Clicking rattle in driver’s A pillar

Yes, I can fixate on sounds but this one is hard to ignore for anyone in the truck. It started soft and inconsistent but now loud and constant with any road roughness. Seems to be just behind the instrument cluster or steering wheel.

Going to try and discover the source today before a long road trip.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Merry Christmas

 

Well, after removing panels around the steering column area. I think it’s in the headliners just above the driver.

Anyone been under the headliner to see what’s there?

Gulf States Toyota installed a dashcam. Wonder if something wasn’t replaced correctly.

 

Somewhat SOLVED: noise was coming from a white clip guide at the top of the driver-side A pillar under interior panel. Removed handle, panel, and added some foam so that the clip guide wasn’t loose and now noise is gone.

UPDATE: noise is still there but less frequent now. Will be doing some more testing and digging. @Lou1947 is experiencing the same thing. See here for his thread.

 

Wow, good and fast find graf_von_tundra. You are now an expert at removing the A pillar hardware. There is another thread somewhere here where they talk about what is above the headliner. Someone asked for pictures for future reference, not sure if there are any pictures though.

 

Nothing feels better than identifying a rattle, great job!!

 

Yep, I remember reading that one but don’t remember pics. Thanks for the compliments, but much credit goes to @2020Platinum video. Only with it was I able to remove stuff without breaking clips. Figured I’d try and contribute by sharing.

 

So true! I didn’t want to try and explain to the dealership and possibly end up disappointed in the end. Cheers

 

I'm having the same issue, I can hear a rattle from both sun visors. I also have a rattle in my driver door panel and the driver window rattles when I go off road on a bumpy road. Annoying!!! Will get it in soon to Toyota hopefully they fix it all.

 

I've been hearing that same clicking. It sounded to me like it was coming from the a-pillar speaker area, but it could be what you found. How difficult is it to remove that panel?

 

Hope so, but there's a lot under the cover that can make similar noises.

Removal is pretty easy: use a plastic trim removal tool to pop off the grab handle caps, unbolt the two 10mm bolts, pull handle off, and then just pull the A-pillar cover back from the top.

I think you'd need to remove the dash to get the bottom loose.

 

Nice, thanks! Hopefully I can get at the clip without having to remove the dash. That's a little outside of my comfort level to be tearing into on a brand new truck.

 

Well, I got some improvement but it is still there. I do think it’s temp related or in the headliner under the visor. The window ricocheting the sound is playing with my mind.

 

I am having the same problem. Intermittent click/rattle from driver side A-pillar, or around the sun visor. Driven me a little crazy. It started this winter when the temperature dropped. I live in Edmonton, AB, so I the temperature really drops.

 

You officially have the best handle I’ve seen yet. I’m currently reading Dick’s journal about his cabin build.

As for the rat bastard noise, I checked again tonight by taking the A-pillar cover off, driving on a rough road, and poking around with no luck. The click I hear seems like something on the firewall, meaning deep and not a simple loose clip or wire. It also doesn’t happen on every bump. Last weekend was coldest yet here in central TX (teens and 20s) and that’s when the frequency of noise occurring increased dramatically. Now back in the 50s-70s it‘s far less frequent.

 

Here’s another thread on this topic
https://www.tundras.com/threads/clicking-sound-on-drivers-a-pillar.118004/#post-3033276

 

I had battled the rattle trap demon for over a year. Mostly passenger side, mostly when cold. Went to dealership 4 separate times with a couple could not recreates, couple temporary fixes and a new windshield (despite me telling them it was 100% not the windshield). I finally got tired of taking it in and looked at it myself.

I removed a pillar columns and took down the front of the headliner and think I isolated it. There are wires going to sun visor lighting harness on both driver and passenger side . Those wires have some tacky glue attaching them to headliner (see pic). I think when it’s cold, the tack lessons and the headliner sticks and then releases from roof. I could recreate the sound in the tacky spot with pressure.

I put some heavy tape up there to secure wires to headliner and cover up exposed tacky glue. Seems to be fixed (although it did finally warm up so I can’t be certain)

I also put some foam in those a pillar clips above to keep them from rattling.

Fingers crossed it fixed. Otherwise I might have to drive it off a cliff.

I would upload noise video but I can’t figure out how to convert iPhone videos.

 

I'll have to try this as it was driving me insane. But no way to know for sure since it's also warm enough here that it's gone away.

 

Appointment set with the dealer, fingers crossed I can explain this issue and potential fixes others have noted. This is literally driving me insane. I’ll report back after the dealer trip.

 

Looking forward to hearing what they find out, if anything. I need to make another appointment with my dealer as it wasn't cold enough last time to be recreated. At -40, it shouldn't be a problem now.

 

I have this ticking/clicking/rattle noise from what sounds like directly above the driver side sun visor. Only started in freezing/colder temperatures, didn't hear it at all when temps were warm. Happens most often over bumps but also randomly when driving. Pushing up on the headliner I can recreate *similar* noises (maybe from tacky glue sticking on other side of headliner?), but *not* the exact same sound. I've also both pushed up and pulled on the headliner to isolate it from moving while hitting bumps; noise is still there.

It sounds to me like it's some sort of fastening bolt or other connection point that is flexing due to contraction from cold temperatures. But who knows.

Is anyone aware of a video of the 3rd gen headliner being removed? Not wanting to attempt this myself without a visual reference.

 

I had enough of the noise tonight while driving home and started really pressing on the headliner just behind the sun visor. When I pressed pretty hard the noise stopped but then started again as I released pressure.

I’ve downloaded the instructions for removing the headliner. I’ll try to upload here tomorrow.

 

Here are the instructions. It’s amazing what all needs to come off to remove the headliner.

My plan is to try and only pull back the portion above the driver while also trying my best to not screw it up.

 

Thanks @graf_von_tundra , this is super helpful. Crazy amount of stuff needed to take the headliner down. I'll try just peeling the front section away as well.

 

Same rattle on my 24. I have been pressing around up there and I’m starting to think it is the front edge of the headliner making contact with the windshield. I was looking at my brother’s Tacoma and it has almost 1/4” between the two.