ride quality. The truck felt much more responsive in steering and kept the tires on the road. Now i have a bad vibration throughout the truck at pretty much any speed 35mph and up and the truck seems to be very unpredictable on dry and even worse on wet pavement. I checked the balance on the tires and rotated them again just for the hell of it but to no avail. While it was on the lift i checked the driveshaft, and didn't feel any tight u-joints or bad hanger bearing. However after driving the truck to work today i noticed the vibration seemed to be alot worse and seemed to be most noticeable in the front floor. I do see some sidewall flaws, like a 1/2" wide indent that goes completely around the center of the sidewall of two of the tires. I'm thinking that the tires are giving the problem, but i want to know what tires are best for everyday driving and towing a car trailer maybe once or twice a month? I'm also going back the stock tire size. I was looking at either Michelins or Goodyears. Thanks

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I ruined a set of new GoodYear MT/R's in short order by overspeeding them.

Keep in mind I have 3.42 diffs on my burb, so, I'm thinking lower ratio diffs will overspeed em quicker.

Just a thought!

I'd suggest that you may have cord separation going on inside the tire causing that wondering around feeling and once one comes loose, it will throw the balance off and it won't stay balanced if you rebalance it. Tire mfg's don't like to admit to cord separation, but it happens, usually you don't find out about it until some of it starts sticking out the side or outside edge of the tread. Take it to Firestone and tell them you want new tires at their expense if it is cord separation preferibly before you have the typical blowout and rollover.

might check your front hub bearing. mine did same symptoms as yours.

I replaced my hub bearings under warranty at 30,000 miles... but I'm definately not ruling those out. I'm starting to think something in the hub/axle-shaft assebly at this point because i've tested and checked everything else, including tire runout, driveshaft runout, ujoints, shook the front end...everything is good :confused: . My friend has a 03 and i'm going to swap wheel and tires with his just to try that b4 i decide to buy 6 new tires. Problem with the hub bearings are there is no real way to check them other than shaking the front end and checking runout, there is no way to simulate the load as it seee driving down the highway. I gladly welcome all and any ideas at this point [img]smile.gif[/img] . Thanks to all.

I have a 2002 GMC 2500HD D/A SB/CC and I have had vibration throught the truck since I owned it. It was one of GM's engineering marvels. The dealer told me that it was a Harmonic Imbalance in the design of the vehicle. Mine starts between 44-48 mph then reappears at 70. I now have 265/75/16 BFG's. When I got the truck I had the Mich's which weren't a damn on wet grass let alone on wet roads. IMOP this is why they come through with a mellow tread MICH so you don't get that vibration. Once you switch to a more aggressive pattern you start with the vibration problem. This is what I have been dealing with. I love the truck but hate the shake. Oh BTW ask your dealer about the bulliten in reference to the Harmonic Imbalance. The knot heads at the dealeship I go to didn't tell me this until I bought a new set of tires. Got rid of them and put the BFG's on then after spending $700.00 on 2 sets of tires they gave me the "Oh BTW we have a tech bulliten that expalins what your experiencing ". I was hopping mad :mad:

[ 09-23-2005, 03:42 PM: Message edited by: atvpilot ]

ATVPILOT....what's this vibration like? I have a very high frequency vibration that you can only feel via accelerator pedal (sort of tickles the botton of your foot) right 45-48mph. Nothing at higher speeds though. No difference when I change tires.

Is this similar to your?

Chris

I run cooper discovery S/T's (65's) which are about as deep a lug as money can buy and have no vibration problems.
Al

When does your vibration occure? I have a 2003 cc/lb that gives me a vib when loaded between 52 and 62 mph. I feel it in the steering wheel as kind of a tingle. but also through out the cab.
Mike

"I'm also going back the stock tire size. I was looking at either Michelins or Goodyears. Thanks"


I have had two sets of Goodyears with the same problem you have so in my opinion Goodyear is not the choice. I am going to look at Michelins or Coopers on my next set.