Dashboard rattle

Bought a 2003 Tacoma this summer. I haver a strange dashboard rattle. It is near the passenger side. Thing is, it does not rattle all of the time. When it does rattle, it is while the truck is moving. Strangley enough, when I lean forward in the driver's seat, the rattle goes away! When i sit back against the seat, it returns. Also, the dashboard panel will rattle intermittienly as well. Any ideas as to what is going on? I have not brough it to the dealership because I have no confidence in their ability to correct this.

I've got the exact same thing in my 02 tacoma, and after hunting down the source of the noise for 6 months I gave up and stuck a raquet ball in the dash wedged between the dash and the windshield right in the middle. I havent' heard the noise since!!


Bought a 2003 Tacoma this summer. I haver a strange dashboard rattle. It is near the passenger side. Thing is, it does not rattle all of the time. When it does rattle, it is while the truck is moving. Strangley enough, when I lean forward in the driver's seat, the rattle goes away! When i sit back against the seat, it returns. Also, the dashboard panel will rattle intermittienly as well. Any ideas as to what is going on? I have not brough it to the dealership because I have no confidence in their ability to correct this.

There's a TSB on the dashboard rattle - check out this thread:

http://www.tundrasolutions.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8762&highlight=dashboard+rattle

Take it to a dealer and have them fix it under the factory warranty.

I'll be a son of a ..... I have an '02 Tacoma TRD and I have the same problem. Dash rattles on passenger side. It is intermittent and will stop if you press on the compartment for the air bag. The compartment itself is not loose. Drives me nuts. Previously owned a 1991 Toyota Pickup and bough this one after 216,000 on the 1991. A little frustrated with this since I do love the reliability of these trucks. I am going to try that raquetball trick, if for nothing else, my own sanity.

I have the same thing in my 04 Double Cab (Only when it's very cold)

Called the dealer this morning. Brought the truck right in. Going to fix on Monday. Problem is definitely on the passenger side. If you press on the dash near the window, you will see how much flex is there. That's what is causing the rattle. Go to the above link www.tundrasolutions.com/forums. Do this while vehicle is still under the 36000 mile warranty. I bought mine in at 35000. Here is the Technical Service Bulletin NV006-02 MAY 02 Dash Pad - Rattles. Very annoying problem, but can and should be fixed under warranty. Basically a foam padding is added around the dash to prevent rattle. Did not have a problem with the dealer.

took to dealer ,they installed a kit and rattle is gone.Mine would only rattle every now and then but it was still anoying so I took it in and just said rattle to service guy and he said they knew exactly how to fix and they had fixed many ....I also hear we might want to watch for starter failur,02 sensor and front brakes will vibrate when going down mountains or big hills and use the bakes heavy,Just what I have heard the only problem I have had was the dash and the dealer took care of that,Anybody else heard of any thing to look out for ???? :banghead:

took to dealer ,they installed a kit and rattle is gone.Mine would only rattle every now and then but it was still anoying so I took it in and just said rattle to service guy and he said they knew exactly how to fix and they had fixed many ....I also hear we might want to watch for starter failur,02 sensor and front brakes will vibrate when going down mountains or big hills and use the bakes heavy,Just what I have heard the only problem I have had was the dash and the dealer took care of that,Anybody else heard of any thing to look out for ???? :banghead:

this is a common toyota problem. i had the same thing in my 92,96, and now in my 03. here is a write up to do it on your own if you don't have the warranty anymore. http://www.customtacos.com/tech/files/dash_rattle_tsb.pdf red