Rattle And Hum

Back in the Fall 1996 I decided I wanted to get a pickup truck. By the spring of 1997 I had decided what I wanted and later that summer I ordered it. In the fall of 1997 I finally got my new 1998 Dodge 1500 Quadcab 4x4. Who says you can't have everything you want.

Pretty quickly I noticed an odd sound when I made a sharp turn. But not always. The noise sounded like a BB (Ball-bearing) rolling thru a metal pipe. It occurred on turns in alternate directions. Left, right, left. Never Right, right, right, or left, left, left. The reason is pretty obvious.

Somewhere along way, I decided that the BB, or bearing, or whatever it is was in the frame of the rear seat.



The noise in the seat often spurred conversation, but most folks didn't notice it til I pointed it out.

Friday while driving home from Destin, Florida, I decided I would try to find the noise. Why? Because all the way home from Florida, I had to listen to some bottles rattle in the back of the Tahoe. This could drive a man insane. Assuming he were sane to start with.



To remove the rear seat, it must be folded up and four bolts removed. Not a problem. Next the seat is lifted up to detach two clips from the back wall and pulled forward to detach two clips underneath. Easy enough.



At this point, the casual observer driving by would have seen me standing in the driveway holding the back seat tilting it this way and that trying to get it to rattle. A feckless task.

What next? Time to go for a ride. My neighbor offers to drive while I lay in the floor of the back space. I can no longer call this the backseat because there is not backseat there. Ok, rear floor board.

I press my ear to the back wall expecting to hear the rattle. Surprise! The sound is coming from in front of me. After many donuts in the cul-de-sac in front of the house, I finally decide that the noise is emanating from the passenger seat, about halfway up.

Rolling around in the floor board of the back of my truck is like a crazy ride at an amusement park, especially while alternating between clockwise and counter-clockwise circles. Good thing I don't get motion sick.

Once released from my under-sized prison cell, I take to opening up the passenger seat. This required unfastening the botton of the leather seat cover and pulling it upward. I am now looking at the seat frame and foam. The seat frame is made of steel tubing. That would be the pipe, now lets find the BB.



I drill a big hole in the frame. The finger above points at the new hole. Next I grab a magnet and we go for another ride. Clockwise, counter-clockwise, repeat.



It is amazing what came rolling out of the hole. Several spherical pieces of welding refuse. Some guys at the factory in Mexico City must have been having a little fun the day my truck was build. I guess quality is not job one at the Dodge factory. Eight years later I had a little fun 'fixing' the noise. I can't believe it took me eight years to get around to solving this little problem.

It sure feels good to have the rattle fixed. I was amazed that I only had to drill one hole. I could have easily been in another part of the frame. Ginger has mentioned the Tahoe has a rattle. Not sure if I am up to the challenge. After all, it could ruin my perfect record.