Got a rattling in the rear quarter panels.

[Candy10]

I have this rattle. I stripped EVERYTHING behind the front seats and its still there. Every bolt, screw, and clip. Even used a magnet tool to get in between the body panels and all the nooks and kranny's. Mine is very random, too. I get it sometimes parked and idling, sometimes cruising at 45, but never at higher speed. Its so fucking annoying.


EDIT: Im doing rear brake pads soon, Ill report back on that.

 

[bujeezus]

3 weeks an still no rattle/vibration. But now that you mention it, I also readjusted my axle back the same day I did my rear spring install. I wonder if that might have been my issue too?

 

[Candy10]

I've already gone over the bodycontrol module, adding deadener to both sides of the bracket, tightening the mounting nuts from module to the bracket, and added rubber washers behind the mounting points. Removed that carpet bolt as well. Gonna take the car out again this evening when traffic dies down a bit.
BodyControlModule by Kenneth Stephens, on Flickr
BCM2 by Kenneth Stephens, on Flickr

 

[Candy10]

I may have found it!!! God I hope so anyway.

On the top side of the headliner are cone-shaped, plastic, I guess spacers. On the back edge near the rear glass, there is a bit of play in it. So at just the right rpm (harmonic frequency) those plastic cones would rattle against the roof. I liken the sound to a marble in an empty soda can.

I just slid a shop towel between the headliner and roof, drove around, and no rattle. I have been messing with thsi for over a year.

Ill give it a couple days to verify. Fingers crossed.

 

[Candy10]

So far, so good.

 

[bujeezus]

Good luck. I hope that gets it for ya. Nothin can drive you more crazy than a rattling/buzzing you can't nail down.

 

[Candy10]

Its still there.

Has to be a rogue nut or something inside the deck lid. I've gone over every thing else, multiple times. Its bothering me so much more since discovering I am not alone LOL.

 

[bujeezus]

Damnit, that sux. Got a wild hair on a good, long straight today an hit the rev limiter in 4th. Still no rattle. Lol!

 

[travelers]

I thought mine was the left over axel pipe at the middle connecting to the H pipe so I installed a new clamp as it was a loose there. But no luck that's not it. I'll have to check the muffler hangers also.

 

[Candy10]

Taillight. One of the individual bulb covers inside it has come loose. No way to get at it without separating the housing.

Mixed emotions LOL. Happy I found it, pissed I can't fix it (easily).

 

[travelers]

We found my rattle today. It was the left lower shock bolt. Tightened it up and also check the other side which was tight and NO noise any more.......YEA...

 

[o2sys]

We found my rattle today. It was the left lower shock bolt. Tightened it up and also check the other side which was tight and NO noise any more.......YEA...

Yea I really think that's there culprit. Mine came back, re-tightened it again and instantly went away.

 

[travelers]

Yea I really think that's there culprit. Mine came back, re-tightened it again and instantly went away.

I put some blue Loctite on both so they won't come back

 

[markhoni]

After reading everybody's posts on this problem, I've come to the conclusion that there are multiple items that can, could, would, will, might cause a rattle in the car. Is it annoying? HELL YEAH!!! Can it be hard to find? MM HMM!!! Is it frustrating as all get out? (What do YOU think?)
The answer to the problem is just keep trying until the darn rattle stops. Some of us will get lucky right off the bat, but some of us will not. But sooner or later the little bastard will get found and fixed.

 

[o2sys]

So my rattle is back and no longer think it's my rear shock mounts. I tighten the shit out of it and the noise is still there.

I initially thought this was the culprit because even when I fully tighten them down. I can move the shocks within the diameter of the hole cutout in the car.

Is this normal?

 

[eighty6gt]

nope

 

[o2sys]

nope

Then this might be my problem. My ST coilovers just came with two flat bushing and is supposed to be sandwhiched together. So no matter how much I tighten it, it still moves around because the threads are bottomed out.

Similar to this guys problem:

http://mustangforums.com/forum/2005-2014-mustangs/584069-tokico-d-spec-rear-shocks-clunking.html

 

[o2sys]

Hopefully this is the final solution:

 

[o2sys]

Before:

After:

 

[redfirepearlgt]

Just out of curiosity if anyone ever found their resolve for this? I developed a problem in this similar area on my 2005. It would not present itself at first startup but then driving down the road I would begin hearing a noise that sounded like it was coming from the same area as described in this thread. Every time I would think I had it resolved I would take it for a short drive around the block and thought it was gone. Then it would be back. Sometimes it would start up sooner than others. So I called upon the place I had been using at the time and described the problem. Right away they told me it was likely the hangers on the aftermarket mufflers. I CHECKED THAT!, I told them. They then explained what to check which was exactly what I was missing.

As many of you know from doing this yourself, the mufflers have a rubber grommet mount that the hanger slides into. Actually there are two for each side. The ones closest to the rear bumper are the ones in question. What happens even though you (or whoever did it for you) installed the axle backs by the book, the steel hangers welded on the mufflers may be longer than the factory hangers. As the exhaust system heats up guess what? The length of the exhaust system grows. As the exhaust system expands (grows), those hangers get closer and closer to the back bumper. They will make intermittent contact if they are close enough and begin causing rattle noises.

This is also common if LT's or mid pipes have been replaced because that may cause the whole system to be longer or pushed back slightly to begin with. The solution? With the car cold mark the steel hanger rods and cut the hanger rods so that they are barely stick past the rubber grommet in the muffler hanger mount(s). This may be your problem. Not saying it is but it was an annoyance I began hearing right after I had LT's added to the exhaust system. I got up under the car and checked cold and there was clearance. I started the car and drove it a while and returned to the driveway hearing the noise. Left it running and got up under it and sure as crap the stupid hanger on the passenger rear side was barely touching the back bumper. I whacked that sucker off and no more noises. The other side for whatever reason had much more clearance. Check both sides this way however.

Hope this helps. I personally don't mind some NVH or squeaks in a Mustang. Reminds me of cruising in my buddies beat up 65 coupe which was his first car. But a rattle like that drives me crazy as well. again hope this helps. If not I have no other idea.