I have had an interesting series of events that are throwing me for a loop, I’m going to lay them out in tandem with my thought process to see if anyone can lend me a hand.
I traded in my Colorado ZR2 for a Silverado 1500 ZR2. Knowing it was used, I 100% expected to into things that needed to be fixed since the previous owner evidently treated the truck horribly. After a couple things that had to be rectified like the strut top hat being blown through (i have videos of how i was driving it, pretty scary stuff), I moved on to the current issue; being annoying rear end sounds. Im no stranger to GM rear ends being low quality but in my head it was going to be a simple fix with proper lubricants for metal on metal contact with the leaf springs and the bushings in the shackles (given it was just minor creaking from dry components), etc… let me tell you, i was wrong. I am currently learning the meaning of “every 30 minute job is one broken bolt from a 3 day ordeal”.
What I'm dealing with now that has me puckering every time I’m driving:
- full blown clunking every time rear axle flexes (was not present before lubricants were applied)
- small chirps at low speeds with tiny bumps
- a clunk can be felt in the steering wheel, cant tell if its just the vibration from the rear end noises or if i have a ball joint/tie rod issue that joined the fight.
- steering is stiffer turning right, and easier turning left (maybe sway bar end links?)
Now my thought process is that given this truck wasn't taken care of very well before me, my intent is to torque everything to spec, and double check front ends joint grease, and if that doesn’t do the trick replace anything that could be worn out, i.e. shackle bushings, upper/lower ball joints, inner/outer tie rods, possibly the lead springs entirely with something from peak suspension.
That leads me to my next problem, I can’t fond anything online for OEM or better quality parts that definitively say they are for a 2023 Silverado 1500 ZR2.
I traded in my Colorado ZR2 for a Silverado 1500 ZR2. Knowing it was used, I 100% expected to into things that needed to be fixed since the previous owner evidently treated the truck horribly. After a couple things that had to be rectified like the strut top hat being blown through (i have videos of how i was driving it, pretty scary stuff), I moved on to the current issue; being annoying rear end sounds. Im no stranger to GM rear ends being low quality but in my head it was going to be a simple fix with proper lubricants for metal on metal contact with the leaf springs and the bushings in the shackles (given it was just minor creaking from dry components), etc… let me tell you, i was wrong. I am currently learning the meaning of “every 30 minute job is one broken bolt from a 3 day ordeal”.
What I'm dealing with now that has me puckering every time I’m driving:
- full blown clunking every time rear axle flexes (was not present before lubricants were applied)
- small chirps at low speeds with tiny bumps
- a clunk can be felt in the steering wheel, cant tell if its just the vibration from the rear end noises or if i have a ball joint/tie rod issue that joined the fight.
- steering is stiffer turning right, and easier turning left (maybe sway bar end links?)
Now my thought process is that given this truck wasn't taken care of very well before me, my intent is to torque everything to spec, and double check front ends joint grease, and if that doesn’t do the trick replace anything that could be worn out, i.e. shackle bushings, upper/lower ball joints, inner/outer tie rods, possibly the lead springs entirely with something from peak suspension.
That leads me to my next problem, I can’t fond anything online for OEM or better quality parts that definitively say they are for a 2023 Silverado 1500 ZR2.
