Starting Monday, I noticed a rattling type noise at idle, which gets worse, or stops for a second if you rev it. Driving on dirt roads its a horrible rattling noise, and on the highway it seems to be gone, except you can slightly hear it if you get on it a little. It really sounds like its coming from the dash area, I checked under the truck and nothing appears to be loose, you can't really hear it at all if you stick your head out of the truck, so its got to be something in the cab I would guess, but what the heck can it be? I've checked almost everything I could think...its starting to get really annoying.

 

Man! That could be any of a million things. Wiper mechanism, heater controls, stereo, something in the glove box, instrument panel, steering column, flasher fell out if its bracket and flopping around, that 1/2" nut that rolled down the dash and into the heater duct. Keep looking and good luck!

 

Checked most of those, although not real thoroughly, but the think is it sounds like a heaver rattling/clunk that any of those, I know I did lose a nut a while back, but even then this sounds a lot heavier than being those. In all honestly I thought my quarter panel was loose and rattling (it had been taken off to be painted at a shop) but it seems to be on their secure as possible. Hard to explain the sound, it really sounds like when your shock mounts are rattling, but heard in the cab.

 

Sloppy pedal mounts, linkage? Cab mount? Which side does it sound like its coming from?

 

Driver side, took a passenger and they had a hard time noticing it. Cab mounts I can see look good, had the radius arm bushing replaced about 2 months ago.

Another thought I just had...I know the PO that did the exhaust job just welded the exhaust straight to metal strips without any rubber to give, and one of them had broken if I remember correctly. But I'm not dead sure a broke exhaust mount would cause a steady clunk/rattle, strange that it sometimes can be heard just idling in the driveway as well if your sitting in it.

 

Hmmm... Well, I'll let you use my tried and true, highly sophisticated diagnostic technique: Keep driving it until something falls off, then look at it and say " Well, there's yer problem, it was that thing lyin' there on the road" Then get the part number off it and order a new one. Simple and effective, no?

 

Thats actually a great technique. I drove around a bit earlier praying whatever it is would fall off, I wish it would hurry up and do it, 90% of my driving is on dirt roads, so it gets pretty annoying. I'm willing to be the dirt roads is what caused whatever it is to loosen up in the first place anyway...