Hi Gang,
I know this doesn't belong here but I need help with my 2003 GMC Sonoma Pickup and I don't know of a better group of guys with intelligent answes than you so here it goes. The truck is a 2003 GMC Sonoma, reg cab, short wheel base 2wd truck with the SMOOTH ride suspension (standard) 2.2L 4 cyl and a 5 speed trans. Ever since the truck was brand new (Bought it with 68 miles on the odometer) it's had a little bit of a hop to it from 50-60 MPH. I had the tires balanced twice on it and no luck so I took the junky uniroyal tiger paws off the truck 205/75/15, and replaced them with Michelin LTX M/S tires 225/70/15. Drove around for a little while on those and it had a little bit of a hop but not like the tiger paws. Well after 3 months of those Michelins I brought them in to get a road force balance TWICE and the truck still hopped. I finally said "that's it!" and I had them replace all four tires with another set of Michelin's, this time the XW4's were put on. 235/70/15's. Now the hop is progressively getting worse. I swapped on tires from another Sonoma that were Yokohama's 225/70/15's and my truck seemed to be about %50 smoother but not entirely. What do you guys think the problem is? I watched them road force balance my new XW4's and they only required 4 lbs of road force to balance! Which is next to nothing. I'm so frusterated guys, I just want to be able to enjoy my new Sonoma and not have to drive it 75 everywhere I go to get the truck to smoothen out. Does there come a point where the tires are too large for the suspension system on my truck and maybe I'm in need of a larger or smaller shock to absorb the added weight of a bigger and stiffer tire? Drums or rotors out of balance? Suspension is tight, Maybe the pinion angle isn't set properly? I have no idea. I know they make an S10 with a ZR2 package that has STIFFER springs and heavier shocks and they run big tires on a 15" wheel with no problems. Remember I just have the smooth ride (standard) suspension. My truck also has one of those goofy harmonic balancers that go over the driveshaft, could that be the problem? I haven't modified this truck at all in any way other than a K&N FIPK kit and I installed a Zexel Torsen Posi in it but never did anything other than remove the axles and rear diffy cover. Besides, remember this truck hopped since day 1. My dad has the other Sonoma and his rides much smoother, same truck as mine other than the paint. He's running factory tires on the front and 225/70/15 Yoko's on the back. Do you think my shocks got hurt from the 2000 miles I put on it with the hopping factory tires? I'm just throwing ideas out here. Hopefully someone has some insight to this. I also heard overtightening the wheels down can warp rotors and drums on these trucks. Anyways I'm done here for now. I'll be checking back every 30 minutes. Thanks for your input guys, again I'm sorry I know it doesn't belong here but I don't want juvenile answers from the 16 year old kids in the S10 forums. Afterall, It's still a
Thanks!
Joe
03-25-2004, 01:30 PM
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