DebRedZR1

Master thread for ZR1 Vibration Issues. I will try to keep links to all current threads posted here, along with your comments about your Car, problems, issues resolved, open issues etc....Hopefully this will help those who need resolution to their problems Post away!

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ufaj26

Well, yesterday was the big day. After a conversation with my dealership they decided that It would be best to take my car to a high end shop and have the alignment checked sice I could feel a slight pull to the right as well as having a vibration in the steering wheel and in my butt at speeds from 73 to 82 or so. Here again, it is a sometimes thing not every single time.

My 2012 was found to be slightly out of alignment and by the numbers the mechanic said I should have been experienceing a pull to the right. He was dead on with this part and corrected it perfectly. The pull is now gone and it steers as it should.

In regards to the RFB they started with the front tires and balanced them off of the car then installed them and started the on car balance procedure. The left front balanced up with very little effort at all. The right front gave them a little trouble so they pulled it off, broke it from the rim and and moved it around a little and then rebalanced and installed it on the car and started the high speed balance again. This time they said it went a lot better and they were abe to get it "very close". As it turned out the rear tires were too large for their machine and they were unable to high speed them on the car but felt confident they would be fine since they balanced up so well on their balancer. From their shop it's about 12 miles back to the interstate so I had time to heat everything back up again and was very anxious to hit the road and see how well it drove.

The results: It still vibrates in the same speed range as before but slightly less than before. The pulling to the right is completely gone.I still have the steering wheel vibration as well as the butt vibration going on. Can't begin to tell you how dissappointed I am with this car right now. I called the dealership back and they apologized and advised me to get it back to them and they would get in touch with GM and speak with them about the problem. These trips back and forth are a pain in my butt as well. I'm beginning to wish I had kept my 2010.

pcguy2u

MachAll 2005

Deb.....you know some of my history but here it is anyway.
Dick
-------------------
2010 VIN: .... 1281

Build Date: 28 Apr 2010

Service Date: 15 July 2010 (dealer stock approx 6 weeks, 2 miles .. yes, it had been parked in a storage shed with a Corvette cover on it, they didn't advertise, etc. I found it via Jeff Hardy .... no one else looked at it.)

Initial Background: Was aware of the "vibration" complaint ... told dealer I had to test drive before I would accept delivery and that IF it had the dreaded vibration I wouldn't take it as GM didn't know what to do with it. Test drive was good so purchased it.

Thru 6000 miles it was fine (for the most part). Then (June11) I "flipped" the wheels/tires side to side to address some inside feathering and experienced moderated "vibration" in the 70-80 range .. ok above that range. I visited with Tom Hill at Bloomington Gold in June .. deciding to check balance and rotate one stud at a time. Check balance (non RFB) which showed good balance but did tweek as low as possible. Reinstalled off one stud and the vibration was fair to moderated ... finding it to be very sensitive to road conditions. Played with air pressure finding best was at 33-34 psi.

7360 miles .. changed alignment to address tire wear concerns ... no change in vibration experience.

12000 miles ... flipped tires back to original position including stud. Over next 638 miles, note vibration is typically acceptable but some road conditions will set it off to a moderate level.

As noted from another thread ("tickled pink") our overall tire wear characteristics are good with long life expected ... hoping GM has an acceptable fix by the time I need new tires.

Bottom Line -- I am convinced the "problem" is very complex and won't be solved with tire/wheel/rotor changes alone. It is a resonant issue inherent within the suspension that will only be addressed with "tuning/damping"

I have not been back to my dealer as he is 100 miles away and I would not be comfortable with them working on it.

Chevy Cust Svc

ufaj26,
I'm going to document all of this. Let us know what happens.

Chevrolet Customer Service,
Justin

Kelly100

I think you story is interesting. But it got me thinking: I had 2 vettes in1988 (a couple of years after the new vette had been introduced). And with each car, both drove well with no vibs or anything. At about 3000mi each car developed a slight vib felt in the steering wheel at about 60-70++. I always felt that it was the tire wear and really let it go at that. I guess the point of this story is with these cars being so complex, I agree with you and IMHO a lot of people are going to have to live with a slight+ vibration. I hate to say this because the car should be perfect and this problem causes a lot of heartache, anger etc. I also think this could be fixed if GM would throw it's weight behind it, but they never do. So I AGREE.

ufaj26

Thanks Justin..

Alvin

WB6HRO

My 2009 ZR1 has never vibrated early car #274 at 20,000 I had a new set of tires put on at Spring Mountain, No vibration.

Now Spring Mountain has probably replaced more ZR1 tires than anyone on the planet, the tire guy mentioned that wheel weights have to be set at inside and outside to balance the tire from inner to outer as well as overall balance, because the tires are so wide.

kong

FWIW: MY 2010 ZR1 which I bought new has never exibited any vibration whatsoever. It now has about 1700 mile on it and I think was built in early 2010.

ufaj26

In all honesty, if it was only slight I could live with it but this is more than slight in my case. My 2009 and 2010 ZR1 were actually very smooth riding cars. No vibration at all. In the case of my 2012 it is bad enough to where my wife has even noticed and asked why this car rides so much worse than my previous ZR1's. If the car is not fun to drive I don't see the point in having it.

Contacted my dealer about bringing it back in next week when I am back in town. Will see what the next step will be at that time.

09Z06pj

ufaj26, this has to be frustrating for you to no end, considering your prior two ZR1s did not have the vibration issue. If there were ever a scenario where GM and the dealer should put every effort into a fix, this is it. Best of luck to you and I hope the problem is resolved before you reach the point of no return regarding ownership of the car. There is absolutely no excuse for this. Come on GM, time to step up! We're all watching.

Chevy Cust Svc

09Z06pj,
This issue has been well documented. GM is aware of it and is currently working on a solution. You may just want to visit your dealership and ask them if they've received any information from GM on a resolution to this issue.

Chevrolet Customer Service,
Justin

UncleFodder

Justin - I'm sure all on this thread are appreciative of the attention Chevy is attempting to provide. However, when you say that Chevy is working on a solution, that insinuates that the problem has been pin-pointed. Would that indeed be the case?

MachAll 2005

Justin,
With a comment like
"you may just want-to visit your dealership and ask if they've received any information from GM on a resolution to this issue"
sounds like GM has recently released something ... if this is the case then tell us.... if it isn't the case then don't send us on wild goose chases to find nothing.
So What is IT?????

DebRedZR1

Good point Dick.

I know what they have been doing. How about sharing some of those updates?

Not all Dealerships have a clue

ufaj26

After returning from out of town I called the dealer and advised them of the fact I still had some vibration in the front and rear. While the front was a little better the rear was as bad as before after several test rides over a few weeks as time allowed.

To first eliminate the possibly that Butler Tire has maybe missed their balance on a tire or two and to eliminate the possibly that I may have slung a weight off of one of the wheeels I went back there and asked them to recheck everything since the problem was still there.

I have to tell you, this time they were very maticulous in their work. They went back and started completely from scratch.

The front: They removed all weights and broke down each tire from the wheel and checked each wheel for roundness as well as inspected each tire. they then remounted the front and started indexing each wheel and tire to get the ultimate balance for each. They then put them back on and performed the high speed balance on the car.

The rears: The same procedures were done there in reltation to checking each wheel and tire for roundness etc and then balanced each wheel and tire off the car to as close to perfect as possible. They found no problems with the rear wheels or tires. I'm convinced that these four wheels and tires are as "balanced" as they possibly can be.

They worked on my car for just over 2 hrs.

The result: The front is much much better but still not as smooth as my 2010. It just can't get there. I still have vibration in the rear as well but that too is some better. Next is to go back to the dealer and find out what they can get approved by GM. All the work done this time has helped the problem but the vibrationsa are still there. The front is some better but not *** good as it should be. The rear vibrations are still there and continue to a higher speed. At 85 mph the vibs are still present.

MrZR1sc

Just traded my 09 with 12,300 miles and no vibrations on a new 10 that my dealer made me an offer I couldn't refuse. Anyway I now have become a member of the dreaded vibration club. My dealer has me taking it into our local balance specialist tomorrow morning. He is telling me that if they cannot fix the issue that they will replace the wheels on the car. I hope they can fix it with the tire re-balance, but with all the issues I have read about I am not feeling real good about this being any kind of a simple fix. Hopefully if they can't solve the issue tomorrow a new set of wheels will. Keeping my fingers crossed! Wish me luck.

MachAll 2005

This issue appears very complex and the GM Guys are working on it but are tight-lipped ..
Keep us posted on your progress.

3BVert

I don't have a ZR1 but I am in the club as well. 2011 Coupe (built Nov 2010, purchased Sept 2011). Had a vibration between 70-80 since day one. At 420 miles the dealer checked the balance and said it was fine. He asked to wait until 700-1000 miles for the suspension to settle before doing more diagnostics. At 1,200 miles they could not get the front wheels road-force balanced to spec so they replaced the front tires. They say that it is now in spec but the vibration is still there. It may be a tad better as it seems to have moved up the speedometer a little. It's now more noticeable at 78-82 mph.

I provided the dealer a link to this thread and told him that this is a known issue and that we need to get GM involved. He's having the GM rep come in next week or the week after (because of the Thanksgiving holiday). I'll update when I know more.

Chevy Cust Svc

3BVert,
I'm interested to hear what the GM representative tells you in regards to this ongoing issue. Keep us updated.

Chevrolet Customer Service,
Justin