Dash rattle mitigation - dash disassemble DIY

[skyy99_1111]

Thanks to this thread, I think I was able to quell the rattling under the speaker grill. I made a terrible how-to video based on what I learned here and in another thread. Hopefully this helps someone on the fence about doing this.

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[SpiredQuasar]

Just finished reassembling my dash. There was already a thin piece of foam between the metal grill and the plastic on mine. I don’t believe that was the rattling sound I was hearing. I think mine is coming from the black air duct. It’s two separate pieces. Upper portion on mine was loose. If I wiggled it, it would make the rattling sound. See pic below.

Also the clips that run a long the front by the window. They don’t really do much besides aligning it. Wish they actually clipped into place. I think the issue is on bumpy roads once the front starts bouncing it rattles everything. I want to make a wedge along the front between the glass and the grill. To hold it down into place.

As for the speaker mount. I could make a mount that would hold the speaker in place. But it would only be held in place by those two small plastic mount points. I was trying to find a spot to mount in the rear for my stability. Im going to see if the rattling stops on mine. If not I will look to make the speaker mount.

I have a 2024 and it didn’t have that B-shaped funnel leading to the cabin filter. I took apart the dash thinking that was my issue but it wasn’t there so definitely not it…

The rattle would stop with VERY slight pressure on the speaker grill so I figured it was probably speaker mounting vibrating on the speaker grill. But once I pulled it out, everything was tight and well secured so that didn’t seem like the problem.

For me, the issue ended up being the clips that run along the window. I put 3M molding tape on them and did nothing else and the rattle was gone! Prior to fixing those “clips” I had tried foam tape in various places and it would help for a bit but the rattle would come back after a few days.

 

[Big_Booty_Slayer]

Were the two speakers on the front dash, that are seated in front of each a-pillar attached to the front mesh grill? Or are they completely separate located under the leather dash panel?

 

[HaveBlue]

Were the two speakers on the front dash, that are seated in front of each a-pillar attached to the front mesh grill? Or are they completely separate located under the leather dash panel?

Both the phone call speaker in front of the steering wheel and the center channel for music are attached to the dash screen

 

[Wing]

For those worried about the air bag, I watched the mobile tech do this fix on my truck. He pulled the pillars and unclipped the air bags with a little flat screwdriver. No 12v disconnect or anything.

Unfortunately I didn't watch him do the full repair, I just watched him remove the dash and put it back later. Not something I would have attempted on my truck he had to use 2 huge crowbars to get the grill off it was so tight. Then he dropped a clip in the dash and had to fish it out and replaced all the clips.

 

[SpiredQuasar]

Were the two speakers on the front dash, that are seated in front of each a-pillar attached to the front mesh grill? Or are they completely separate located under the leather dash panel?

All 3 speakers (2 in front of the driver and 1 in the center) are attached to a plastic support frame that comes out as one large piece. The metal mesh then covers the whole assemble and is secured to plastic frame with little extra tabs of mesh that are bent around the bottom to clip the mesh to the plastic frame. Here’s a picture of the mesh tab that secure it to the plastic frame.

I think a big part of my issue was that the center speaker is pretty heavy for how flimsy the plastic support frame is. So as you go over bumps the frame flexes and the front tabs of the plastic frame would rattle.

 

[akc5247]

I have a 2024 and it didn’t have that B-shaped funnel leading to the cabin filter. I took apart the dash thinking that was my issue but it wasn’t there so definitely not it…

The rattle would stop with VERY slight pressure on the speaker grill so I figured it was probably speaker mounting vibrating on the speaker grill. But once I pulled it out, everything was tight and well secured so that didn’t seem like the problem.

For me, the issue ended up being the clips that run along the window. I put 3M molding tape on them and did nothing else and the rattle was gone! Prior to fixing those “clips” I had tried foam tape in various places and it would help for a bit but the rattle would come back after a few days.

Would you be able to share pictures on the specific locations you added the molding tape on?

i have a 2024 as well and hear rattles but not always. But I do hear them from time to time.even on decently smooth roads.

 

[R1Tom]

Would you be able to share pictures on the specific locations you added the molding tape on?

i have a 2024 as well and hear rattles but not always. But I do hear them from time to time.even on decently smooth roads.

Pictures would be hard to get as I was prying up and putting things in places I could hardly see while prying upward.

But...

Along the front edge at many random locations I used some 1/2"×1/2" expandable foam weatherstripping with adhesive on one side, cut into 1" or so strips.

Then also along front edge but right near the clips, I used compressible rubber weather stripping(adhesive one side again), cut into small pieces.

Then up under the front edge, I jammed 1"×1" foam weather stripping without any adhesive, in as many spots as I could get my hands into.

Lastly, mine has that baffle around that center speaker area, and I put chucks of black socks over the top of the baffle to attempt to dampen that thing as it seems to be a potential source of noise.

There are so many places this whole assembly can rattle it is ridiculous.

 

[SpiredQuasar]

Would you be able to share pictures on the specific locations you added the molding tape on?

i have a 2024 as well and hear rattles but not always. But I do hear them from time to time.even on decently smooth roads.

So I actually removed all the tape I put in various locations and only taped the 5 front (along the window) tabs of the front speaker assembly. I used 3M molding tape, which is double sided foam tape, but I left the red backing on the tape so only the side on the tabs was sticky. I did have to remove the assembly to access the tabs. Below are pictures of the tabs before and after taping.

As you can see in the last picture, the tabs don’t really clip into place, but only press up against the ridged (circled in red) spots on the dash. So when the assembly flexes from the weight of the speaker, the tabs pull away from the ridges slightly and then return like a spring board. The only actual clips for the assembly are along the edge opposite the window. Taping those 5 tabs to eliminate the plastic on plastic vibrations completely eliminated my rattling.

 

[akc5247]

So I actually removed all the tape I put in various locations and only taped the 5 front (along the window) tabs of the front speaker assembly. I used 3M molding tape, which is double sided foam tape, but I left the red backing on the tape so only the side on the tabs was sticky. I did have to remove the assembly to access the tabs. Below are pictures of the tabs before and after taping.

As you can see in the last picture, the tabs don’t really clip into place, but only press up against the ridged (circled in red) spots on the dash. So when the assembly flexes from the weight of the speaker, the tabs pull away from the ridges slightly and then return like a spring board. The only actual clips for the assembly are along the edge opposite the window. Taping those 5 tabs to eliminate the plastic on plastic vibrations completely eliminated my rattling.

Thank you. I actually found that my rattle was on the outside edge of the top line of the dash connecting to that plastic molding (of the speaker area). I just user uxcell 4mm rubber seal, and that helped basically reduce all rattle for me.

I will share that and the other pictures on the road noise thread shortly.

 

[akc5247]

Thank you. I actually found that my rattle was on the outside edge of the top line of the dash connecting to that plastic molding (of the speaker area). I just user uxcell 4mm rubber seal, and that helped basically reduce all rattle for me.

I will share that and the other pictures on the road noise thread shortly.

Thread updated here - https://www.rivianforums.com/forum/threads/guide-r1s-r1t-wind-noise-fix.27885/post-574761

Any questions, happy to answer.

 

[zsherry]

Calling all noise mitigation DIY'ers.

I am at my wits end with what I will call a twanging noise like one would hear after someone jumps off of a diving board in a cartoon originating from somewhere in the dash. This happens on mildly bumpy roads (not off-roading) at 20-30 mph and seems to be originating from inside the dashboard somewhere.

I think some of this was due to the speaker mountings in the top grill which was definitely a BIG improvement, but I have removed this and other panels and am still getting this noise.

Before I start taking things apart further, does anyone else have this after completing the speaker grille noise mitigation?

 

[zsherry]

That Cirled area is pretty stable. I think the metal grate vibrates against the hard plastic skeleton. More stability couldn't hurt to keep speaker from bouncing.

The A pillar clips are perpendicular to the windshield,so pull down exactly same angle as the windshield (directly away from windshield)

Yes. When I took everything apart and started working on adding foam spacers to speakers I noticed that there was still squeaking sounds coming from the grille which I identified as coming from the metal housing rubbing against the plastic backing. I separated these by GENTLY bending back the tabs and inserting some foam at intervals of about 6" between the plastic and grille and then squeezing everything back together GENTLY bending the tabs back. Oddly this was only a problem on the drivers side where the 2 smaller speakers were mounted. It was definitely NOT coming from the speakers as it made the noise when they were removed.

I emphasize GENTLY as I broke 2 of the tabs when bending back. They do not take to bending more than once very well.

Overall if you do this job just keep wiggling the whole dash panel to be sure you get all the squeaks out before reassembling.

This took care of all of the grille noise. Now I just need to find this "boinging" rattling sound coming from somewhere deep inside the dashboard. And then it's on to the exterior suspension/half shaft noise! Lol..

 

[MileHigh]

Went through this disassembly this week, even after the service center did their fix last year.

After getting the grille up, I could only unplug the center speaker - the phone speakers, even with the center pin depressed, wouldn’t budge with the force I was comfortable with. Speaking of force, the a-pillar clips took a but more than I expected.

I have an early ‘23 build R1T (right after the Meridian cut ?), so I have the funny B shaped duct that rattles. Oddly, the service fix doesn’t seem to address this that well. In the end, I settled on strips of double sided foam tape on the outer sides where the B-duct and the dash duct meet. This has maintained the level connection to the underside of the metal grille where the service center affixed foam strip. Pushing it under the blue part of the dash didn’t seem like a good long term solution.

After a couple days of commuting on the same bumpy roads, it seems to holding up well and completely eliminated the rattle coming from that area that was still present after the service center fix.

Attached a few photos of the foam strip placement from the service fix and of where I applied the double sided foam mounting tape for reference.

Also, had two moments where a flashlight and a wrench dropped/rolled behind the dash. Luckily, there are some nice removable panels under each respective footwells to retrieve things!

 

[Brian-MS90D]

So I actually removed all the tape I put in various locations and only taped the 5 front (along the window) tabs of the front speaker assembly. I used 3M molding tape, which is double sided foam tape, but I left the red backing on the tape so only the side on the tabs was sticky. I did have to remove the assembly to access the tabs. Below are pictures of the tabs before and after taping.

As you can see in the last picture, the tabs don’t really clip into place, but only press up against the ridged (circled in red) spots on the dash. So when the assembly flexes from the weight of the speaker, the tabs pull away from the ridges slightly and then return like a spring board. The only actual clips for the assembly are along the edge opposite the window. Taping those 5 tabs to eliminate the plastic on plastic vibrations completely eliminated my rattling.

This fixed it for me too. I have a Gen1 R1S delivered March, 2024 and it does not have the B duct that many have. Whatever duct is in mind is well secured and doesn't make noise. However, those tabs sure were making noise! Ridiculous really.
This fix eliminated all my rattling. Thanks!

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