turbodave
New Member
Ok, bear with me here.
I have looked at the hinge adjustment, the latch, and the lower guide - but the rattle in my tailgate was not related to these. Proof of this was that with the gate open, you could hit the spare tyre with your fist, and the gate rattled
The noise came from inside the gate, a real deep rattle, and first time I took the panel off, i assumed I was going to find something obvious. I didn't...
I had tried packing caulk between the various panels that make up the tailgate, using cabinet wedges between the skins, all did NOTHING.
So, today, I decided to go all out and figure what the problem was, and I did.
To begin - I'll give a little insight: The tailgate is made up of a 'skeleton' panel, with the outer skin - and the wheel carrier is bolted between both panels. The inner panel finishes the major assembly. On the 'front side' of the skeleton panel is two stiffening pieces that include captive nuts at either end allowing the wheel carrier bolts to hold the whole shebang together.
The stiffening pieces are spot-welded to the skeleton - and in my case, a few of these seem to have fatigued off - and the skeleton had a few hairline cracks in it (on the top stiffener).
By wedging a pry bar between the skeleton and stiffener, and then whacking the spare with a lump hammer, the rattling went away; or rather seemed to shift to the bottom. Releasing the pry bar - the rattling came back. So, that was pretty conclusive.
I also drilled five large holes in the bottom of the inner panel, and repeated the same test - this also had the same characteristics of the upper stiffener. The holes will be covered by the trim panel, so no harm done really!
There is no easy way to repair any of these - so I took a rather 'agriucultural' approach, and made use of the MIG, as there was really no other way of repairing this (easilly).
I got the wife to hold a hose running cold water over the paint on the outer skin as i tacked the cracks on the skeleton, and then welded the bottom of the stiffener plates to the skeleton.
I've done this method of avoiding damage to paintwork many times - trick is to keep plenty of water flowing over the paint, including several minutes after welding. Also, don't weld more than 6/7 seconds at a time to avoid putting too much heat into the panels.
So, here are some pics!
You can see the holes at the bottom, and the welding of the stiffener to the inner skeleton.
Here is a closer pic of it - not pretty welding, but it is a large gap between the stiffener and skelton. You can also see the area to the right where the crack was.
Here is a pic through one of the holes in the bottom - as you can see it's quite a gap you have to bridge with the MIG, but medium amps and a higher wirespeed, along with a rolling motion of the torch, and it is quite easy, even through the small access holes. Remember to quit after several seconds to let things cool of course!
And FINALLY here is the hammer test - resulting in ZERO rattles or shakes.
So, I have fixed this noise that has plagued this liberty since I purchased it. Thought I'd share it with you guys. Hopefully it'll be usefull for anyone else with a seemingly un-curable rattle.
Cheers,
Dave
I have looked at the hinge adjustment, the latch, and the lower guide - but the rattle in my tailgate was not related to these. Proof of this was that with the gate open, you could hit the spare tyre with your fist, and the gate rattled
The noise came from inside the gate, a real deep rattle, and first time I took the panel off, i assumed I was going to find something obvious. I didn't...
I had tried packing caulk between the various panels that make up the tailgate, using cabinet wedges between the skins, all did NOTHING.
So, today, I decided to go all out and figure what the problem was, and I did.
To begin - I'll give a little insight: The tailgate is made up of a 'skeleton' panel, with the outer skin - and the wheel carrier is bolted between both panels. The inner panel finishes the major assembly. On the 'front side' of the skeleton panel is two stiffening pieces that include captive nuts at either end allowing the wheel carrier bolts to hold the whole shebang together.
The stiffening pieces are spot-welded to the skeleton - and in my case, a few of these seem to have fatigued off - and the skeleton had a few hairline cracks in it (on the top stiffener).
By wedging a pry bar between the skeleton and stiffener, and then whacking the spare with a lump hammer, the rattling went away; or rather seemed to shift to the bottom. Releasing the pry bar - the rattling came back. So, that was pretty conclusive.
I also drilled five large holes in the bottom of the inner panel, and repeated the same test - this also had the same characteristics of the upper stiffener. The holes will be covered by the trim panel, so no harm done really!
There is no easy way to repair any of these - so I took a rather 'agriucultural' approach, and made use of the MIG, as there was really no other way of repairing this (easilly).
I got the wife to hold a hose running cold water over the paint on the outer skin as i tacked the cracks on the skeleton, and then welded the bottom of the stiffener plates to the skeleton.
I've done this method of avoiding damage to paintwork many times - trick is to keep plenty of water flowing over the paint, including several minutes after welding. Also, don't weld more than 6/7 seconds at a time to avoid putting too much heat into the panels.
So, here are some pics!
You can see the holes at the bottom, and the welding of the stiffener to the inner skeleton.
You must be registered for see images
Here is a closer pic of it - not pretty welding, but it is a large gap between the stiffener and skelton. You can also see the area to the right where the crack was.
You must be registered for see images
Here is a pic through one of the holes in the bottom - as you can see it's quite a gap you have to bridge with the MIG, but medium amps and a higher wirespeed, along with a rolling motion of the torch, and it is quite easy, even through the small access holes. Remember to quit after several seconds to let things cool of course!
You must be registered for see images
And FINALLY here is the hammer test - resulting in ZERO rattles or shakes.
You must be registered for see images
So, I have fixed this noise that has plagued this liberty since I purchased it. Thought I'd share it with you guys. Hopefully it'll be usefull for anyone else with a seemingly un-curable rattle.
Cheers,
Dave
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