Mysterious rattle in PH

alta825 · 11-03-2007, 06:02 PM

OK, before you start telling me how noisy these rigs are - I know about and have heard the BANGING from the PH springs everytime I drive up my washboarded road but I have a mysterious rattle I cant seem to track down.

It usually comes about when I am cruising down the road (paved) and it seems to be coming from the either the Flouresent light or the padded cover for the front half of the PH supports. Before I start ripping things apart, just curious if anyone else has had/has this same rattle or a rattle in this general area of the roof. Just drives me nuts on smoothish pavement, sorta sounds like someone left a loose nut in the roof.

And yes, I know that these are NOISY on dirt roads esp washboard, just trying to eliminate some of the annoying vibrations on the smooth sections

Thanks guys

-derek

jage · 11-03-2007, 06:25 PM

Are your J hooks tight when clamped?

You can take the cover off the light by squeezing the long sides of the cover and take the center out the same way (it is a metal channel over some wiring) and look for loose parts. Take the bulbs out and see if you sound is still there.

Your smoke detector is over the PH front bed- you can take it off with a clockwise twist (mine anyway) and shake it to ensure it is solid.

The only other thing I can think of is to lightly shake the top when it's up (so it moves easier) and see if you can get the noisemaker to sound.

calclimber · 11-04-2007, 09:08 AM

It may be your penthouse springs. Try shoving a towel between the top and the spring area. Thats what I did until I went back to SMB West. They put some kind of material under the spring. That fixed the rattle.

Captkimo · 11-15-2007, 09:18 PM

My new van has the same issue. I found it to the one of the penthouse clamps that secures the penthouse. All I do is turn the hook part a couple of turns so when I secure the clamp its a little tighter. Dont know if this is your problem or not, Good luck. I think they are called the J hooks.

deminimis · 03-17-2008, 02:06 PM

Did you track down the noise? I have a similar noise (seems to be above my head, but in reality I think its a bit further back). Going to crash one of these days as I'm driving down the road with my left arm way behind me trying to touch different things within my wingspan to make it stop. Driving me nuts. Then there's the voices that tell me to do things, but I suspect you can't help me with that.

alta825 · 03-17-2008, 02:35 PM

you know i think i may of found the source. i think its the flourescent light. there is something in there that rattles from time to time, I thought it was a loose light bulb and i wedged a little piece of electrical tape in there - i was quieter, but still there. I need to remove the whole fixture and go for a drive to verify.

hope that helps

-d

deminimis · 03-17-2008, 02:46 PM

Thanks, but mine's more of a clunky sound. Thought maybe the wind deflector on my Yak racks, but that didn't cure it. I fear its my antenna cable for my CB bouncing on the headliner assembly. Guess I'm going to have to get my wife to drive while I seek out the pesky and illusive noise.

John Kalmbach · 03-17-2008, 10:39 PM

Hello all,

I have seen additional installation hardware left in the penthouse rails cause annoying rattles. You can easily determine if there is anything loose in the rail by raising the top, removing the small black sheetmetal screws that fasten the velour trim, and folding the velour trim back to see the track that the lift assembly and springs are in.

You can also "rap" the bottom of the penthouse rail and/or velour "cornice" to try and reproduce the sound to help pin-point the culprit. I did see an SMB with loose mounting screws for the "L" brackets that secure the cornice. The screws that were loose were the ones screwed into the van sheetmetal, not the ones into the wood cornice. It was tough to track down, but obvious once discovered.

Another area of inspection once the velour trim is folded back is the front corners of the van roof. I have seen stress cracks appear in these corners and the sheetmetal will "snap" or "pop" as if there is a loose part somewhere.

Good luck!
John K.

sdwindansea · 03-18-2008, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John Kalmbach

Hello all,

I have seen additional installation hardware left in the penthouse rails cause annoying rattles. You can easily determine if there is anything loose in the rail by raising the top, removing the small black sheetmetal screws that fasten the velour trim, and folding the velour trim back to see the track that the lift assembly and springs are in.

You can also "rap" the bottom of the penthouse rail and/or velour "cornice" to try and reproduce the sound to help pin-point the culprit. I did see an SMB with loose mounting screws for the "L" brackets that secure the cornice. The screws that were loose were the ones screwed into the van sheetmetal, not the ones into the wood cornice. It was tough to track down, but obvious once discovered.

Another area of inspection once the velour trim is folded back is the front corners of the van roof. I have seen stress cracks appear in these corners and the sheetmetal will "snap" or "pop" as if there is a loose part somewhere.

Good luck!
John K.

John described the area of a previous problem of our's perfectly. It was the rail of the driver side penthouse. We has SMB fix this back in November while we were there for another repair. They supposedly put in some "shims" to keep the penthouse spring from rattling around. However, it definitely was the spring and not a couple of loose screws or spare hardware floating around that was causing the noise.

deminimis · 03-18-2008, 09:32 AM

Once we get from Baja and the SMB is back from the shop (should be waiting for me on our return), will check out this spring business of which you speak. The more I listen, the more I think that makes sense.