2004 Tahoe Front End Shake

[CaptainEgg]

Every once in a while on the freeway when I hit a short choppy bump (like pavement height difference at a bridge) front end almost shakes the wheel out of my hand. Had tires balanced, no help, had tires rotated, seem to happen not as often, new shocks also seemed to help a little, but it still does it once in a while. Once it starts I have to slow down till it stops, never let it try to straighten itself out by staying at speed! It is a 2004, 2WD, with 2008 Tahoe 17 inch stock wheels and tires.

 

[chubbs]

That symptom is usually a sign of ball joint failure.
You only have 2 little ball joints, basically holding your tire/wheel to the truck, or to the spindle to be specific.
I suggest you have a pro check it out if you are not moderately skilled in auto repair & diagnosis. A ball joint failure only continues to worsen until it snaps & your wheel comes loose or snaps off altogether. I'm just using layman terms here but it is this serious.

I don't know if you have ever seen that 1 car/truck stranded in the median cocked to 1 side with top of tire sticking in or out at 45* angle.... just lopped over halfway as it was trying to make a left-hand turn..
That's somebody who neglected the more serious signs/symptoms of a front end failure & paid the price. I once saw a pickup merging to the highway entrance through an intersection and watched his entire wheel/tire seperate from the pickup while he 1-wheel steered it into the ditch. 10 secs later and we can only imagine the carnage of him going 70mph on 1 front wheel. I don't expect a tire tech to troubleshoot any automotive faults but you would think with being what they do and all, especially with return customers complaining of the same symptoms they would know to look at the only 4 places that secure your wheel to the car.

If you lift your front tires off of the ground and give them a solid back&forth holding the tire at 12:00 & 6:00 o'clock, you will feel & hear the movement of a faulty BJ.

If it just so happens to be the lower BJ faulting, you can press all of your weight into the top of the tire (as it normally rests on the ground with all of the trucks weight) with your foot and hear it click or pop. But it doesn't work the same way if the upper ball joint is trashed.