# Knowledgeable Truck people?



## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Whew, I've rewritten this a couple of times, always end up writing a book lol

As if my life needed to get any more complicated...
We bought a truck about 6 weeks ago, nothing new or fancy, but I love it. It's a 97 Chevy Silverado ex cab v8. It's perfect for what we need, and it looks like it was taken care of.

Problem? Well, when pulling the trailer there is a horrible rear end vibration. It shakes so bad you think the rear end is going to explode!

First, we've replaced the front shocks, and the front end drives smooth. Hubby will replace back shocks tomorrow. It has brand new back tires - did this before/after tires installed.

Vibration starts at around 50mph+, and is not constant, it's sort of rhythmic, and feels like the rear end is going to explode, it gets to shaking so bad the trailer shakes. Very scary when you have 3 kids in the vehicle!
Speeding up it gets worse, take your foot off the gas & coast no change until your probably around 40mph.

Riding in the back of the truck tonight, it felt rough, and a lot of little clanking and almost like a grinding noise, sorry hard to explain the noise. All in all I do not believe the trailer is the issue at all, it looked like it was pulling smoothly. Now the trailer does need tires, and we found out yesterday 3 wheel bearing nuts were LOOSE, so we got those tightened. Problem is definitely truck though.

Hubby thinks it's the shocks, but can bad shocks really make it ride so bad and feel so rough on the rear end?
I'm thinking the first mechanic we had look at it was right, CARRIER BEARING needs replaced.
2nd mechanic said it was fine & just needed shocks, however I'm starting to think 1st mechanic was correct.

Of course frustration rises with the fact I can't trust mechanics around here, and the kids have goat shows Tues & Wed, and they are each about an hour from home!

Tomorrow I plan to get a 3rd opinion and see what happens. If anyone has any suggestions or ideas I can have the mechanic check, please let me know. It wouldn't be so bad if I weren't pushed for time, I feel more gray hairs coming on lol


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

How much difference is there between rough and smooth roads? Shocks will be most noticeable if it's super bumpy but on good pavement shouldn't be too bad. What about on/off gas? If there's a sharp jolt it could be your U joint. If it's constant regardless of those factors it's probably in the rest of the suspension. Ball joints would be my first suspect. Also look at sway bar, check the leaf spring shackles and U bolts.


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## Little-Bits-N-Pieces (Apr 7, 2013)

I agree^^

What kind of trailer is it?
Is the trailer level with the ground when it's on the ball? Another possible problem could be the drive shaft.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks. It only does it at speed 50mph+, it's rough & bumpy and rattles the whole rear end & can get the trailer shaking hard too. Trailer is level. It's just an old 2 horse trailer, very light. I watched it ride last night and it was looking smooth, whatever is going on is definitely rear end of the truck.
With the way the rhythm is, I really don't think it's the shocks, I think it's probably driveshaft. 
I'm going to try and figure out who to take it to and have it looked at today. 
This is not something my husband can do himself, and would most likely be something we can't fix until Monday


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## lovinglife (Jun 6, 2013)

Might have the rear end checked. We had one about that year and had to replace the rear end. I don't know the specifics, just a thought.


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## Wild Hearts Ranch (Dec 26, 2011)

I wouldn't be driving it like this if you can possibly avoid it. Depend on what it is, it could fail catastrophically.


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## Trickyroo (Sep 26, 2012)

I can't offer any help , sadly i missed out on the mechanics class 
Praying its not a expensive fix . I hate to say it but maybe not driving it would be your best option until you get it fixed. I know it might mean not going to the shows  Just don't want you guys to get hurt. So sorry Candice :hug:


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## dreamacresfarm2 (May 10, 2014)

check the U joint rear end oil and suspension. If low on oil will rattle and grind and can cause vibration if the gears are worn.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks so much I appreciate the help! 
I talked to the only local mechanic that I'd allow to work on it, and he said he can look & work on it tomorrow morning. He thinks it's probably u-joints or carrier bearing <or both>. 
The back end kind of bounces/wobbles a bit more noticeably without the trailer now, before it was much smoother. 
He said if it's the U-joints he can fix it for around $100, if it's the carrier bearing, he said around $200 since the bearing's differ in price.
Praying it wouldn't need anything worse than that.

Now of course if my husband doesn't act like a pain about it, then we can get it fixed tomorrow. He doesn't like mechanics, he gives me such a fight about taking vehicles in. In his defense, we have had some lousy luck with mechanics overcharging or just ripping us off in the past.

I love this truck, so we have to get it running good, and make sure it's safe for the kids and their animals!  Fingers crossed it's nothing more serious then what we're guessing right now. I haven't even had a chance to find trailer tires  The tires should be okay, but need to be changed soon.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Well, yesterday I had the rear wheel bearings changed & fluid replaced/axl checked. He said it definitely needs rear shocks/struts badly, but my husband can do that.

Drove it today to a goat show about 40mins away, it did pretty good going there, but coming home it started acting up again, kind of feels like the vibration is on the front end then works it's way to the back.

I wonder if it's possible to have a bad front wheel bearing as well, and the shaking goes all the way back because of the bad struts?
I do know it's not horrible under 50, but as soon as you are 50-55 it's really bad and shakes the whole truck. Kind of feels like it might be rough on the front drives side. So frustrating! I'm going to have my husband call his mechanic friend <who fixed the wheel bearings>, and see if he can take a look at it again, and maybe get this figured out. I'm sure we will figure it out, but I hope it happens soon! 
Kids have a goat show an hour away on Saturday!


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## LonesomeDoveRanch (Sep 20, 2012)

I would check out Chevy truck forums to see if any of them have had that type of problem with there truck. 


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## LonesomeDoveRanch (Sep 20, 2012)

Apparently it's a common problem with 97' Chevy Silverados I found a post on a forum that sounded similar to your situation --->>>
http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forum/...tenance/311620-violent-shaking-45-55-mph.html

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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Look up Beam Shake...


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks you guys!

Ok, so last night my son and I went out to try something after I watched a few videos and checked some information.

When the wheels are nearly straight while being parked, the steering wheel has a good 10-15 degree right angle! I know that is not normal.

I wonder if this could be an alignment issue? As well as tires needing replaced on the front? 
I can't find the video now, but I saw a video with a digital view of a front end shake that looked exactly like how the truck feels.

I am going to call my husband's friend who has a shop <they did the rear end work a few days ago>, and see if he can look at it today. 
Fingers crossed that this is finally the problem.

My kids have a show an hour away tomorrow and I am honestly very worried, I don't want any issues with getting there & getting home!


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## Chadwick (Jan 24, 2014)

I agree with wild hearts and would add to check and change the oil in the pumkin on the axel. Keep the oil and strain it to see if you have metal shavings in it, if it does it will look like metal flake paint but strain it to see the size of particles too.

You may have a bruised tire also, that you only feel with the extra wieght.

This is going to be one of those experiment problems. Start with the cheapest solutions in case those are it.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

The rear wheel bearings were changed & fluid changed on Tues, and back end feels a little better - it still needs shocks back there, and was told it will smooth out even more after we get those done.

But front end is definitely an issue now.

I took a pic of the steering wheel. The front wheels are nearly straight, just ever so slightly turned to the right a 'hair' not enough that you should see it in the steering wheel. 

I am really thinking it must be the alignment & it's got the tires out of whack.

I need to get a picture of what the tires look like when the steering wheel is straight.


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## Sleppler (Feb 11, 2014)

I had a similar issue when towing my horse trailer. When I hit 55mph I could hardly stand it, shaking and vibrating. Turned out to be the trailer tires were BADLY out of alignment. Took it to our tire dealer, had the tires aligned and the problem disappeared. Not that your truck may also have problems, but might check the trailer alignment as well.
Hope you are able to find the answer.


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## Chadwick (Jan 24, 2014)

The steering wheel does not nessicerily need to be straight for the wheels to be, when I get an alignment I ask that the wheel be strait but it doesn't technically need to be to be correct.


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## NubianFan (Jun 3, 2013)

Is the problem ONLY when you are pulling the trailer? Or does it shimmy shimmy shake even without it.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks so much everyone I appreciate it! I wasn't sure about the steering wheel position, never paid attention before but it was worth a check lol


Looks like it may be the tires and the steering wheel gear box! I took it to my husband's friends shop, and they drove it, and put it up and looked underneath. He showed me that everything looks good & tight. 
He said the steering wheel has too much play, and the gear box is probably going bad, that would certainly cause some shake.

He had his mechanic swap the tires - put the back on the front/front on the back. See, the back tires were brand new, we just didn't have enough $$ to replace the front ones too. 
Driving from his shop to the grocery & then to home, I could feel a HUGE difference on the front end. More smooth, and quiet. However, the back was shaking a bit. I believe it's definitely the drivers side tire! It had a 'hum' type noise that was very noticeable this morning and a light thump-thump sound.
I am going to see if hubby can put the spare tire on the back drivers side, and next week/whenever I get a payment I can replace those tires.

Good thing I took it in because it was leaking antifreeze badly! The cap/seal on the bottom of the radiator was worn out/leaking and he said it was dangerous to drive it like that. So they replaced the seal/cap.

Otherwise he said everything looks good & commented on how good it looked for being an older truck.


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## Chadwick (Jan 24, 2014)

Hmmm..... Did you have the truck sitting full or with low tires for a while?

Or did you have to slam on the brakes and lock up the tires on that old set?

I think you have a flat spot from one of these two things


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

We've only had the truck a couple of months, tires were full, just old. The back tires were starting to get dry rotted on the sides, so we replaced those. The front tires are rough, but even being moved to the back, the front is still shaking.

We did a little test this evening, and looks like the alignment is off, so tomorrow I am going to call around and see who I can get to check the alignment. Figure it's at least a place to start? The steering wheel definitely has to be turned to the right in order for the tires to be straight when you park. So the play in the steering wheel could definitely be the issue. 
We'll see what happens.

My husband is also going to change the back shocks, get the oil changed, change plugs/spark plugs, so we're slowly getting everything done that we can think of to make sure it's good to go.
I'm hoping we can get it figured out, as I'd like to go visit family in a couple of weeks, and unless I use the car, then I'd definitely need to use the truck.


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

Hey Candice, are you coming up to watch Martinsville's fireworks?


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## christinajh (Jan 24, 2013)

The joys of an old truck! I have a 1993 Chevy, and as I soon as I fix one thing another thing goes wrong. Good luck!


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## CritterCarnival (Sep 18, 2013)

If you are going to get new tires, wait until you have the new ones on before doing the alignment. And make sure they spin and balance your tires on a computerized balancer, some of them just spin them by hand and slap on a weight and call it good.


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## HoosierShadow (Apr 20, 2010)

Ok, went to a shop today while I was running errands, and they balanced tires and did an alignment. The front tires are the new ones, and he said the alignment too bad. But, I think it still pulls to the right :/ . There is a chance we'll have to possibly replace the steering gear box, because that is the only other thing it could really be. 
They balanced the tires, and they were WAY OFF, he said some had way too much weight on them. 

It did feel a little better on my drive home, but he said most likely won't be rid of the shimmy/shake until we get new shocks on the back end and replace the old tires. 
I am going to pick up the shocks tomorrow so my husband can change those.

Of course, I have to take it back to the shop that did the rear wheel bearings, when they did the seal for the axl fluid, it wasn't sealed well on the bottom and is leaking fluid. Simple fix, but they have to put some more fluid in it. 

Oh, and now the tail gate won't open lol seriously? haha... The kids definitely did something when they closed it the other day, it's leaning down on the right side which won't open so we have to fix that. 

Always something!


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