Notorious Dash Rattle Solutions

also good for a pyrotechnics show in-case of collision

 

There is a TSB for this- I know cause I have the rattle, but it looks pretty involved so I've been too lazy to tackle it...

http://www.parksoffroad.com/tacomamods/tsb/dashrattle/dashrattle.htm

 

Kind of a rookie question, but what exactly gets zip tied in the "zip tie fix"? I've read that there are upper and lower dash supports, but I'm not seeing anything obvious and the space is really tight for poking around.

Can anyone point me to which pieces of metal get tied to eachother? Help would be much appreciated!

Rattle is coming from the thin part of the dash that is between the windshield and the slot that is the defroster.



Here's the roll bar and the airbag bracket and a square support bracket at right. Which if any of these get zip tied to eachother?




Picture of the glovebox removed and the upper part of it partially removed (can't take it all the way out because there are wiring harnesses attached to it. What gets zip tied in here?

 

i have not yet encountered this particular rattle yet, but have some other rattle that i am trying to diagnose still with the fresh air vent setup, and one underneath somewhere that is a summer vibe i guess

maybe somebody else on TW has delved into what you are trying to do

 

Mine was awful and my wife refused to ride in the Taco due to the severe rattle. I bought the cheap vacuum air hose from the parts store and inserted it between the windshield and dash and it solved the problems in minutes!
They were out of the size suggested so I think I bought 8ft of 1/8 hose for like $7 and did 2 layers of it.

 

Mine has rattles in various places...I need to look into the sources...

 

@tacopyro and others
For rattles within the dash, look for loose or missing fasteners. Missing fasteners cause twice the rattle: 1) the parts that are no longer tightly fastened will rattle against each other and 2) the fugitive fastener that dropped out will rattle around wherever it landed. I took apart the dash on my 2000 PreRunner ExtraCab (nothing in the underlying structure, just all those things you can see: instrument panel, radio, HVAC controls, plastic panels, etc). Several fasteners were missing, loose, or even broken. Replacing, repairing and tightening fasteners reduced a lot of the random rattles.(Also helps to secure whatever is rolling around in your ashtray and/or glove box! LOL)
I wish I had this information [See below] when I started (Letter codes correspond to coding on the attached parts diagrams, and also those in Post #13 in this thread)

 

So, I figured this out. The answer is you don't go through the glove box, as some posts suggests, because the airbag assembly is in the way (not to mention some air ducting).

The way to go is through the center dash/pillar after the black single piece frame has been removed (pics below). Only then are the much talked-about upper and lower brackets visible. This requires removing the climate control nobs, removing the bottom plastic part of the center dash (two push pins on either side), then finally three screws that hold the black single piece frame in place (upper left, center right and lower right). The lower bracket basically mounts the airbag assembly and most of the glovebox frame to the roll bar. The upper bracket connects directly to the dash piece above and the upper part of the airbag assembly. Plenty of room to move around hands and thread zip ties. Suggest using ones that are longer, I had to loop two 8" ones together, not ideal. Cinch up tight and it's surprising how much movement it takes out of the dash, really snugs it down onto its mounts.

 

Did you remove the radio to get those pictures?

 

That zip tie solution looks like a pain in the ass. I stuffed a couple feet of fuel line in the gap between the dash and windshield. It took maybe 10 minutes and 5 years later I still have no rattles.

 

Honestly, I agree with you, I was on the verge of the fuel line solution but happened to be taking out the stereo anyway, and couldn't shake the strong convictions of the zip tie crowd that I'd seen on the internet. The fuel line idea also adds something visible. My plan is to do both and then hopefully the dash rattles will be gone for a while. The prior owner had tried a third way, which I believe is known as the TSB way on the forums--they basically shove foam insulation in between the seam where the dash meets the defroster air channels (which are flexible), but that has the strong downside of obscuring the defroster, leading to perpetual spot or two of fog on the windshield during the winter months.

skeezix yes I did, happened to have it out and tried to consolidate dash work. The tape deck and radio worked fine when I bought it, but I didn't think to check the CD player when I picked it up in Vegas late at night on a Craigslist fly-and-buy-and-drive trip. Popping out the stereo is very easy if you follow the below helpful Youtube video. Strongly recommend buying the dash tools too, mine were four dollars on Amazon and extremely handy. There's one pry at the very top, very thick and very conspicuous part of the central dash frame (right above the two air vents) and that part has to be pried out and the plastic tools worked like a dream, especially the large pry-bar one.

The removal starts at 3:24 and ends at 8:29 of the video and he covers all the right spots and screws (ignore all the stuff about the new stereo he's putting in). I didn't replace it with a new fancy unit, just had it rebuilt by the excellent folks at Hi-Tech Electronic Services in Van Nuys, California (new unit definitely cheaper, but OEM all the way until the money runs out at least).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9pAGomsyUHA

 

Just recently purchased an 04'. Same issue. Cut some 3/16" foam backer rod I had laying around and used a putty knife to wedge it where the dash meets the windshield. Rattles are gone, didn't have to take the dash apart.