1998 Tahoe Road Vibration

I have developed a vibration that occurs at various speeds. It is worse at 65-75mph. It seems like a tire problem (the seats rattle, its so bad) but I have just replaced tires and the shake/vibration is still there. Vehicle has 82,000 and is in excellent conditon. Never used off road. Anyone had this problem?

Find a tire dealer that has a balancer that checks road force variation.
This loads the tire and wheel assembly and finds high and low spots and differences in sidewall stiffness that lead to vibrations that cannot be fixed by the standard balance procedure.

Dogtired-I to have the same problem !! I have had it balanced and put new michelin mtx on it also but no luck yet -the ride got better but the shake and vibration comes in at 68mph and higher!! it is ot so much of a shake as it just feels like the truck gets a nervous shake to it!!
Any help will be appreciated!!

I did have the tires re-balanced after about 1000 miles on a regular computer balancer (I have not located the type of balancer referred to by GM Merlin). It is better but still there. It feels as if something is loose/shaking/rattling..I dunno..

I have a 1997 Tahoe and I get the same vibration starting at about 65mph and stops a little after 70mph. I have recently purchased new tires and had the alignment done. The vibration is still there. If anyone has any idea how to deal with this please let me know.

I have a 1997 Tahoe and I get the same vibration starting at about 65mph and stops a little after 70mph. I have recently purchased new tires and had the alignment done. The vibration is still there. If anyone has any idea how to deal with this please let me know.


I'll repeat myself..
Find a tire dealer that has a balancer that checks road force variation.
This loads the tire and wheel assembly and finds high and low spots and differences in sidewall stiffness that lead to vibrations that cannot be fixed by the standard balance procedure.

I had the same problem with my 97 tahoe if this problem persist don't waste any time get the U-joint checked and the rear differential as well that road vibration problem has costed me about $2300.00 I had to get a new rear differential it is worth it because it cost just as much to rebuild

I'll repeat myself..
Find a tire dealer that has a balancer that checks road force variation.
This loads the tire and wheel assembly and finds high and low spots and differences in sidewall stiffness that lead to vibrations that cannot be fixed by the standard balance procedure.

GMMerlin,I have done the road force vibraton balancing w/VERY little difference. They broke down each tire at least 3 times and got it to the best possible place for a smooth ride, but it has done very little for it :banghead: .I went to the beach this weekend and brought my boat home and man what a ride . when you go over 70mph it will shake the drink out of its can while it is sitting in the cupholder.(NO JOKE!!) It was so much more noticable w/the boat behind it. My ? to you is why is it that this truck is smooth as silk up until about 64mph,and then the shake or may I say more like a severe vibration takes over. I have been told that it is probably in the torque converter? That when it gets up to higher speeds it is becoming unbalanced and starts the shaking process ,is this possible?
Thanks for your help!! :1zhelp:

GMMerlin,I have done the road force vibraton balancing w/VERY little difference. They broke down each tire at least 3 times and got it to the best possible place for a smooth ride, but it has done very little for it :banghead: .I went to the beach this weekend and brought my boat home and man what a ride . when you go over 70mph it will shake the drink out of its can while it is sitting in the cupholder.(NO JOKE!!) It was so much more noticable w/the boat behind it. My ? to you is why is it that this truck is smooth as silk up until about 64mph,and then the shake or may I say more like a severe vibration takes over. I have been told that it is probably in the torque converter? That when it gets up to higher speeds it is becoming unbalanced and starts the shaking process ,is this possible?
Thanks for your help!! :1zhelp:

Well in all honesty, I don't know the answer why.
My suggestion would be to drive the truck with an electronic vibration analizer hooked up to find out what the vibration frequency would be to determine if it was a 1st,2nd,3rd line vibration then determine what part of the rotating mass is rotating at that RPM to cause the vibration.

Thanks Merlin,but I think I have about spent my last $ on this truck-it is an absolute perfect truck -other than this freaking shake ,but I beleive it may be time to trade!!

Have you tried tapping the brakes during the vibration to unlock the torque converter - you should also see RPMs increase slightly.

If the vibration stops when the brakes are tapped, it may indicate a problem with the torque converter (or the systems that control it).

Johnathon-I did try that but the torque converter did not unlock -could that be the problem the only way it would unlock was to make the passing gear kick in :grinyes:

Did the vibration go away when the passing gear kicked in?

I'm not a transmission expert, but maybe someone who is could answer your question. In the mean time, try a google search for "torque converter shudder" or chatter - the solutions offered range from changing the transmission fluid, to changing plug wires, to rebuilding the transmission.

Hi -

We had a 98 Suburban this past summer that also vibrated at higher highway speeds. We went through everything to try to get it fixed. New tires, wheels, new drive line, rebuilt the rear-end etc. It never did get fixed and the dealer ended up taking it back. It had custom wheels on it.

We recently purchased a 99 Tahoe that DID NOT vibrate!!! We put custom wheels on it and it started doing just what the Suburban did. We had the tires re-balance at least 4-5 times, tried a different set of tires and wheels - it still vibrated. Had them put the stock wheels back on it and it doesn't vibrate anymore.

Some things I learned:

1) When putting wheels on a Chevy - be sure you are only getting HUB Centric wheels. These are made to fit on the Chevy hubs and are not universal.

2) Be sure you have taken the metal clips off when you have the custom wheels put on.

We are having another set of wheels put on tomorrow. I expect it will still vibrate. I did learn there is a place in our town that does tire balancing with the tires/wheels on your vehicle. It's an old timer way that is suppose to be a little better because it balances them to your vehicle, but I haven't tried it yet. Wish us luck!

Sierracc -WE have tried almost everything w/no luck.I am all but convinced it is in the torque converter.If anyone has tried to change their torque converter out let me know how that worked out for you. And how much $$ it will cost me?

I have a shutter going up a hill at 55 to 65 mph. I have been watching this web site for about a year now. I am being told by a dealer that it's the valve guides need bored out. The carbon is building up and valves are sticking. GM is paying for the Tahoes that have California Emissions. I believe my dealer has fixed it. Some times my check engine light will come on, with code #5 misfire. I don't know if you all have the same problem or not. Cost is about $1500.00. It's only money, but I haven't got mine fixed yet. I just go to Auto Zone and get the code errased. I pull a small boat and sometimes it shutters. Like one guy said, the whole dash shakes. Good luck to all. If anyone know's how to fix let me know.
[email protected]

This is not a transmission or rear end problem. This is the u joint at the rear end. My 98 did this when the u-joints went bad. I went through 3 before I got a good one. It only happens from around 63 mph to about 75 mph.

Shortly after buying a used '95 Tahoe I noteced a vibration that occured at 60mph on up. I bought the car from a Chevrolet dealership very cheap with a full understanding that it would require some work. The body and the interior were in outstanding condition, though predictably, it's last owner let a number of service items go knowing that he would be trading it in rather than pumping more $ into it. I only drove it on a few side streets before I felt that at it's asking price it was a decent deal. It was only upon driving it home on a highway did I notice a very pronounced vibration at speeds over 60 mph. Like others who have posted on this topic I went straight for the tires. I immediately purchased Michelin MTX's at nearly $800 including mounting, balancing and alignment. Vibration problem was still there when I drove it home and I had a whole weekend to lose sleep over it while I pondered all the horrible possibilities. The soonest I could get an appointment to get it looked at again was the following Thursday (today) when I was joined for a test drive by the GM tech at the Dealership I had gotten the other services performed at. I mentioned that I had been to this website in the course of obsessing over the whole thing during the weekend and he read the printout of this thread. As we motored onto the highway and brought her up to shaking speed, he was able to nail the problem instantly. He mentioned that even without the knowledge of the brand new front end work and tires he would have known it was a driveline/u-joint problem because tire issues would have had a far different vibration frequency than he felt as we were driving. The rear U-Joint of the rear drive shaft was inspected, found to be worn, then replaced. The car now rides as smooth a silk. He commented that this was a problem not just for Tahoes, but the entire range of GM/Chevy 1500 products. Happens frequently enough to be a trend but not so often that it would require a general recall or anything. Oh happy day :rofl: !

Work I have had done:

U-Joint replaced
Leaky radiator replaced
New brake pads and rotors turned on all four
Pitman arm replaced
Front end alignment
Leaky radiator replaced - hoses too
New set of tires, mounting and balancing
New fuel filter
Transmission: tranny cooler added, and serviced
oil and filter change

Work I have done myself:

Air filter
New plugs
New wires
New distributor cap
New Rotor
New PCV
Fabricated a 2" front mounted towing hitch/reciever at a material cost of $15.00 not including the cost of welding consummables which was negligible.

Cost of the Tahoe = $4650

Cost of the work and parts about $2900 total, bringing the total of owning this car to under $8k including registration in CT. Yeah, I might have been able to get one for less but I wouldn't know with all certainty that any or all of the above items were done. :icon16:

I got 77k out of my ujoints and it just happened this week. Started as noise like a loose heat shield, then the vibes started, by the end of the day I got the first clunk from reverse to drive. perfect problem solved.
40$ 2 ujoints pressed in. a bunch of grease on the slip yoke and it was like new. How long till more grease is now the question.?? Luckily I bought the 39$ can from the dealer... enough for a lifetime, anyone need any??
Tony

i replaced my ujoints and i have the same problem just trying 2 get some help please vibrates over 68mph

Hi -

We had a 98 Suburban this past summer that also vibrated at higher highway speeds. We went through everything to try to get it fixed. New tires, wheels, new drive line, rebuilt the rear-end etc. It never did get fixed and the dealer ended up taking it back. It had custom wheels on it.

We recently purchased a 99 Tahoe that DID NOT vibrate!!! We put custom wheels on it and it started doing just what the Suburban did. We had the tires re-balance at least 4-5 times, tried a different set of tires and wheels - it still vibrated. Had them put the stock wheels back on it and it doesn't vibrate anymore.

Some things I learned:

1) When putting wheels on a Chevy - be sure you are only getting HUB Centric wheels. These are made to fit on the Chevy hubs and are not universal.

2) Be sure you have taken the metal clips off when you have the custom wheels put on.

We are having another set of wheels put on tomorrow. I expect it will still vibrate. I did learn there is a place in our town that does tire balancing with the tires/wheels on your vehicle. It's an old timer way that is suppose to be a little better because it balances them to your vehicle, but I haven't tried it yet. Wish us luck!


This bring up something I learned with a Pontiac gto with factory ralley wheels,
The only way they would balance smooth was using an adapter on the balance machine that mounted with the lug holed not the center hole. It took 6-7 attempts by different tire shops until an old timer told me the reason and he got it smooth!
The same thing applies to my old 69 Land Rover. If balanced the quick way(center hole),it will bounce at speed.
It's more work for the tire man so the shops have usually put the lug adapter out of sight.

Bob B

I had the same problem on my 99 Tahoe- Vibration around 70 MPH. I finally replaced the rims with 2001 Factory rims I found locally on E-bay. The problem went away. Must have had 1 or two slightly bent rims.