Fixed passenger side mystery rattle / buzzing behind glove box

Hey fellas,

I've been lingering for months reading rattle threads trying to track one down. I finally just took apart as much as I could in the general area, and found a culprit I hadn't seen posted yet. Behind the top of the glovebox, there is a single 10mm bolt/washer holding the dashboard plastics to the frame of the truck. That bolt was so loose it took three turns to be out and into my hand. The washer on it made the rattle even worse... which sometimes also presented as a buzzing noise during certain RPMs.

You need to remove the passenger foot airbag assembly, as well as the glovebox. Only takes about 10-15 minutes.

 

Nice investigation work. Good to know

 

Tearing into that tomorrow. Frigging rattle has been driving me out of my mind. Thanks.

 

Good job. So simple but so annoying I bet. Glad you figured it out

 

Little silicone on the treads when screwed back in will keep it in place or lock tight.

 

Is it a pain removing all the necessary things to tighten this? Never done so but i have the dreaded rattle.

 

Man this must be what that damn sound is lol. I had the mrs drive while I was trying to find that damn thing. Thanks

 

Naa not bad. You just have to start down in the floorboard trim and work up. Maybe 10 minutes or less and minimal tools. Once you start it goes quickly. I'll dig up a post I had found with some instructions and post it.

 

Even having searched the forums countless times, I just came across this post from @m0wens with the same issue. https://www.tundras.com/threads/glove-box-removal.37356/#post-1027646

Anyway - he also gave some decent instructions on getting to the culprit... (I didn't write these but it feels familiar to what I did). Thanks @m0wens.
1.) Remove the floor pillars by the passenger door.
2.) Remove plastic cover piece on the side of the dash. Should pop right off.
3.) Remove kick plate from under the glove box. It should just have plastic push pins and a couple of screws.
4.) Remove another trim piece which I believe had two or three bolts holding it in place.
5.) Carefully disconnect the airbag. You will see it connected with the yellow wires.
6.) Remove screws from underneath glovebox, I believe there are three.
7.) Remove 3 screws from the top of the glovebox.
8.) Pull and remove glovebox. You should then see the lone screw that's attached to the dash that's in my pic above.

 

Thanks man! I'll give this a shot soon and let you know what I find.

 

Probably a top 10 male human feeling of euphoria. Note I said "top 10"!

 

This is awesome. When I make a right turn and my suspension flexes a bit, I get a lil squeak, wondering if this is my pain point. Can you describe in more detail when you were hearing the noise?

 

I was wondering if this was my problem so I started to think through your detailed instructions. I removed the two covers for the cabin air filter and voila, I can see this bolt from there without taking anything off the truck as instructed. The bolt you indicated on my truck is tight so this isn’t my problem but thought I’d share with all.

 

Hate to break it to you... that's not the bolt. I know what one you are talking about, and just took the following pic for you to confirm. Unfortunately, the enemy bolt is higher up and completely tucked away.

But - it also wasn't a flex squeek. It was a pure rattle if not almost buzzing it was rattling so fast, and happened going over small bumps or vibrations on the road.

Red is what I think you found, green is where my criminal bolt was.

 

I'm so glad I found this. My 2020 has the same buzzing sound and it has been driving me crazy. Mine is a pure buzzing sound between 1500-2000 rpm. Under 1500, no sound, over 2000, no sound. I've even had my wife drive while I look for the sound and have not been able to place it other than it seems to be in the glove box or in the dash! Sounds like it's a simple fix!

 

Good find on your gen. My 13 has a metallic squeak on the passenger side that drives me nuts. It may be worth a shot to poke around the area.

 

I took the glove box out today and that bolt was TIGHT! It's even tighter now. I checked every other bolt and screw I could see in there and all were tight too. I'll keep looking for my buzz or I'll just find it in a Beer! Happy Friday! For anyone else looking to get to the bolt, it's easy to get to. It took me about 20 minutes to get to it and about 10 minutes to button everything back up.

 

I've had this same rattle too, just had the glovebox out and did find that screw was loose. Haven't driven it yet, but I also added small bumpers to the glovebox door to line up with the ones already there. The latch mechanism inside the glovebox door seems to be making some noise if I tap the door too, I didn't see an easy way to take the door apart so I left it for now. The rattle must have been bugging the PO also, found some electrical tape lining a couple of joints on the trim in the area and noticed a handwritten date of 2016 on the back of the glovebox (truck is a '14), maybe he went so far as to replace it. I lined the bottom of the box with non skid pad to just in case it's something in there causing it, I have a feeling I'm going to be chasing it in my "free" time.

 

I noticed the mechanism inside the glovebox door seemed to be loose today too. It rattles when you tap it, close it, and it rattled when it was out of the truck today and in my hands. No easy way to access it that I'm aware of. Maybe that's the culprit in my case. Interesting that your previous owner seems to have had the glovebox replaced. Since this is my only problem, I'm happy and thankful.

 

buzzing behind glove box

Gah! Tickle bees!

Flee!!

 

There is a tsb for a tic/rattle noise on the passenger side. The noise is actually from the windshield retainer and the noise transfer down to the dash.

 

I've got an annoying rattle in the driver's side of the dash that sounds like a tick. It sounds like it's inside the dash on the left side of the instrument cluster, possibly below, and it only happens on semi-rough roads. No idea what it is or how to fix it. I'm only at 4,600 miles, so if I can stand it, and unless I can figure out the source, I guess I'll wait until the 1st oil change at 10K.

 

Check my previous posts on the tsb. It applies to both the passenger and drivers side. Mine had let than 100 miles on it and had the rattle/tic.

 

Okay, thanks.

 

One thing I did find after driving it is that the little shelf that snaps in the glovebox was buzzing, sounded like a botle of aspirin rattling. I folded up a piece of paper and jammed it under the left edge of the shelf and all is quiet now.

 

it amazes me how bad so many of the interior pieces fit.So many loose fitting plastic rattles.and squeaks and creeks too.Step it up Toyota!!!

 

Other than the rattle that I fixed by doing the TSB my truck is as quiet as a mouse.

 

I have spent ALOT of time and looked an MANY threads on this and other sites to find out what was causing the rattle behind my glove box. In my case, there was a small bolt missing on a metal braket that seems to support some kind of electronic device. The red circle in the picture indicates where to find this metal braket. Hope this helps out someone.

Cheers.