Rattle coming from the rear on the driver's side

ScottC

ScottC

New member
I have a very mysterious rattle coming from the rear of the Jeep on the driver's side. It happens with almost every bump in the road, and it is maddening. It didn't happen for the first few months of ownership, but has been happening for the past few months. I took everything loose out of the back to make sure it wasn't something in the cargo area. I'm at a loss. Any thoughts? I know it isn't much to go on, but I'm out of ideas.
 
I have some issue. Almost like a squeak. Can't figure it out for the life if me. Tried everything

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Things to check for tightness:
sway bar links
coils spring retainers (bolt and washer in the middle of the spring, holding it to the axle)
shock mounting hardware
hardware on track bar and brackets
bumper mounting hardware

Just stick a wrench on every fastener you can find back there. You can also just tap on them with a wrench to see what doesn't sound solid. It doesn't take much.
 
ScottC said:
I have a very mysterious rattle coming from the rear of the Jeep on the driver's side. It happens with almost every bump in the road, and it is maddening. It didn't happen for the first few months of ownership, but has been happening for the past few months. I took everything loose out of the back to make sure it wasn't something in the cargo area. I'm at a loss. Any thoughts? I know it isn't much to go on, but I'm out of ideas.
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JKFlyer said:
I have some issue. Almost like a squeak. Can't figure it out for the life if me. Tried everything

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using WAYALIFE mobile app
Click to expand...

Grab a buddy, or family member and have them stand on the bumper and bounce on it while you are under the jeep. You should find it easily.
 
As mentioned, if you can reproduce the sounds while standing still by either rocking or bouncing your Jeep, have someone make it happen and then touch the components on your Jeep where the sound is coming from. What ever is causing it will vibrate with the noise.
 
Army_Vet said:
Grab a buddy, or family member and have them stand on the bumper and bounce on it while you are under the jeep. You should find it easily.
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On this line of thinking, pull everything out of the back half of the JK (including the rear bench) and have a buddy drive while you are back there looking for the noise as the vehicle is in motion. Also, what about some grease on the tailgate locking mechanism?
 
As above. But I'll add check all those RockHard plates you have. And if you have a Tuffy security drawer under the seat, you need to keep the back from rattling...this one drove me nuts for a while until I figured it out.

Good luck...I hate rattles.
 
MTG said:
As above. But I'll add check all those RockHard plates you have. And if you have a Tuffy security drawer under the seat, you need to keep the back from rattling...this one drove me nuts for a while until I figured it out.

Good luck...I hate rattles.
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Good thinking. I've got the same RockHard skids and a good way I've found to listen for loose bolts or rattles is to simply give the skids a solid whack with a rubber mallet. If anything is loose, you'll hear it very quickly.
 
My rear seat rattles...something inside it. I can hit back of seat with hand to reproduce...

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I can almost 100% guarentee you that its...

ScottC said:
I have a very mysterious rattle coming from the rear of the Jeep on the driver's side. It happens with almost every bump in the road, and it is maddening. It didn't happen for the first few months of ownership, but has been happening for the past few months. I took everything loose out of the back to make sure it wasn't something in the cargo area. I'm at a loss. Any thoughts? I know it isn't much to go on, but I'm out of ideas.
Click to expand...

the hard top bolt right above the sound bar speaker. Take your freedom panels off, and I bet that bolt is lose, mine losens every couple months and of all the countless rattles I have in my jeep that is by far the most annoying. Unfortunately I have the same rattle coming from my passenger side and its not the bolt, and its pissing me off
 
After about 5 minutes under the Jeep before work, I'm back to the fender liner. It is really loose. I'm installing a lift this weekend, so everything that needs to be checked will be either replaced or checked. I'm also heading into the dealership on Monday for an oil change and a water pump swap. I'm going to have them repair/replace the liner, too. I'll be chopping the fenders when I get the 35's, so they're temporary anyway.
 
Problem solved

Unfortunately, I cannot say 100% what it was, but it was one of two things. I removed some of the loose plastic attachment pieces in the rear fender well liner, and zip tied that puppy in place. I also learned that my front track bar had been hitting my Solid diff cover in the front. It hit it to the point that it put a nice sized dent in one of the heat dissipating vanes. Either way, I have no more rattling, and I love the fact that the new lift takes all track bars out of the way of the diff covers!

Hope you all have either fixed or will soon fix your rattling problems. Hope this helps!
 
Is it inside or outside the rig? If inside, it's 95% your doors (very common problem), 3% the plastic around the OEM roll bars, and 2% loose metal inside the A or the B pillars. All 3 are known JK issues.

Door issue is fixed by slightly moving the striker plates up or down a hair (some have fixed this problem by wrapping a few layers of electrical tape on the striker plate,) the plastic around the OEM roll bars just needs something shoved between the two, like weatherstripping, and the loose metal inside the A or B pillars requires a trip to the dealer.
 
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