Weird plastic grinding sound at highway speed only with cross winds? Help?

theoutbackdream

theoutbackdream

New member
Hello all,
I own a 2007 Limited v6 with 117k miles on the car. It is bone stock. I recently picked this up and haven't had any issues until I noticed this very weird sound.

It almost sounds like you're taking a dremel to plastic and cutting it up. I checked the wheel wells for any signs of rubbing or loose panels, but nothing. The sound comes somewhere from the front, most likely from the passenger side(?). It's REALLY hard to isolate where this sound is coming from simply because it's so loud.

Does anyone know what it could be or where I should look?

Here's a video of the sound.... The sound only comes on with cross winds.
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Sk52kS9TPuE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Last edited:
Register to hide this ad
theoutbackdream said:
Hmmm, interesting. I'll look into that then. How did you check it? Was it loose? Was there a gap? anything to know it was going out?


Thanks
Click to expand...

The striping just lifts out. They're not glued in. That's the problem. If I decide to put them back, I'll use a drop or two of 3m adhesive every few inches to hold it in and keep it from lifting/vibrating.

You can check for the end caps vibrating by hitting the roof rails with your plams lighly while listening for odd sounds.

I also found the rear crossbar was loose in it's pocket, used some rtv to keep it from vibrating.

Drove 50 miles on the hiway in moderate crosswinds today, no more weird noises from the roof.
 
Trumpet said:
The striping just lifts out. They're not glued in. That's the problem. If I decide to put them back, I'll use a drop or two of 3m adhesive every few inches to hold it in and keep it from lifting/vibrating.

You can check for the end caps vibrating by hitting the roof rails with your plams lighly while listening for odd sounds.

I also found the rear crossbar was loose in it's pocket, used some rtv to keep it from vibrating.

Drove 50 miles on the hiway in moderate crosswinds today, no more weird noises from the roof.
Click to expand...

Awesome, I'll go ahead and try that out and report back. Hope this is my fix! Much appreciated!
 
I just had this same thing happen, mine sounded more like I was dragging a plastic garbage can lid behind me though.

Get under your truck and check the heat shields. There is a really long one above the rear driveshaft. Mine broke free from all but one screw. When the wind hit it right (over 30mph with nobody in front of me) it would make that noise. The airflow was apparently pushing it down against the driveshaft when conditions were right to make it flex.
 
Montego Murph said:
I just had this same thing happen, mine sounded more like I was dragging a plastic garbage can lid behind me though.

Get under your truck and check the heat shields. There is a really long one above the rear driveshaft. Mine broke free from all but one screw. When the wind hit it right (over 30mph with nobody in front of me) it would make that noise. The airflow was apparently pushing it down against the driveshaft when conditions were right to make it flex.
Click to expand...

I looked at the shields very quickly and didn't pull them since I was a bit lazy. Maybe I'll try to pull the shields soon.
 
Roof rack crossbars rattling in their cups. Mine does it in high winds. Most likely nothing to worry about. I fixed mine by turning up the radio volume :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Members online

No members online now.
Total: 5,931 (members: 0, guests: 5,931)

Forum statistics

Threads
278,316
Messages
3,554,120
Members
248,016
Latest member
Advally Service

Share this page

Trending content

Back
Top