Mousepad for rattles...
02-08-2006, 03:54 PM
#1
Mousepad for rattles...
hey guys, just wanted to share a possible tool to to help alleviate some of those rattles.
of course finding them is probably the hardest part. I was dealing with this rattle coming from the rear of my Z for months now and it was driving me crazy. I thought it was coming from inside the hatch, then I thought it was coming from the exhaust hitting my rear bumper, finally I found that it was coming from one of the plastic rear bumper attachments holding the bumper to the frame. its kinda hard to describe, but the bottom of the bumper has 2 long plastic tabs that clip onto these other plastic tabs that are screwed into the frame. it turns out one of those tabs had too much wiggle room and the screw holding the tab to the frame was also loose and that was what was creating the rattling.
at first I was just going to use some electrical tape to hold the 2 tabs together, but I figured that after a while the tape would probably lose adhesion and come off by itself leaving me with the same rattle again. so after looking around the house for a bit I found a better solution. I took one of my old mousepads and cut out some small pieces of the foam (while is a lot like insulation foam) and used that as a compress between the 2 parts of the plastic tabs that attach together. I also used a small piece as a washer for the loose screw as it wouldn't seem to tighten very much. and shazam, the rattle is gone.
now I'm sure some of you clever folks have come up with better materials/solutions to this (althought the nissan service manual doesn't offer any better solutions). but for a quick, cheap home remedy, this worked pretty well.
of course finding them is probably the hardest part. I was dealing with this rattle coming from the rear of my Z for months now and it was driving me crazy. I thought it was coming from inside the hatch, then I thought it was coming from the exhaust hitting my rear bumper, finally I found that it was coming from one of the plastic rear bumper attachments holding the bumper to the frame. its kinda hard to describe, but the bottom of the bumper has 2 long plastic tabs that clip onto these other plastic tabs that are screwed into the frame. it turns out one of those tabs had too much wiggle room and the screw holding the tab to the frame was also loose and that was what was creating the rattling.
at first I was just going to use some electrical tape to hold the 2 tabs together, but I figured that after a while the tape would probably lose adhesion and come off by itself leaving me with the same rattle again. so after looking around the house for a bit I found a better solution. I took one of my old mousepads and cut out some small pieces of the foam (while is a lot like insulation foam) and used that as a compress between the 2 parts of the plastic tabs that attach together. I also used a small piece as a washer for the loose screw as it wouldn't seem to tighten very much. and shazam, the rattle is gone.
now I'm sure some of you clever folks have come up with better materials/solutions to this (althought the nissan service manual doesn't offer any better solutions). but for a quick, cheap home remedy, this worked pretty well.
02-08-2006, 05:28 PM
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Neoprene with adhesive on one side. I have found it in craft stores, and it works like a charm. Even makes really good waterproof gaskets if you need to mount a spoiler.
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02-08-2006, 07:39 PM
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Originally Posted by imjdoggie
Neoprene with an adhesive on one side I can't picture it? Could you possibly post a pic?
02-09-2006, 08:20 AM
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I don't have this seat belt problem, so I may not understand the problem fully, but this might help...
My previous auto (a Jeep GC) had small round velcro pads on the outboard seat belts in the back seat area, with mating velcro pads on the plastic side panels. The pads were either glued to or sewn to the seat belt webbing and strategically placed so as not to interfere with the movement of the belt or the latching parts.
When a seat belt is in its unused, retracted position, the velcro pads line up so that you can "attach" the loose belt to the nearby panel. This was very useful for getting the belt out of the way of the folding rear seats. It also kept the belts from flopping around.
Maybe something similar could work for this problem?
My previous auto (a Jeep GC) had small round velcro pads on the outboard seat belts in the back seat area, with mating velcro pads on the plastic side panels. The pads were either glued to or sewn to the seat belt webbing and strategically placed so as not to interfere with the movement of the belt or the latching parts.
When a seat belt is in its unused, retracted position, the velcro pads line up so that you can "attach" the loose belt to the nearby panel. This was very useful for getting the belt out of the way of the folding rear seats. It also kept the belts from flopping around.
Maybe something similar could work for this problem?
.
02-10-2006, 02:19 PM
#19
Originally Posted by imjdoggie
any solution for the passenger seatbelt that rattles against the plastic behind the door.
02-10-2006, 02:59 PM
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i have the seat belt rattle as well, and the clip does not hold the belt for me either. i have been meaning to get around to it for about 3-4 monthes now........also if my radio is turned down i can hear the trim on the rear view mirror vibrating really softly. i can fix that too, but it is easier to turn up the radio......