Duramax Vibration

martincc

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Have a 2004 duramax 2500 4x4 crew cab. Recently bought the truck and have noticed a vibration from the drivetrain between 100 and 120 km/h. Truck runs perfect at any other speed.

It has a 2" lift, with 33" tires which are not too agressive.

Interesting thing is the vibration only happens when under acceleration.. no shaking in steering wheel. Previous owner says vibration only started when tires were changed, but I cant see tires having anything to do with it as it doesn't vibrate at these speeds unless under acceleration/power while climbing. Any ideas where to start? drive shaft, u joint? Could it really be tires? thanks! :confused:
 

medler

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Could very well be a seperated or seperating tire...or out of balance tire.Check the easy things first is where i would start..
 

martincc

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If the tire is out of balance the truck should vibrate constantly if that were the case no? I only get this if the truck is under more than enough power to push it at steady speed or if climbing a hill.. i guess when torque is applied.

Where would the best place in Calgary be to get this checked out or a u-joint changed? Its a short box.
 

slomo

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a u joint will come in early a tire at higher speeds,always balance first
 

jeffg463

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Had the same thing before, vibration at certain speeds. it's a tire out of balance. check for any lost weights, better yet just get all 4 rebalanced.
 

martincc

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tires even thought it only occurs under acceleration? can coast at same speed with no vibration. At all speeds no shaking in steering wheel. Can be driving at 110 no vibration.. accelerate vibration comes up to about 120 then gone again.. vibration present from 100-120 only when accelerating.. if coasting or crusing at these speeds then no vibration at all. Tires are pretty well new.. still have little rubber nubs on them.
 

slomo

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you will get a thousand free answers on the internet,noT to sound like a jerk but if you cant figure it out bring it in to somone qualified to do this,most places have a vibration analisis tool or one of the techs can find it fairly fast
we always start with tires unless there is somthing obvious on a inspection,can be drivline angles as you have lifted it 2" and now the torque at a certain speed may cause excessive drivline angle causing vibration there are a thousand posibilities and everyone will have a opinion 10 may be right 50 wrong who knows,i'm just saying save yourself the grief and have it diagnosed properly
 

4x4racing

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Tires,u joint,Pinion bearing, also with a 2" lift prob just lift keys your front suspension is over extanded and the chev's have a problem with under hard power braking the front steering arm and that's no fun . Know a gut that was having fun at the track till it broke and took out the tree, took it to get fixed the guy says o" ya this happens all the time . Good to know
but agree with outhers take it to a good shop could be many things
 

shawnmcgr

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tires even thought it only occurs under acceleration? can coast at same speed with no vibration. At all speeds no shaking in steering wheel. Can be driving at 110 no vibration.. accelerate vibration comes up to about 120 then gone again.. vibration present from 100-120 only when accelerating.. if coasting or crusing at these speeds then no vibration at all. Tires are pretty well new.. still have little rubber nubs on them.

I had the exact same thing on my truck (07 dmax), except the vibration was from 90-110kms. I thought the exact same thing, u-joint or something. Re-balancing helped quite a bit and rotating the tire more often. I had feathering on my tires front from not rotating often enough. Might just be a out of balance tire if you've got brand new tires. It may also be drive line but I'd get the balance checked. He may have gotten a bad tire. If the guy will tell you where he bought them the shop might check it for free. Ask them to start from scratch.
 

jaredszakacs

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had a set of pro comps that kept shaking at speeds round 80-90 turned out to be a bad batch of tires and they were starting to seperate,could also be a wheel weight missing or not properly bablanced, also could be snow or ice packed up on the inside of the rim I have seen this a ton at my dealership already this year with wheels getting packed up and vibrating. U joints usually come in at lower speeds and usually you can feel them when you stop it feels like you get stopped then wham you all of a sudden get a little jolt from behind.
 

Too Many Toys

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My '04 has the same vibration at the same speed. It started right after i pulled my holiday trailer 200km without using the tow/haul mode. I forgot. It was the first time I pulled the trailer...truck only had 3500 km. I took it to the dealer and they tried switching driveshafts,wheels. They thought it might be some type of "exhaust reverberation". They didn't say anything about the transmission as I didn't realize what I had done. One day when I was browsing around in NADP... I asked about the vibration,told him the story, he said I probably warped some kinda disc in the transmission/torque converter. Still does it and the truck has 97,000 km and is always pulling some type of trailer. It's not that bad. My buddies don't notice it , but I know it's there.
 

motrhed

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Have a 2004 duramax 2500 4x4 crew cab. Recently bought the truck and have noticed a vibration from the drivetrain between 100 and 120 km/h. Truck runs perfect at any other speed.

It has a 2" lift, with 33" tires which are not too agressive.

Interesting thing is the vibration only happens when under acceleration.. no shaking in steering wheel. Previous owner says vibration only started when tires were changed, but I cant see tires having anything to do with it as it doesn't vibrate at these speeds unless under acceleration/power while climbing. Any ideas where to start? drive shaft, u joint? Could it really be tires? thanks! :confused:

I have an '07 crew cab long box with a mild lift and 33" All-Terrain T/A's... mine has the exact same vibration.
A friend had a very similar '06 but with a 4" lift and spent a ton of cash trying to get rid of the same vibration. He finally had it into a driveline shop in Edmonton where they rebalanced his driveshafts, which helped a bit but didn't solve the problem. They told him that they see this issue regularly with many crew cab, long box, HD's that have been lifted (not a problem with the shorter wheelbase units). The issue is next to impossible to fully correct without removing the lift (and oversized tires).
I am not going to lower my truck and install smaller tires... so I am just learning to live with it.
Hope this helps...
 

bigz64

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had a set of pro comps that kept shaking at speeds round 80-90 turned out to be a bad batch of tires and they were starting to seperate,could also be a wheel weight missing or not properly bablanced, also could be snow or ice packed up on the inside of the rim I have seen this a ton at my dealership already this year with wheels getting packed up and vibrating. U joints usually come in at lower speeds and usually you can feel them when you stop it feels like you get stopped then wham you all of a sudden get a little jolt from behind.


i have the same vibration that just started today. went to jasper last night and back to edmonton tonight, lots of snow on the highway. my guess its ice/snow build up. to tired to look at it tonight
 

martincc

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thanks the the replys, switched out the winter tires for the summers and orignal wheels, vibration is maybe a little less but still very noticable and there in the same speed ranges. So I guess that eliminates the tires as the root cause. Can someone recomend a good shop in Calgary to take it to to get checked out, it was at the dealer and all they said tires. It also seems to have a little play (or lash) in 1st gear if you go slow and then let off the gas then give it gas again. Can't seem to find any looseness in the drivetrain, u-joints are tight, unable to move by hand. If anyone knows a good shop in Calgary please let me know!

Also, -14 today with all this wind truck wouldn't start without being plugged in. What do you do at the staging areas with no plugins?!
 

Beels

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Also, -14 today with all this wind truck wouldn't start without being plugged in. What do you do at the staging areas with no plugins?!

What are you running for oil and when was the last time your batteries were replaced?

My '06 will start unplugged at nearly any temp within reason. (not that I make a habit of that, truck does make the odd overnight sleep at the bar) Batteries new last year and 5w40 synthetic oil.
 

shawnmcgr

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Also, -14 today with all this wind truck wouldn't start without being plugged in. What do you do at the staging areas with no plugins?![/QUOTE]


My '06 dmax will start at colder temps than my sled (elec start Apex)! I always plug it in if it's below -18c but it's has had to sit in -25 without plug in and started right away. With good batteries, intake heater and glow plugs you should be good to go. 5w-40syn will help the cold temp start as well.
 

jeffg463

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thanks the the replys, switched out the winter tires for the summers and orignal wheels, vibration is maybe a little less but still very noticable and there in the same speed ranges. So I guess that eliminates the tires as the root cause. Can someone recomend a good shop in Calgary to take it to to get checked out, it was at the dealer and all they said tires. It also seems to have a little play (or lash) in 1st gear if you go slow and then let off the gas then give it gas again. Can't seem to find any looseness in the drivetrain, u-joints are tight, unable to move by hand. If anyone knows a good shop in Calgary please let me know!

Also, -14 today with all this wind truck wouldn't start without being plugged in. What do you do at the staging areas with no plugins?!

Get your glow plugs checked. My duramax started at-30 not plugged in. Best diesel I've ever owned. Even the owners manual said no need to plug in above -23.
When they fail to start in only -14 you must have a few faulty glow plugs.:twocents:
 
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