Annoying Rattle/Squeak Back Right of 4Runner

Hey everyone. I've taken my 4runner into a few different mechanics (all reputable and honest) regarding an annoying rattle/squeak in the back right of my 4runner. All of the mechanics have indicated there is nothing wrong structurally, and they can't seem to find an issue. I'm thinking this could be on the inside of the car, but I cannot locate where exactly it's coming from. If anyone has encountered this, please let me know. The Dropbox link below contains the video of the sound. I may go insane if I can't figure this out...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sbv0ovdv49auz6r/IMG_3181.MOV?dl=0

 

I'd drop the spare tire and then re-secure ... could be the chain or an unlubed bracket up there. Good luck and hope that's it !

 

To me it sounds metallic. Like the rods in the pouch for changing your tire. Maybe check there.
Or a previous owner left a pair of pliers for you to find.
You could check behind the taillight access panels for loose tools.

A mirror and a flashlight might be handy also.

 

Strange. I have the exact same sound in my '16. Passenger side rear. I thought it was turnbuckles on the DIY drawers the previous owner installed. But when I took them out and made my own set of drawers the sound persisted without drawers and with the new ones installed.

Seems to only happen when the car is cold(er).

It is definitely not the spare tire tools (which I dont have), and really sounds like it is interior.

 

I just got the car back last night, so I'm going to mess around with a few things today. I'm hoping it's one of the two things above, but I'm thinking it's on the passenger side rear somewhere on the inside.

 

Unfortunately, it's not the spare. The sound is coming from the trunk passenger side window area. I'm not sure how to take of the panels back there. Any advice is appreciated.

 

Does this sound change with speed? Have you had someone ride in the rear with their ears against the panels? The way that noise sounds to me I'd also consider mounting/taping a camera outside underneath before I started tearing the inside apart.

 

That would drive me nuts also; it sounds awful! wish you the best with that fix

 

I have the same squeak appear on my 2019. I did recently have the spare tire replaced. Might need to drop it and see if it changes anything.
I mostly only notice the sound off road, over bumps. On pavement it's not there.

 

I have the same squeak, but it’s hard to tell if it’s my ladder or not lol

 

I was hoping it was my D-Ring Hitch receiver. Haven't messed with that yet either.

 

Do you have a cargo matt in the back that goes over the folding 3rd row? I used to have a squeak and it turns out to be the cargo matt. Going over bumps will cause the 3rd row to go up and down slightly to rub the matt against the side causing the squeak.

 

I do have a rubber cargo mat. That would be awesome if it's that simple.

 

Success - pulled the rubber mat and no more squeak.

 

Ya the same thing happened to me. It was maddening until I figured it out. Small strips of sticky back soft velcro on each side of the interior solved the problem.

 

I think I'm going to trim a bit off of 3 sides of the factory rubber mat. Use a razor knife and yardstick for a straight edge.

 

Probably too late to help but I had a progressively annoying rattle in back that my service advisor and friend could not identify. Noticeable on cooler mornings and when speed reached 40mph. I removed liftgate trim and peeled moisture seal away on the side I though it was coming from and found a broken resiney support for a wiring harness (see pic). Toyota declined to cover it under my $1700 extended warranty. I used heavy duty weatherproof 3M double sided tape around the harness and to the liftgate interior with the clump of resin between the harness and steel.
so far taking care of the problem.
Thanks Toyota!

 

For those in the future coming here for an annoying squeek or rattle and the above solutions don't solve your problem, another possibility is that your lift gate latch has become very slightly misaligned, perhaps from carrying a load of long 2x4s or 2x6s sticking out the back window and that weight on the lift-gate moves the latch slightly; the fix is a few wraps of electrical tape around the rear-most upright portion of the lift gate latch on the floor (not on the lift gate). This was the fix for my annoying rattle/squeek.

 

Additionally to all the rest of these annoying rattles, check the heat shields next to your exhaust. Those occasionally will come loose and potentially rattle against the frame/exhaust.

 

I have a rattle in the rear passenger side. I know what it is, but I’ve been lazy to pull the rear panels to fix it. The reclining/latch mechanism for the rear seat is loose or has too much play and the two sliding rails are hitting each other. I can shake the seat and see it the mechanism wiggle around through the slot.

 

I thought mine was coming from the cargo tray, but will test this out as well. Only happens in low speeds.

 

Mine was the rear seat back on the passenger side rattling. I didnt fix it, but just knowing where it’s coming from has made me feel better lol.

 

Me too,

Sometimes if I release the seat back to fold down and reengage the squeak goes away. I think it’s the metal to metal latch. A dry lubricant might help. Or a passenger sitting in the seat does the trick.

 

I haven’t heard mine rattle in a while so I guess it went away…for now.

 

I had something similar and it turned out to be the cargo cover. We regularly remove and replace it when we transport larger items and it turns out we installed it upside down which allowed it to extend and secure in place but would make the most annoying squeaky/rattle sound. It drove me bat shit crazy for a few days until I figured it out.

 

Okay... I was able to resolve my issue! It seems like these squeaks are caused by different reasons, and mine was the rear tailgate hinges. A little lithium grease resolved the squeaking noise. Here's how I diagnosed the issue.

1) Put down the back row seats and drove around. Squeaked still persisted, so ruled out loose back seat latch.
2) Drove around the block with the tailgate open. No noise. So, deduced that the noise was coming from the hinges on the tailgate. Applied grease around it, and the noise disappeared!

It made sense that the issue wasn't present at higher speed since the aero probably sealed the tailgate tighter. Attaching photos for reference.

 

You greased the hinges or the latch?

 

Sorry. Hinges

 

I had a more of a chirp driving me nuts when hitting any bumps. Ended up being the tire jack. It gets wedged in and then you lock it into place by turning/pumping it to lock it tight. Since it's in the back panel the sound echoed throughout and was hard to isolate.

 

In the last couple weeks, my 4R developed an annoying squeak in the back right, mostly when going around corners. I checked the mats, the jack and tools, the spare tire with no luck. The back seats didn't contribute anything. Jumped up and down on the bumper and it was dead quiet. I thought the shocks were in the clear, but I was afraid it might be bushings on the control arms, rear sway bar, or trailing arms.

Fortunately I found this thread before crawling underneath again after just finishing my slider install. Sure enough, it was the liftgate latch. Just a puff of silicone spray cleared it up. I'm going to hit the hinges with lithium grease spray.