Odd vibrations and pulling from passenger side wheel

Maintenance/Repairs
,
1

Hello everyone,

I’m looking for some advice on an issue I’m experiencing with my 2nd Gen Silverado. 10 minutes into driving the truck for the first time that day, everything is fine. Then once I use the brakes a couple of times, the truck begins to pull to the right. I will then correct the issue and try to drive straight, however it just keeps pulling for the remainder of the day. Interestingly enough it pulls faster over to the right if I drive over bumps or imperfections in the pavement. I can visibly see my steering wheel turn right when this occurs.

Once i hit about 40 mph the truck starts to shake, much like the dreaded Chevy Shake, except it feels like the truck is shaking worse where the passenger seat is. It gets worse the faster I go. The entire cab vibrates.

I have gone under the truck and completed some investigating at that front passenger side wheel hub and the drive line axle/u joints and transmission mount. I found that the u-joints seemed solid however they’ve never been changed and I have 100,000 miles on the truck. The transmission mount has about 3/4" - 1" of play just by me pushing up from underneath the tranny with my hands, could that be my vibration issue? Is that a normal variance for shock absorption on those mounts?

For the wheel hub assembly, I changed my winter tires to my summer tires last week. I jacked my front end up off the ground, rotate that passenger side tire, and it binds about 3/4 into a full rotation and its hard to push it pass the binding point. All other wheels spin freely except for that one. I take off the tire, turn the hub with my hands and I hear minor scraping noises from what sounds like the brake pads. So i figure its a seized caliper, but I don’t get the smell when driving AND I took my calipers apart, cleaned, lubed, and reassembled them and the caliper pistons easily retract back to its housing. so its not a seized caliper. The break pads also looked evenly worn, no abnormal wear on one over the other. Throw everything back on, turn the wheel and it spins freely. I did not use the breaks before I spun the tire after the reassembly.

I go for a drive, seems like I fixed the issue, however sure enough 10 minutes in it starts pulling again, shaking, bumpy ride. I go back, jack up the truck again and that hub/wheel is binding again.

Any ideas? I’m thinking its the Wheel Hub Assembly/Wheel Bearing? Would that cause the vibrations and pulling? Or is it the tranny mount? Again, the entire truck shakes. haha probably a little bit of A and a little bit of B.

Thank you for your time,

2

I’d be looking at ball joints, tie rod ends, control arm bushings, etc…

Tester

3

Replace the rubber brake hoses. The right front is failing internally and acting as a check valve. Repalce every one on your truck. If one is starting, the others are not far behind.

5 Likes
4

Along with @Mustangman advise, check for warped rotors also.

1 Like
5

Oh, yes! Damage from the brakes not releasing!

6

Hey thanks guys, I picked up a new rotor, front pads, and brake hose. Should take me a couple of hours tomorrow to replace.

I did the entire front end suspension and steering last summer including; upper control arms, lower ball joints, inner and outer tie rods, pitman arm, idler arm, idler arm bracket, and steering dampener. That was a fun weekend.

Cheers