Opinions wanted: H2 [still] shakes
 

My H2 still shakes in park, netural, drive, reverse.
When I mean shakes, the whole rig shakes: steering wheel, shifter, seats, entire body, everything.

I just replaced my upper ball joints & inner tie rods, plus got an alignment.
My rig stopped shaking side to side & breaks a hell of a lot better, but it still rattles. It didn't do this when I got it, so I'm still in the process of figuring out what's wrong.

Whats been replaced / adjusted up front:

• Upper Control Arm & Joint
• Tie Rods (inner & outter are fine)
• Idler Arm
• Pitman Arm
• Shocks (this should be the issue)
• Steering stabilizer
• Replaced Goodyear SR-As w/ BFG KO2s (these are supposed to have a great ride).

What comes to mind are:

• Bad LCA ball joints
• Idler arm support (still stock)
• Center link? (just a shot in the dark)
• Some other steering component (another shot in the dark)
• Power train issue of some sorts

I'm slowly dialing the rig in & the rid is getting better, but this shaking is driving me nuts and I'm having issues pinning down what's going on. The fact that the steering wheel always shakes makes me think it could be either a steering component / power steering or the power train as a whole.

I also notice very little if any shake/bumpiness when the wheel is almost turned to the max when pulling into my driveway. This is the only time the rig rides smoothly. I know this means something, I just don't know what.

Any ideas guys?

My first thought would be the motor mounts since it shakes in in park.

Yeah, I supposedly had these replaced (knowing the mechanic, I'm iffy about the whole situation).

Assuming they are bad, they can make the whole vehicle shake in park? The spare tire vibrates pretty badly.

Would that also make the ride really bumpy?
I feel everything in the road through the steering wheel. I know that isn't normal for these rigs and hasn't been my experience in the past.

It shouldn't shake the whole vehicle but you will feel it vibrate every few seconds. You should post a video of your truck while it is running in park. Bad motor mounts shouldn't make the ride bumpy but I would check the the control arm bushings or maybe your tires aren't balanced properly.

Your alignment is definitely off

Almost all of the stuff you replaced will not have an effect on shaking in idle or park.
With the exception of the motor mounts. Is you exhaust sys. stock? You could have the exhaust touching the frame somewhere. Disconnect the serpentine belt and run it in park to see if that changes it, if so you could have a bad fan clutch or other accessory going bad. A fairly easy way to check the motor mounts is to put a small 2x4 on a jack and place it under the oil pan. Jack it up just enough to take some pressure off the motor mounts. If it then smooths out you narrowed it down to the mounts.
If your mechanic did replace the mounts and used some from the parts store, that could very well be your problem. The cheap mounts are just that. Anchor is one brand to avoid. I would buy some mounts from your local GM dealer. Good luck and I will be watching to see how you progress.

You can't see the vehicle vibrate, but can feel it. Maybe if I set something on it. It's extremely noticeable on the inside, everything just vibrates & shakes while driving.

I just had an alignment done prior to posting this.
I was having a lot of side to side shaking while driving, which is now gone.

Oh I know. I had to replace that stuff as it was worn out.
I'm starting to think that if the upper ball joints were bad, the lowers are bad too. From what I've read, a lot of my symptoms match up.

I've looked underneath & didn't see the exhaust making contact with anything. I will look again when I have a chance. It looks stock, but I am the 2nd owner.

I will use that trick to check the motor mounts. I will get around to that when the weather lets up.


I have an 09, so I don't have a fan clutch (electric fans).

Small update.
Since it's raining & I can't get anything done on the rig, I figured I'd read more about symptoms to try & diagnose the ride problems.

I noticed that the inside of my tires are wearing faster, but only on the front. This could be ball joints, wheel hub, or both. Since the rig has over 130k miles & I'm pretty sure that everything is original, it might be worth my time to just replace everything in one go: lower ball joints, wheel hub, and CV joint in one go.

Kryptonite ball joints are $110 / pair & Kryptonite warrantied Timken wheel hubs are $400 / pair. CV Joints are $150 or less. I'm looking at $650ish to basically replace everything on the front end, minus the knuckle & LCA. Oh, $8+ on a 36mm socket.

I get random popping & have had an instance of a very loud metal on metal sound when turning tightly (assuming lower ball joint, but who knows).

If you just had an alignment done they should have checked all that for you. There is no way they should perform an alignment if your suspension parts are wore out. Maybe take it back and ask for a front end inspection. The Timken bearings are a good choice. When you say CV joints. Are you talking about a reman CV axle? That is what I would use. The reman axle will most likely use a GM core and be rebuilt. A new CV axle from the parts store will be a chinese part and we all know how good those are.

I've had issues getting anyone locally to do anything right. :rolleyes:
That's why I've been learning how to do it myself, do it right & not cost me a small fortune.

When I originally had the alignment done, he said my inner tie rods & upper ball joints were bad. I replaced those before getting it aligned this time. The original guy I spoke with said nothing about the lower ball joints, but I can't see how those would be fine while the uppers were worn out.

I also have that horrible vibrating in the steering wheel & body. They said nothing about it or what to might be the cause of the symptom. I think they just wanted to get it aligned & move on. I have a life time alignment warranty, so they make no money on me whenever I bring it in...

Everything I've replaced on the vehicle, suspension & steering-wise has been worn out, from shocks, end links, balls joints, etc. I don't doubt that what I've listed is either worn out or on the way out.


For the reman cv axel, are you talking about these? Link
Any idea if the duralax gold cv axel is built better? It's $10 more, each.

Shake in park ... ummmm .. then nothing related to steering
I will look into the flywheel first ... how is the engine rpm in idle . Smooth or rough.. even bad engine mount shouldn't make the whole truck to shake if engine is running smoothly

I heard a damaged flywheel could make shake even the driveway
Have you look for a professional opinion