Access Cab door wind noise - solution

Hi all.

There was a post some time back about wind noise. Some folks are experiencing the same excessive wind noise that I am from the rear corners of the cab. Some from the windshield. This post addresses the noise from the rear corners of the cab.

After two dealerships failed to fix the problem with one blaming it on the vents which are in the rear wall of the cab, I started searching on my own to see if I could find the problem. My noise was definitely coming from the cab corners and it sounded as if a window was open about an inch or two. The noise would start at 30MPH and would be there at all speeds above 30. It would get a little bit worse at higher speeds but not much. What I found was that the rearmost rubber weather stripping on both access doors is held in place by rubber "Pins" that are moulded into the weather strip seal at about 4"-6" intervals. These "Pins" fit into small holes in the doors and hold the stripping in place. The problem is that there nothing in between to keep the weather stripping tight against the door. Apparently, as speed increases, there is some sort of a vortex air current or a vacuum created in the area behind the access doors that is causing air to get under the weather stripping and lifting it away from the door causing the draft that is making the wind noise.

My solution was to glue the weather stripping in place. I used 3M weatherstripping glue (The yellow stuff) and glued the weather stripping all the way from the top corner of the door down to where it wraps around the lower corner. I did this to both doors. I just did it a couple of days ago and was not able to road test until today. The difference before and after was very noticeable. There is still some road noise which is the result of the poorly designed vents in the back wall of the cab behind the upholstery however, the wind noise from the rear corners of the cab is no longer present. I can tolerate the road noise so, at present, I am happy and satisfied with my "Fix".

The 3M weather strip cement is really sticky stuff so, if you try this fix, be careful with it. I found it worked best if I lifted the rubber strip, stuck the tip of the tube applicator under the strip and applied just enough to stick the strip to the door. Some squeezed out as I pressed the strip to the door but it was minimal and doesn't bother anything. Also, it dries very quickly.

As an "Aside", I took my truck to the service manager at the dealership who tried to help. He was very interested in my solution and was going to pass it on to the field engineers.

I hope this helps others.

Norm.

 

Sweet, that noise was bugging me like no other kinda freaked me out not knowing where it was coming from. Thanks for searching for it. I will have to do this fix soon. Hopefully they do a tsb or something for it.

 

Norm...........Did you just apply the sealer to one side of the rubber molding, or both? Does the yellow color show up after you applied it? I have a Black Pearl truck and would not want to see the yellow against black. Thanks.........Charlie

Any chance that you could post a picture of your fix?

 

Charlie.

There isn't much that would show up in picture because the glue is between the seal and the metal door.

The way I applied mine was that I left the seal attached to the door by the rubber pins and simply lifted between the pins. I then applied abit of glue directly from the tube to the area between the backside of the seal and door. The tube has a "Snout" that you can cut to get the opening size you prefer. I then simply set the seal back against the door and pressed very lightly. The problem is that it is almost impossible to get the glue in there without some squeezing out. The second side was better because I had developed a technique of applying it. My truck is White so it doesn't show much and the doors are closed all of the time unless I am loading something in or out. Nobody who has seen it has even noticed the little bit of glue that shows. Still, I'm certain that after it dried, I could have trimmed any glue that oozed out using a razor blade or razor knife if I had wanted to.

I hope this helps.

Norm.

 

Interesting thread. Was driving in some gusty winds today and I thought that I either had a flat tire or something else was really wrong with the truck since the noise was so strange. Thanks for sharing your solution and will definitely look into fixing this.

 

Charlie,

I tried to get some pictures of my job but, as I suspected, they really didn't show much.

I got to thinking about your concern for the yellow cement oozing out. If that is really a concern for you, you might want to try rubber cement which dries almost clear. Another alternative might be to remove the rubber seals entirely and put double sided tape between the rubber pins then reinstall the seals on the doors. I don't know how well either of these would work because I have never tried them but, it is a thought.

As I said, In my case I really didn't care if a little cement oozed out. I figured no body would see it anyway and besides, I was more concerned with stopping that infernal wind noise that I was about a little cement showing.

Hope this helps.

NormS.

 

Thanks for the tip................

 

Thanks Norm for the information. I think I will try to fix mine too. If I understand correctly, I just have to pull out the rubber strip a little ways and then apply the sealer to the back of the seal, then stick it back to the door. Did you do the top, the back and the bottom?

 

Hi Charlie,

Yes, all I did was lift the strip a little between the pins, apply a little bit of the adhesive to the back of the strip and then stick it back to the door. I did the entire strip from top to bottom. Wherever I could lift it from contact with the door frame, I glued it.

Best of luck with the project.

Norm.

 

I took my Tacoma into my local dealer for routine service Wednesday. I told the service advisor about your fix for the wind noise. He made an appointment for me to bring it in today. They had to do the recall for my brake pedal anyway, so he told me they would fix the doors for me. They also told me that they would look at my frame for rust, because my driveway is covered in rust from leaving my truck parked on it.

Well I took it in this afternoon and they fixed the brake recall. He told me that the technician did not agree with the gluing of the weather strip to eliminate the wind noise, so it was a wasted trip. This was my sixth attempt to have this fixed. I have arthritis pretty bad and cannot get down under the door to glue the rubber strip to the metal.

He told me that I should take my truck to a body shop and have my frame spray coated and it should be fine. WHAT????????????????????????

Monday I am going to call the dealership ( Jack Safro) and talk to the general manager. I will never buy another Toyota and I will never buy a vehicle from this dealership. This is my fourth Toyota truck and I also helped both of my sons in buying a new Toyota truck.

As I stated in a earlier post, Toyota quality is far from what it used to be. I only have 14,500 miles on this 2008 and it is going away real fast. I am going to buy an American made vehicle.

 

Hi Charlie,

It doesn't suprise me that the technician did not agree with the fix. Technicians and service managers will only agree with what the factory engineers tell them and what the factory will allow them to agree with. If you recall from my earler post, I had the same problem. One dealer was a complete a$$ about it. I had to locate and fix the problem myself (Which I will continue to do for any future problems I encounter). The dealer is the LAST person I'd trust for anything other than factory recalls.

What I would do if I were you is take your truck to an independant mechanic you can trust and ask him to do the weatherstripping for you. If he can't/won't, he can probably refer you to someone who can/will. He would probably also give you better advice for the undercarriage.

By the way, I agree with you, after two previous Toyota trucks and this one being my 3rd, this will be my last one. Unfortunately, I have to stick with it for at least 5 more years. One of the problems I have with the American pickup trucks is that they are not available with manual transmissions with V8 engines and the American 6 cylinders fall way short on power. Even with the 6 cylinder, it is almost impossible to find one with a manual gearbox. I tow a 24' travel trailer with my Toyota and I almost insist on a manual transmission for towing because I have much better control over the rig with a manual vs automatic. In addition, the manual is much more flexible in speed ranges than an automatic with the auto requiring large fluid coolers and frequent service. If the American truck manufacturers don't start supplying manual gearboxes again (Even on special order), I'm not sure what I will do for the next truck but it is still not likely to be a Toyota.

Hope this helps.

Norm.

 

I just tried this and yes I too had all kinds of gaps and weak points. Glued the sheeeit out of them. Road test in the AM once it's all cured. Yesterday I dynomat'd the rear bulkhead wall and sealed the gaps on the inside on those pesky vents (around the vent not the actual flaps inside the vent). Was better but still lats of noise coming from what I think is the rear access door seal area. More to follow. Thx for the info.

 

OK so I'm like six yrs late to this. Shows how despirate I am so stop the wind noise. Maybe someone else needs some in for re the 16 TRD OF acces cab.

 

I have wind noise at highway speeds. Sounds like one of the windows are open. I put tubing inside the weather stripping to make it "seal" tighter but that didnt buy me anything.

Any suggestions?

 

if the noise is coming from where the front doors meet the A post there is a tsb with updated weather strips. the tsb# is 0170-16.
"cross wind buzzing noise". new weather strips are a little thicker up top of the door for a stronger seal.
part#s for the double cab are 67861-04062 and 67862-04062.
access cabs are a different part# which i dont have.

 

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