99 Suburban has severe front end shake only when towing.

Asked by Paul Jun 14, 2014 at 06:42 AM about the 1999 Chevrolet Suburban C1500 LT RWD

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

Truck's front end is solid, it's been to several front end specialist, some with 45
years experience.  Truck's steering wheel and dashboard shake violently ONLY
when towing.  I tow, or I should say, try to tow a small jon boat trailer( Ventura),
at 45mph, the front ends starts to shake. It gets worse the faster I go. Shake
lessens when speeds are 40mph and below. Ventura trailer is brand new.  I
have another small homemade trailer that I was towing and though it was a
problem with that trailer but, it happens when I tow anything at all, no matter how
light the tongue weight is.
I have a ghost!  Please help. :(

4 Answers

199,785

Possibly a out of balance tire or one that is separating internally. Having them balanced will tell if this is the issue or not.

Thank you, The tires have been balance twice to make sure that wasn't the issue. Internal separation is something I hadn't thought of. I had planned on replacing the tires any way. We discovered the tires came off another truck that had been sitting in a salvage yard for quite some time, and are try rotted between every thread. Thank you very much for your input. Great appreciated. I'll respond back later this week, once I replace the tires.

199,785

Ok. With dry rot in the treads I would bet on internal separation. Look at your wheels. Does one of them have a lot of wheel weights on it. If so they had to add all of these to balance it because of internal separation of the tire. Went and had mine balanced the other day and they had to put 10+ ounces on to balance it. Future investigation showed that the tire was separating on the inside. It also had small dry rot lines in the treads.

So what can it be when the truck goes to 45 mph it shakes real bad after 45mph it stops shaking what can it be

Your Answer:

Suburban

Looking for a Used Suburban in your area?

CarGurus has 537 nationwide Suburban listings starting at $8,000.

Postal Code:

CarGurus Experts

  • #1
    Andrew Olsen
    Reputation
    3,080
  • #2
    JimO65
    Reputation
    2,390
  • #3
    Rowefast
    Reputation
    2,130
View All

Find great deals from top-rated dealers

Search

Related Models For Sale

Used GMC Yukon XL
17 Great Deals out of 722 listings starting at $11,500
Used Chevrolet Tahoe
13 Great Deals out of 822 listings starting at $9,980
Used Ford Expedition
19 Great Deals out of 669 listings starting at $7,894
Used GMC Yukon
14 Great Deals out of 981 listings starting at $3,000
Used Cadillac Escalade
16 Great Deals out of 498 listings starting at $5,000
Used Chevrolet Silverado 1500
214 Great Deals out of 8,009 listings starting at $1,500
Used Lincoln Navigator
8 Great Deals out of 314 listings starting at $18,909
Used Ford F-150
314 Great Deals out of 13,742 listings starting at $3,800
Used Chevrolet Silverado 2500HD
33 Great Deals out of 1,683 listings starting at $3,000
Used GMC Sierra 1500
132 Great Deals out of 8,251 listings starting at $3,000
Used Dodge Durango
51 Great Deals out of 1,897 listings starting at $6,987
Used Toyota Sienna
47 Great Deals out of 631 listings starting at $2,499

Content submitted by Users is not endorsed by CarGurus, does not express the opinions of CarGurus, and should not be considered reviewed, screened, or approved by CarGurus. Please refer to CarGurus Terms of Use. Content will be removed if CarGurus becomes aware that it violates our policies.