3 Reasons Why Your Truck’s Bed Rattles
Picture this – you’re out there on the rough country roads, having the time of your life in the precious truck, though this time you decide to crank open the rear window to let some fresh air in.
Wait a minute, something’s not right… What is this rattling coming from the rear, more specifically the bed?
It wasn’t there before! Or was it, considering you normally drive with that window closed, listening to the radio.
The story aside, noticing that your pickup’s bed produces sounds you haven’t heard before isn’t an everyday thing, so it’s not a surprise not every owner takes it lightheartedly.
There could be a plethora of reasons why such a bothersome occurrence happens on your ride – down below i list 3 main that, in my experience, usually are the culprit.
“Dry” tailgate
The opening and closing of the tailgate is a process in which many internal parts are involved, and if they’re not properly lubricated, it could be the cause of the underlying rattles.
If that is the actual reason, spraying some penetrating oil on all of the hinges, joints or really anything you see there can get rid of the annoyance in an instant.
Check the towing hitch
Do you have a hitch on your pickup truck? As weird as it might sound, it could also be the cause of the noises we’re talking about here.
It is all because of the extra play that exists between the receiver and the actual towing hitch. Add to it the uneven unpaved roads and you have a source of never ending sounds coming out from somewhere in the back.
The good thing is that the way to deal with this is actually a very simple one, you just need to get a hitch tightener.
Could be the bed liner
In case your pickup truck rocks the common drop in bed liner, it being overly loose could be the issue of, you guessed it, the mysterious rattles.
Check if the liner is sitting snug in between the attachment points, such as the bed rails. Also, don’t forget to inspect the tailgate portion as well – tighten every loose bolt you come by and make sure everything is nice and secure.
There can still be more…
Even though I personally think those three reasons i just mentioned are normally what you should think of and look at first, surprisingly enough there can still be a list of things which could be the cause of the meddling sounds: loose exhaust heat shield, wheel well liners, if you have them, general bed bolts and so on and so forth.
If you do end up reaching this point and find no solution whatsoever, there is really nothing better than contacting a good mechanic or a dealer, if possible.
With that being said, don’t get your hopes up yet. There are times when the whole pickup, so to speak, gets reassembled from the ground up without any solutions to the problem.
Perhaps you’re just paranoid?
Listen, i know we all love our pickup trucks, the vehicles we invest so much money and care into, but sometimes the unnerving sounds could simply be amplified by nothing more than our mind.
Trucks are those vehicles that really aren’t of the quietest ones, so maybe it could be that the rattling that comes is nothing really to worry about, specially if you tried all of the above with no avail?