Suburban Vibrations

[BeachJeepin]

Hey,
Been trying to troubleshoot my parent's 1997 Chevy Suburban with no luck. The front end vibrates going about 50 and gets worse as speed increases. It FEELS like a warped rotor, but I've replaced rotors, calipers, flushed the lines, rotated tires, nothing seems to cure it. Any one else heard of this problem on their late 90s Chevy truck? I know its a pretty common thing cuz my girlfriend's dad traded in his 1999 Chevy Silverado because of the same problem. The thing is hell to drive on long trips. Any ideas?


Also, I'm looking for black fender flares for this Suburban. Anybody know where i can get some?

[agjohn02]

my '96 tahoe vibrated for all 150k miles i drove it. still does at 180k. replaced rotors, wheels, tires. cv's, everything, never figured it out. it'll splash water at you if you put a full drink in the cupholder.

[BeachJeepin]

yup exactly!! anyone know what the fix is? i hate this POS.

[agjohn02]

they'll get used to it

[Graystroke]

shocks? steering dampner? worn ball joints- worn ball joints will have less resistance and no preload to keep the wheels from tracking correctly which could cause a vibration.
also could be a broken belt in the tires

[BeachJeepin]

Its been this way for over 50k miles.. i can feel the brakes grab a little harder on some areas than other areas of the rotor... Anybody know who makes the most durable rotors?

[agjohn02]

if an 8000 mile demo has any of the above then maybe thats it. if you figure it out met me know.

[JB]

Are not most vibrations over 50-60 due to improper wheel balancing. Did not seem like it would such a simple solution on my 04 F150 that vibrated at 65+, but after having all four wheel balanced again, drives smooth (well as smooth as a Ford is going to get).

[JB]

my '96 tahoe vibrated for all 150k miles i drove it. still does at 180k. replaced rotors, wheels, tires. cv's, everything, never figured it out. it'll splash water at you if you put a full drink in the cupholder.

Have as Chevy's with 150k, 110k, 75k, and 40k, on 93, 98, 99, and 02. Never had vibration issues. Have you attempted replacing steering components, ie tie rods, idler, pitman, etc.??

[sasquatch]

ball joints maybe?

[Graystroke]

if an 8000 mile demo has any of the above then maybe thats it.
:confused:

[bburris]

Alignment?

[uglyota]

I'm gonna go with tie rod ends and balancing.
not rotors, unless it only happens when you apply the brakes
put some golf balls in the tires ;)

[jwingfield2k]

ball joints, same thing with my f250 and my 98 suburban

[8Runner]

My 02 'burban started doing this shortly after I bought it. Turned out to be a bad tire - it hat a pretty decent sized bubble on the inside, close enough to the tread to have some effect. I guess it could have been wheel balance too, since I just went out and bought 4 new tires + balancing.

[jerryg79]

that has the idler arm setup right?

Check both idler arm and pittman arm. My 98 did the same thing, shop told me i had a bad pittman arm when I got tires changed. Never really did anything about it but doesnt do it anymore. I'd try idler arm, chevy's eat those every 60k miles or so.

[agjohn02]

that has the idler arm setup right?

Check both idler arm and pittman arm. My 98 did the same thing, shop told me i had a bad pittman arm when I got tires changed. Never really did anything about it but doesnt do it anymore. I'd try idler arm, chevy's eat those every 60k miles or so.


only if you forget to grease the impossible to reach or see zerk on them.

[agjohn02]

if an 8000 mile demo has any of the above then maybe thats it. if you figure it out met me know.


sorry, vague response. the tahoe did it from the moment we got it with 8000 miles on it. i was saying the things you mentioned, grayson, shouldnt be an issue at 8000 miles. it wasnt anything out of balance. we replaced and balanced wheels and tires. replaced rotors. never figured it out. i dont think steering issues would cause the vibrations i had. it feels exactly like an out of balance tire.

[uglyota]

my 97 sierra 4x4 has 150,000 on it now, I bought it at 89,000 and it has never done any of that stuff, and I'm pretty sure none of the frontend components have ever been replaced. I only started greasing them at about 130,000.

[jerryg79]

is this suburban 4x4? if not maybe different steering set up then yours, but I dont have that much experience with it.

[agjohn02]

ive never seen another vehicel do it. my best guess was always that the hubs were built on monday morning or friday afternoon.

[BeachJeepin]

yeah mine is a 4x4... Exactly... it FEELS like an out of balance tire. But I've rotated the rear tires to the front and it feels exactly the same (coming from the front, not the rear), so that's not it.

[JB]

yeah mine is a 4x4... Exactly... it FEELS like an out of balance tire. But I've rotated the rear tires to the front and it feels exactly the same (coming from the front, not the rear), so that's not it.

I would still balance them