intermittent shudder during right turns?

[heftylefty58]

Greetings, and Happy Holidays all. I could have sworn that I read another posting about a problem similar to mine, but I couldn't find it tonight. So I'll just do my best to describe it in my own posting:

I'm experiencing an EXTREMELY intermittent shudder that seems to only occur while I'm either braking or coasting during a right turn. (I've never noticed the shudder while making a left turn.)

It almost seems as if the anti-lock brakes needlessly kick in on one or 2 wheels, but it's really hard to tell since it's over within a fraction of a second. I take my right turns very slowly, so it seems odd that the anti-lock brakes would activate at all. (FYI, all of these "shudder" instances occurred when the weather was dry: no rain, no snow, nothing....)

Just so you know, I also experience a very subtle clunk under my dash every now and then, but I'm 99.999% sure this is because my intermediate steering shaft needs to be lubed. Also, this clunk is a gazillion-fold more subtle than the my so-called "right-turn-shudder." So, I'd be very surprised if they're actually related.

But then again, I'm just a noob, so what do I know. That's why I'd greatly appreciate your thoughts regarding what could explain my right-turn-issue, and how I can further troubleshoot my problem.

Thanks in advance.

 

[bahollis]

Shudder problem

I had similar symptoms with my old 94 Chevy, and it turned out to be totally ruined wheel bearings. The mechanic I took it to said "that wheel was about to fall the f%@k off". Those were his words, exactly.

I hope yours is not the bearings. I do remember it being a weird thunk, thunk when I would turn hard to the right; and it was more noticeable at slow speeds.

I say again, I hope it's a squirrel and not the bearings.:thumbsup:

Later

BH

 

[run4jc]

I can't answer your wheel shudder, but the clunk under the hood from the intermediate steering shaft is part of a recall - my '02 was repaired free of charge back in August by the local GM dealer. They replaced the shaft and it is as good as new.

 

[speedr1023]

i have brought my 06 z71 in for the same and they greased the shaft and said it was okay. I also notice something of a clunk though especially when it is wet out. It sounds like it comes from the driver front wheel area but I can't be too sure. I asked about that, but the dealer said everything looks fine. I never saw a recall about putting in a completely new shaft though, is that only on the older models?

 

[heftylefty58]

Thanks for the feedback, fellas. Bahollis--Do you happen to remember roughly how much you paid to have your wheel bearings fixed? Also, did you end up replacing both fronts, or just the bad one? Based on what I learned today after some googling, it sounds like front wheel bearings should be inspected/cleaned/repacked every 30k miles (along with brake service). However, other websites seemed to imply that my 2003 probably has "sealed" (ie, non-serviceable) wheel bearings.