I recently acquired a 2002 Chevy avalanche. The first thing I did when I bought it was get the 24” wheels balanced because of the shaking. After I got it back I replaced all the steering (tie rods, pitman and idler arm). I took it to back to NTB to get an alignment. When I got it back, not only did they not have a print out of the adjustments made(I thought this was standard procedure?) but the steering wheel was about where it was before and after the alignment which was pretty close to dead center but slightly to the left. Everything is smooth sailing until about 70mph, and then it starts shaking. Not in the steering but the front end for sure. Now because of the questionable alignment I’m wondering of the competency of the techs when they balanced the wheels. All I know is to raise the wheel up, move it side to side to check loose steering, and up and down to check ball joints. Is there something I’m missing here?
The suspension arm bushings need to be checked for wear, using a pry bar. And ball joints are not necessarily checked by "up and down motion" of the wheel. The vehicle is racked and lifted off the ground, then the lower arm is unloaded, as close to the wheel as possible, and a pry bar is put under the tire at the floor and lifted. Any upward motion is a worn lower joint. Then the wheel's removed, the prybar goes under the framerail above the upper arm, and levered down. Any movement downward is a worn upper joint. After those are done, lift the vehicle up high enough to get underneath, and use the prybar to push on the arm bushings, and any lateral movement is a worn bushing.
Wouldn't it be weird, if the mechanic were to perform a front end alignment, knowing that there were worn parts to deal with? Maybe, that's the reason for not printing out the results. To do an alignment just before the vehicle gets into an accident due to worn parts seems pretty bold, unless the business happens to be of the fly-by-night variety
My condolences Have you investigated the front brakes? I had a similar experience with the Fury a few years back. Would drive fine until a certain speed but then starts shaking (usually between 55 and 70) I replaced some front end components that were worn, had it aligned, installed new tires, had the new tires rebalanced, etc, etc. Nothing helped. Finally I discovered the front brakes, specifically the driver's side was having an issue. Even after doing a complete brake job it persisted, but now I knew that it was the culprit. Something had gotten warped, out of round, something. I replaced the old drums with discs and the problem was solved.
Hahaha, I’ve had two people say “oh cool, you got an Aztec” ive never liked them either but this one has grown on me. It was a killer deal and the plan was to just flip it but like I said it’s really grown on me. The bed is the same size as a step side I believe, unless you want to lay the back seats down and open the mid-gate for more length. Plus you can ride around with the back window out! Also, I’ve gotten several compliments on it, all from elderly black women. So I like it even more I’ve also never been too keen on large aftermarket wheels but I’ve also warmed up to these. Its got a 5.3, I think the 5.8 would have been more appropo. It’s got disc brakes all around which are probably nearing the end of their life but I always figured the brake shake came when apply the brakes mean the rotors are warped?
It wouldn't be a bad idea to check the caliper slide pins, I don't know how it is in your area but up here it's a fairly common issue and can cause all sorts of havoc.
Actually, I missed the fact it's an Avalanche; GM has had problems with the unitized bearing assemblies for years. One of my last customers before I had to quit has a North Face edition Avalanche, and she had to have BOTH diffs rebuilt, plus the front bearing hubs back in 2010 or 2011, plus all the other full-sized and S-10-sized pickups and SUVs with the unitized bearing hub design we've had to change over the years. And the tire doesn't necessarily shake enough for you to find it that way.
Aww thanks Orth. The approval of an internet acquaintance that lives at the other end of the country mean so very much to me yes it has the bolt on hub/bearing assembly. I’ve done this repair on two different Tahoes. One was so bad the wheel felt like it was about to fall off, and the other would make a whining sound when turning the steering wheel. So I forgot about checking the bushings on the control arms with the pry bar. I’ll get the wheels off and check brakes, slide pins, bushings.
