so i have been getting this rattle out of what sounded like the headliner of my truck. i hear it when hitting a bump that gets both front wheels most of the time at the same time. like a straight cut through a road thats lower than the rest of it, when dropping off it or hitting it. it sounded like a good 2 or 3 small knocks to make one rattle. when your sitting in your truck put your hand on your headliner, like on the rear dome light, and push up and down, youll kinda hear it.

i remember reading about the sunroof buffetting problem, when you have your sunroof open and just two windows, or no windows, the headliner will start to vibrate at certain speeds. you can confirm that by getting it to do it, then reaching back and pushing up on your headliner.

i remember reading about one guys fix (cant find the original thread, it was forever ago) he said he took out his rear dome light, not just the lens but the whole thing, so you can see up above your headliner. when you do that, if your looking up in the headliner and towards the back of the truck, probably about 5 inches over on both sides you will see two black Styrofoam pieces that are mounted to the headliner, that go up and touch this metal brace that seems to go across the roof. you can then grab the headliner and move it up and down, the gap between the black Styrofoam and the metal brace thing will change. the thing i read about the guy doing was cutting another piece of Styrofoam and putting it between the metal brace and the black factory piece of foam. so i took it all apart, measured the black factory pieces of foam, and cut up an old Styrofoam cooler, and pulled the headliner down, slid it in, then reinstalled and it stopped the rattle. i bet it will severely cut down on the wind buffeting from the sunroof too. if you grab that metal brace and move it you will see it makes noise when you move it too.

so the step by step.

first off get your dome light cover off, you pry it off gently from the front, theres a little notch there, then once its hanging down push it back sorta, it makes it come unhooked. now the covers off, you gotta get down the whole dome light thing. its got to come down front first, the back part is really long, there are two metal tabs that it helps to bend out of the way, you can take the dome light bulb out, reach up in there, and bend them back with your fingers, there are two of them towards the front, then the dome light will come down.

once your in, youll see what im talking about, look towards the back of the truck, and theres one on either side, about 5 inches in and 2 inches back from the dome light hole. move the headliner up and down by hand to see how the gap changes.

then grab your sunroof sunshade, and slide it back, taking note of how close it comes to hitting the metal brace that goes across the roof.

the factory foam things measure 2 inches by 2 inches. i took a Styrofoam cooler lid, and cut a 2"x2" chunk out. it was probably a half an inch thick, then i cut it long ways so i had two blocks, both 2"x2" and probably a hair less than a quarter of an inch thick. then go in there, pull the headliner down by the dome light hole and slide the new block in on top of the black foam one. once thats done slide your sunroof shade back and make sure it doesent hit and that it goes back all the way. then try opening the sunroof letting it pull the shade back with it.

once thats all good, plug the dome light back in, put it up there (back end going up first), reach back through the light bulb hole, bend those metal tabs back down, this judges how tight the dome light is to the headliner, if you leave it loose when you get the cover on it will have a big gap. then put your bulb back in (pinching the metal things that hold it tighter if the bulb doesent want to come on) then make sure the bulb works. then put the cover up in the back, slide it foward, then push the front up and it will latch, and your done.



im glad i figured that one out.

next one i might try to find is the one that sounds like its way in the back, like the headliner is squeaking or rubbing against something. it sounds like fabric rubbing against the glass or something. cant figure that one out.

 

Yeah, had the same problem. The factory TSB "blocks" dried out and were thumping in there. Put new double sticky tape on both side and re-installed. Also, took a kiddie swimming "noodle" and cut off a couple of pieces about 3" long and put up there too. The noodle is flexible and compresses because of the hole in the middle and acts like a shock absorber / cushion, if you will. No noise at all now. Your dome light must be different then mine, cause no amount of "gentle" prying would remove it. It was HARD to pull out.

 

yeah if you can reach up and over it, and you know what your feeling for you can bend the two tabs upward, then it makes it easier to get out. you take the bulb out, then reach through that hole and towards the front. then you can bend em back down once you get it reinstalled

 

now the next one i cant seem to find sounds like its coming from behind the rear seat. i rode in the back while my GF drove to dinner, it doesent sound like the headliner or the back glass or anything like that. its more so like a squeaking almost. anyone know kinda what im talking about?

 

I think I know the sqeaking you're talking about. I traced mine back to the jack. To fix it - with the jack installed correctly, turn the screw that is on the jack itself (the one that raises or lowers it) towards the direction to raise it. Shake the jack assembly until you hear the noise go away. It seems that if the jack is completley compressed that it squeaks. Hope that helps!

 

it could very well be that. i will go mess with that and get back on that. i hope thats it.

 

My jacks uninstalled but I know exactly what your talking about with the squeak...

 

i wish i knew how to describe it. you all know what im talking about, im sure allot of them do it. if my dads 05 and my 07 do it the chances are pretty good that allot of peoples trucks do it. im gonna keep looking for it, ill keep you guys posted if i get anywhere. i hope i dont have to pull the back seat, i dont know what could be making noise back there anyways.

 

Do you have a power slider? If so that is were your noise is comming from.I get it when its cold outside. If i open it up all the way the noise goes away.

 

I just tracked down a noise similar to what you describe. There was an acorn that fell between the bed and the cab. There's a lip on the cab that will keep it in place and when the bed and cab move, it makes a very loud noise. The acorn crop is abundant this year and I keep having to clean them out of that area. It's work a shot. You will be able to see it.

 

ill give that a look, when i was riding back there it did kinda sound like it may be between the bed and cab, but i thought, no theres no way, lol.

my truck does not have a power slider, its the manual slider. i did ride back there and had that window all the way open listening for it, and im pretty sure it was still doing it, but ill check again.