Tech Help Request: Rattling Doors on my Truck

[Brando]

Following up to my "I did a bad: bought a Ram truck" thread, I am now addressing minor projects on it. I also could not afford the fancy electric brodozer show truck soo...

The front driver and passenger doors tend to rattle quite a bit when driving on our "smooth" California roads and highways. I checked the service manual and it really only has 3 things to do: Door seals, door strikers, or latches. I would prefer not to mess with the strikers or latches and my door seals look good.

What else can I do here? I am hoping one of the PPOT crowd that is more experienced with these trucks can offer some insight. Thanks!

[fastfredracing]

No real big deal to loosen the strikers, and move them inward slightly to make the doors fit a little more tightly .

[chapo]

Depends, had an old 78 Chevy truck that the doors rattled. The hinges and pins were worn out, common to this truck, and the power window motors were too heavy for the sheet metal and began tearing the metal. All caused noise. New hinges, welding and washers for the motors, new F150 for me lol.

[Brando]

Thanks guys. Pretty sure nothing is torn/broken but I will check the hinges as well. When they rattle it feels like the whole door - front near the A-Pillars and the rear door opening. I will adjust the strikers tonight. How far of an adjustment should I make? 1/8"? 1/4"?

[Scott Douglas]

You might not be able to close the door if you move it that much.
Close the door with a piece of paper in the jam to see how tight the seal is pressing.

[smadsen]

Close the door on a shop rag.

Frankly, old truck doors are supposed to rattle a bit.

[ckelly78z]

You could try some peel/stick foam insulation strips to supplement where the door seals are supposed to be contacting the metal on the door frame.

[asphaltgambler]

First - you need to decern what the rattle is. Do the doors close fully and properly?

It's likely the rattle is from loose / worn out window regulator, mounting hardware, or a screw / bolt has fallen off inside laying at the bottom inside door cavity. Just remove the inner trim panel and have a look. Then drive it, listen / locate the source.

[Brando]

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

First - you need to decern what the rattle is. Do the doors close fully and properly?

It's likely the rattle is from loose / worn out window regulator, mounting hardware, or a screw / bolt has fallen off inside laying at the bottom inside door cavity. Just remove the inner trim panel and have a look. Then drive it, listen / locate the source.

Listening to the door on my drive to work this morning, it's the whole door. I can visibly see the door rattling in the frame, and feel it with my hand at the door seal. When I get a cross-wind I can hear buffeting. This was on SR-73 which is a pretty smooth toll road too. Once I hit I5 it was terrible. I wasn't able to adjust the strikers last night so I'll do it on lunch today.

[Scott Douglas]

Sounds like a combo of older seals and worn out hinge pins to me.

If you don't want to go new seals on it, you could see if they're hollow. If so, get some small aquarium tank tubing and slide it inside the seal to 'fatten' it up.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

No real big deal to loosen the strikers, and move them inward slightly to make the doors fit a little more tightly .

Fred's suggestion sounds like a winner.

Originally Posted by smadsen

Close the door on a shop rag.

Frankly, old truck doors are supposed to rattle a bit.

Sadly, this is probably the most true statement. I had a 1995 F150 that was a great truck, I tried everything listed on here thus far to try and reduce the door rattle and wind noise. After trying every adjustment, additional weatherstrip, tightening fasteners, etc I just gave up. Hard to compensate for what is, at the core, a cheaply made vehicle that didn't put comfort first. Turn up the radio!

[911 Rod]

When you pull on the door does the rattle stop?

[KFC911]

Crutchfield.com ....Get their biggest, baddest booming sub-woofer, and a rap cd of your choich

[unclebilly]

With the door open a few inches (like 6”), stand out side the truck at the back of the door. Grab hold of the bottom of the door and try to lift it. If you can lift the door (likely 1/2” or more), you need new hinge pins.

[Brando]

Quick update: It appears adjusting the door strikers in 1/8in really helped. There's still some wobble at the front of the door frame at the a-pillar, so I will look at replacing the door pins in the near future.

Thanks gents. Now on to the next project: trans fluid flush and filters.

[john70t]

Loosen until hand tight, slam it, open, tighten fasteners once parts are in proper place.

(works for up/down...but not in/out)