Passenger side Dash Rattle

Been experiencing a tin-like rattle on the passenger side dash. It is pretty consistently happening all of the time now, not tied to temperature or driving style. I have ruled out the A-Pillar, already performed some tests on that.

Today I took off the dash pad to see if there was anything in there that could be the culprit since it comes from this area. Nothing was noticeably loose or out of place.

Any ideas? I am usually fine with some intermittent rattles in these trucks but this one is leading me to really not enjoy the ride lately....

 

Have you changed your suspension?

 

yes

 

Passenger side dash speaker cover in mine rattled ever so slightly and made the noise you are describing!

 

Are you sure it's not the a-pillar / speaker transition? Mine is pretty loud every morning until the cabin heats up.

 

Had the same problem on my 2017. I wedged a small sliver of rubber into the crack and stop the noise. Always worse in the mornings.

 

There is a thread regarding this problem, with a number of possible causes. I also have a friend that had the same issue with a TRD Pro Fox suspension swap on an OR. The original installer rechecked all the bolt torques, he had the alignment shop double check things, and even took it to the Toyota dealer to check it out. No one could find the issue. He later replaced the suspension with a King suspension and it went away. Later I installed this same suspension in my truck, thinking that I may have to rebuild it at the worst. I was careful with the install, and after reading about issues others had, made sure to not torque the control arms and shock down until I had the truck off the jacks. I have never had any issues in over 5,000 miles, including driving many very washboardy rural caliche roads, in addition to off roading. Hope you find the source your rattling.

https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/rattle-noise-after-new-shock-install.619871/

 

I’m almost certain, I already tried wedging different things in between the void there and the noise still persists. The noise I’m getting is more than a vibration/rattle, it definitely sounds like metal. Almost like something bouncing around in a metal cup

 

Thanks for sharing this, appreciate it. The rattle is definitely coming from in the cab, nothing to do with the suspension. The noise will happen even when on a fairly decent road, not only when hitting potholes or other imperfections.

 

By chance did you take apart the little plastic piece that is towards the front corner of the window? It’s held on by little clips but if you’re not careful those clips fall into the door. There’s no way to get them out and I think they will rattle in the right condition. Ask me how I know.

 

Those type of creaking and tin sounds drive me nuts!
Have someone else drive with you in the passenger seat, without the radio and dash trim apart. See if you can pinpoint it then.

 

I have the "tin-like" rattle in my 18' taco too. I found it to be located in the dash speaker, circle day light sensor cover. The little black bulb object.

I found it to have a slight spacing where it's able to jiggle within its position.

Maybe that's your too?

I didn't fix it by the way. I just turn my music up louder. Lol!

 

mhmm, that’s not something I’ve looked at yet. I’ll take a peak tomorrow and provide an update!

 

I too have a noise from that area. BUT. Have the wife drive my truck to locate the noise.... coin flip time. Noise wife driving my truck. Note she drives fine I just don’t like the thought.

 

I had a rattle from that area. Turned our to be nothing more than than the little cover that snaps into place over the cabin air filter. You need to push on that pretty good to get it locked in place and I can see it being easy to not get it all the way in when checking or changing it.

 

I had that issue back when the truck was new in 2017. After 3 different dealers. Putting tie wraps on some of the harnesses seemed to work the best. Now I have over 250k and noise still pops up at times, but I really don’t care anymore.

 

It is a ghost of the first generation. Same rattle in the same location.

 

I get nauseous when my wife drives.

 

Check the glove box. Is something rattling around? say a pen, pencil, tire pressure gauge, coins..........

Or do you have a buddy playing a prank on you????

Once upon a lifetime ago. I had a buddy who put baby moon hubcaps on his C10. I took a couple off to load a few marbles, then put them back on. The marbles rattled like crazy at low speeds. My buddy chased the rattle for weeks. He was a anal retentive gear head. I told him to bring the C10 to my house, so I could fix it. He bet me $10 I couldn't. I called him 20 minutes later to come get his C10 and bring my $10. I didn't make him honor the bet, it was too funny when I showed him the rattle source.

 

Long shot, but do you have anything mounted to the mirror? Or any sort of phone mount?

My girlfriend has a similar noise in her corolla that originates from the plastic hold tabs on the dash and passenger door (sounds just like a tin-like rattle). Pushing on them fixes the issue for a few minutes. You could try pushing on interior pieces randomly to see if the noise goes away.

If you REALLY want to find the noise, go pick up a mechanics stethoscope and have a buddy look around for the source while you drive.