Rattling is driving me crazy

[BrackneyC]

Dear Jeep Abby,

This is what is has come to. I have my nice new (new to me anyway) 2001 TJ. I had some steering issues that have been corrected, and all is good, except for the following petty complaint. When I hit a certain rpm, my roll bar, just above my head has a hollow rattling noise coming from inside. Yes, this may seem petty considering it is a Jeep and all, but this noise is not due to it being a Jeep, but rather something I am sure I can remedy, if I can figure out what it is. I can duplicate the sound if I hit the roll bar with my hand using just the right amount of force. It seems to be echoing through the entire roll bar, depending on which side of the Jeep I am on.

Has anyone ever had this strange noise? I can take all of the rattling and other quirks that come along with a Jeep, but this is right in my ear, and it is driving me to distraction.

Signed,

Shook, "rattled" and rolled in the Midwest.

[TObject]

Hardtop hitting the rollbar?

[HIGLET]

How about this.

Drill a 5/16th hole in one side of the roll bar near the percieved rattle. Take a can of great stuff foam (the super expandy one) and spray it inside the pipe. The foam should envelope the offending item and stop it's rattle.

Hunh? Neat solution hunh?

[TJRON]

The roll bar is actually bolted together with those lovely bolts we all love so much. Unzip the cover and tighten 'em up!

[Phil Howell]

Ron's right. Tighten the Torx bolts on the back of the main "hoop" that hold the passenger and driver stringers on. You might also check the safety Torx bolts on the stringers themselves.

I had the same rattle once. It was the first Torx I mentioned.

If everything's tight and the rattle persisits, try Higlet's nifty idea.

[BrackneyC]

Originally posted by Phil Howell
Ron's right. Tighten the Torx bolts on the back of the main "hoop" that hold the passenger and driver stringers on. You might also check the safety Torx bolts on the stringers themselves.

I had the same rattle once. It was the first Torx I mentioned.

If everything's tight and the rattle persisits, try Higlet's nifty idea.

I went to tighten the bolts, but they are those "other" torx bits (you know, the ones that require the special torx bit) so I will have to get one to fit it tomorrow. I had actually tried the foam method last week, but like the dumb**s I can be, I used the non-expanding foam. I was already in the middle of it when I saw the label on the can that said "minimal" expanding. That is what I get for looking at the picture on the can instead of reading the label.

[TJRON]

Don't ya just love 'em? Use Visegrips. Been there..........

[BrackneyC]

Well, I am at a cross roads here. I need to get this incessant rattling out of my roll bar, or I am surely going to find myself having gone completely insane. I have replaced the two bolts that hold the center part in place, with two regular hex head bolts. I have shot the bar completely full of expanding foam, yet the rattling remains, and now seems to be gaining strength.

I have concluded that I either need to sell the Jeep, or remove that thin center piece and replace it with something a little thicker, and less prone to the pinging it now has. This is insane. The entire Jeep is rattle and noise free, except for this one nagging noise right above my head. I wouldn't mind so much, but I drive it up to 50 miles a day (it is my DD) and can't, or won't keep the radio up that high all of the time just to drown out the noise. How hard is it to remove the roll bar on a TJ? I just want to see if maybe something got in there from the factory, and is just bouncing around up there.

[Chris L]

It's fairly easy to remove. 2 bolts each on the rear tubes, 4 bolts down behind the seats each side, and 2 bolts on the windshield frame. You may need to gring away some under coating on the areas behind the seats. I would also check the windshield mounts and the torx bolts by the mirrors to see if they might be loose. HTH

[Jays89YJ]

I'm for tightening the bolts as well.

Here's a funny thing actually. My buddy back home is a mechanic. This guy came in with his Chevy car and said there was a REALLY annoying rattling coming from the headliner. So my buddy took it for a ride and sure enough there was a HORRIBLE rattling all through out the headliner section, but really loud near the driver's door. Then he took out the headliner and what did he find??? A large metal washer with fishing line tied to it and part of the body with a note attached which read: "FU@K YOU"!!!!! He called me down to come check it out! It was so funny the way he told me the story, I had tears coming out.

So maybe some peeved off Jeep assembly guy decided to do that like the Chevy guy!

Jason

[BrackneyC]

I have also heard (Urban legend I hope) of assembly line workers throwing marbles into doors and other areas of cars while putting them together back many years ago. That was my first thought when I tightened the bolts down, and the rattle was still there. The only reason I haven't taken the bar out yet is because no one in town has a security Torx bit #47 in stock. There are two bolts under the seatbelt holder that cannot be grabbed with a pair of vicegrips.

[Jays89YJ]

Not an urban legend. My stepfather was a mechanic in the 70s. He found the same thing actually! With the note attached.

The car my buddy fixed was an old Caprice.

[PK99TJ]

Use a piece of aquarium tubing and a friend to listen around while you're driving to find the exact location of said rattle.

[TJRON]

Could it be your sound bar is the culprit? Mine gave me some problems. It sounded like it was the roll bar itself.

[BrackneyC]

Originally posted by TJRON
Could it be your sound bar is the culprit? Mine gave me some problems. It sounded like it was the roll bar itself.

I actually took the sound bar out and set it on the bench so I could determine if that was it or not. All that happened was that I wasn't able to drown out the rattling with music. I plan to take one side of the cage loose so I can remove the center piece. If I am looking at the cage right, I can loosen all of the bolts on one side, and I should be able to move it around in such a way that the center piece should be able to come out. I will inspect the center tube, and see if there is something in there that is causiing this annoyance. I may even replace it altogether if I can find another piece of tube. This is possibly the most insane quest for silence that I have ever found myself in, but being that the rattle is right above my head, I have no choice.