Rattle coming from truck bed - normal?

I'm not really sure when it started, but over the past few weeks (maybe because during this time is when I started driving with the rear window open) I've noticed a definite rattle coming from somewhere at the rear of the truck. It's a pretty meaty rattle, and it's most noticeable while going over sharp bumps, like potholes are manhole covers, at around 20-30 mph.

I've taken everything out of the bed, the cargo holds, and I rolled up my tonneau cover. I checked the spare and it seems secure.

Today I had my wife drive me around while I stuck my head out the rear window. It definitely seems like it's coming from the rear passenger corner. Having the tailgate up or down didn't make a difference.

To give you an idea of the severity of it, when my wife hears it she just goes "I don't know, it's a truck and they make noise". But I'm much more OCD, and the truck is my baby. Just want to make sure nothing is coming loose.

What say you, Tacoma World, normal? Should I let it go?

(I bought the truck used 6 months ago, and judging by the bed liner, it got plenty of use. Not sure how much they beat on it.)

 

What year is your Tacoma?

You posted in 2nd gen, but 2nd gen Tacomas do not require a bed liner.

 

Check the rear inner fender liners for looseness, they are help in with push-in plastic "Christmas tree" fasteners that work loose over time.

Make sure all the bed bolts are tight too.

 

This. The fender liners rattle. Hit them with your hands and see if they make a loose rattle noise.

 

2013.

I assume the 'bed bolts' are the 6 star bolts in the bed itself..? They seem pretty tight, but I'll try to find a bit that fits those.

I tapped on the rear inner fender liner. Yeah, they seem somewhat flimsy, but I don't think that's it. These liners give off a cheap plastic rattle. What I'm hearing seems more... heavy. Metallic. And isolated to the passenger side.

I actually recorded a video of the bed while driving, but the specific rattle sound didn't carry over into the camcorder well enough.

 

I took the tailgate off - just to confirm it wasn't that, and it wasn't. I don't know, the more a tap/bang on that fender liner the more I start to wonder if maybe that is it. It sounds like shit when I'm driving around with the windows open though.

Are those easy to take off? Are the push rivets for the liner the same ones used for the mud flaps? I put on new flaps the other month and have a handful of those rivets left over....

Tacoma being a Tacoma?

 

Probably a long shot but on my tacoma when the ice falls between the box and the cab it rattles and makes me crazy.
Happens in my fathers f150 too.

 

Loose U-Bolt on rear springs? Broken rear leaf spring?

 

Is your spare tire cinched up tight?

 

I had the dealer perform the TSB about 6 weeks ago - so I definitely though about that. That maybe they didn't tighten something enough.

I'm no mechanic, but maybe I should crawl under there with a wrench. What could possibly go wrong....

 

empty beer cans?

 

this,,,,,is the first thing i'd look for.

 

Fender liners rattle like crazy over bumps. If you have a towing receiver, it could be that too. Leaf springs are known to make a fair amount of annoying noise as well. One more possibility and this one is not uncommon but the plastic composite bed eventually wears out at the bolt down points and the gap will create a noise from the bed being loose and moving around.

 

I keep going back and forth between the fender liner. When I'm back there moving it with my finger tips, I think maybe that could in fact be the sound. But when I'm out driving I think there's no way in hell a fender liner could make that much noise. I might try to remove it or temporarily secure it somehow so I could rule it out.

Checked U-bolts and leaf springs, and from a laymans perspective they look fine. I'm also not sure it's suspension related, because I can jump up and down in the bed and hear nothing. I also kick/pound the bed liner and it seems solid too.

 

Then it is the liner. I stopped worrying about that long ago after beginning to beat the shit out of mine offroad and dismissed it as cheaply assembled with junk retaining hardware.

If you want to test out if its the liners or not, find the retaining clips and try to push them further in, if they move further in then that is your problem. There really is no solution to it, so dismiss it as normal and begin to ignore it, no matter how much your OCD tells you not to. Lol.

 

Thats not a bed liner. That's your actual bed. The Tacoma comes with a composite bed.

 

Do you have a receiver hitch? If so, is your hitch installed? They rattle like hell if installed with no trailer to hold them secure.

 

Lift up on each corner of the bed and see if you can replicate the noise. It shouldnt take much force to tell if one of the bed bolts has worked loose.

The bed bolts can back out a little, and the rust will make it feel snug from the top, but just a little gap will make a knocking sound over bumps. If they are loose, soak em with a penetrating oil for a day or two before trying to tighten them back down.

 

I shoved some towels up and underneath the rear fender liner. When I rapped on it with my hand, it pretty much deadened all of the rattle from it, but when I drove it made no difference in the sound I've been hearing.

The bed seems secure to me. Banged on it with rubber mallet, jumped on it... no movement I can tell.

Receiver hitch was the first thing I checked.

At this point I'll probably just take it into the dealer and have them check it out. Might still be something suspension related...

Alright, now that I look at the bed, I can see that. Interesting.

 

So you do have a receiver hitch on there? Remove it.

If you are really that worried about it, take a video with your lady in the backseat with the back window open as you go through the bumps that cause the noise then post it up on here. We can only help you so much until that point.