Mystery noise solved

[delta265]

I just thought I'd share this in case anyone has a similar noise. For the last 3.5 YEARS I've had a mystery creaking/popping noise on my 4th gen. It only happens on the highway between 65-75mph and gets worse with turbulence (following a semi etc.). It's driven me absolutely batty. The sound seemed to emanate from the lower driver side front door area, and was VERY noticeable at speed. Here's a list of things I've done over the last 3.5 years to ID the noise:

Remove/reattach running boards
Remove/reattach fender liners
Remove/reattach skid plate
Remove/replace springs & shocks
Check ball joints
Check tightness of frame bolts
Inspect engine compartment for loose objects
Drive with mirrors folded in
Check **front** cross member of roof rack

The other day when washing the truck I noticed the rear driver side roof rack cross member was loose. So I tightened it up and no noise ever since. I never thought to check the rear cross member because the noise always came from the front. I'm still not sure why this is, but I'm going on 2 weeks of no more noises.

It's always the little things we overlook. I'm an idiot.

 

[fayewong]

I just thought I'd share this in case anyone has a similar noise. For the last 3.5 YEARS I've had a mystery creaking/popping noise on my 4th gen. It only happens on the highway between 65-75mph and gets worse with turbulence (following a semi etc.). It's driven me absolutely batty. The sound seemed to emanate from the lower driver side front door area, and was VERY noticeable at speed. Here's a list of things I've done over the last 3.5 years to ID the noise:

Remove/reattach running boards
Remove/reattach fender liners
Remove/reattach skid plate
Remove/replace springs & shocks
Check ball joints
Check tightness of frame bolts
Inspect engine compartment for loose objects
Drive with mirrors folded in
Check **front** cross member of roof rack

The other day when washing the truck I noticed the rear driver side roof rack cross member was loose. So I tightened it up and no noise ever since. I never thought to check the rear cross member because the noise always came from the front. I'm still not sure why this is, but I'm going on 2 weeks of no more noises.

It's always the little things we overlook. I'm an idiot.

Thank you! you've saved us 3.5 years of time.

No, you are not an idiot. We are only human and try to seek the problem when its usually right there in front of our eyes. We just need some guidance or self discovery to find it. Glad you've found it.

 

[scotthulbs]

I just tightened mine a couple days ago. I installed a 40" light bar stealth style between the rack rails. It took me a couple days to narrow it down. At first I thought it was the wire slapping in the wind. Zip tied that still had the rattle. Eventually figured it out. Must have been some kind of turbulence from the light bar cause it didn't exist prior.

 

[Billynath1988]

I had a similar noise which turned out to be the skin on the lower portion of the drivers side door, the nut had somehow loosened on the stud and when driving over a certain speed the wind would hit it and cause it to make a weird tap, knock, pop sound that never sounded like it originated from that location.. tightened the nut and problem solved.

 

[AuSeeker]

Vehicle noises can be tricky to pin-point when they happen under operation only, the vehicle's body act like a stethoscope to broadcast the noise to other areas of the vehicle, very hard to determine where it's really coming from!!