99 Tahoe front wheels vibrate

[GoDuncan]

At slower speeds, the front wheels on my 1999 4 WD Tahoe shimmy from side to side (each wheel seems to be working independently rather than together). I've had it in the shop a couple of times to check the front end and nothing has been found. Could the tires being out-of-round cause this condition or is it in the front end (ball joints, tie rods, etc)? I've had the front rotors replaced in the last 6 months and the tires are rotated religiously ever 5-7K. I have 265 GY Forteras with 45K on them that I'm wanting to replace, but not until I know what is causing the shimmy.

[spanky13]

Welcome to the wonderful world of large tires! since the introduction of the body style running from 88 to about 99, i have owned 8 different units. 5 of them, 2 wheel drive & 3 4 wheel drive. why so many? i live in arizona and used to be in outside sales, and would replace my truck every 16-18 months, afraid, i would have problems with a high milage vehicle. when i purchased my first tahoe, in 95, and paying a lot of money for it i thought i would be money ahead to hang on to it, pay it off, and then fix what ever needed fixing. man was i wrong!!! i had that unit for 5-1/2 years, when i sold it, it had over 260,000 miles on it, and it still purred and did not leak anything!
that first tahoe came with goodyear wranglers, which i quickly replaced with bfg all terrains, lt265/75r16, alum wheels with 1" offset.
when you ratate the tires every 5k - 6k miles and balance them, keep them inflated to min of 40psi, they will last 55k - 60k miles.
the problem you are having is one of two things. one of your wheels is not true. you can balance that wheel till the cows come home and it will still vibrate. the other reason could be your tires are worn out. the tread may be fine, but tread wear is not the only wear item on a tire. when the steel belts begin to "slip", they will feel great after balancing for a day or two, then the problem will resuraface. so, if this is what is happening to your tires, i recomend you replace them asap, as you are palying with your life. when a belt comes apart, you can blow a tire, or not yet still loose control and wreck your truck. it is hard to find a tire shop with someone who knows thier stuff, most of those guys are kids and don't have a clue. Good Luck! joe

[coopnhtown]

I have the same problem with my 99 Tahoe 4X4...I just replaced the tires on mine but still have the shimmy or shake in the front end. It does not do it all of the time and does not appear to matter if under accelaration or not. Leaning toward pitman arm or something like that.

[coopnhtown]

Beginning to wonder if the EVO sensor can cause this to happen...intermittantly. The EVO changes the power steering ratio to make steering easier at low speeds.

[andjh123]

Same problem on mine, shimmies(?) the steering wheel back and forth. These are 35" tires with a lift, but the problem only surfaced just recently. Heard it may be a balancing and/or tire wear issue but I'm not really sure if I buy that explanation. Nonetheless, something I am buying is some sort of powder balancing stuff that they put into the tire and it supposedly distributes itself within the tire to balance it properly, hmm..... Also rotating the tires for the first time in about 6k miles.