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HOW TO: Eliminate King Cab Door Rattle

30K views 23 replies 14 participants last post by  glamisdude 
#1 ·
Recently my truck has really began to loosen up and the rear king cab doors now rattle over every bump in the road... Its very annoying. So I searched on here and found quite a few threads on the matter with basically only one DIY solution and the rest being "dealer magic" where it came from the dealer fixed. Well after looking at how the door latches and where the noise was coming from I managed to get rid of my rattles ENTIRELY! My truck's cab is now silent:) (although now I can hear suspension squeaks...) Anyways, here is what I did to fix it.

First you should start with the DIY already known on here:
This consists of "adjusting" the U latches on both doors.

1) Open both doors and locate U latch for king cab door (in the door seal on the bottom)

2) Loosen up the two torque bolts slightly and gently beat the mount in towards the truck with a rubber mallet.

3) Tighten down bolts and close king cab door

4) Repeat process for front door U latch (mounted on king cab door about halfway up door seal)

This helped a little with my rattles but I was not satisfied just yet.

Now for the fun part:) (This is what I added in addition to known "fix"above)

0) Here is what you need to do the real fix:
- 1" x 1/8" x ~20" Aluminium flat stock ($5 at Home Depot)
-Hack Saw
-Drill with small pilot bit and step bit, lube
-Sharpie

Optional:
-Vice
-Hammer and punch
-File
-Scotch Brite pad


1) Open both doors, locate this cover and remove it. I found grabbing the top more towards the front to be best. There are two snaps and then you have to slide it towards the rear of the truck to get it off.


With the cover off, this is what you see:


2) Take a Sharpie and trace around the latch bracket as best you can to use as a reference


3) Unbolt the three 12mm bolts and remove bracket and shims. *Note you might be able to buy these shims from the dealer, not sure..




4) Take the latch bracket over to the bench and place it over your flat stock. Mark length needed and holes.



5) Cut to length, center punch holes, and pilot drill them.



6) Secure your shim and drill the three holes using the step bit. The two outer holes are 3/8" and the inner one is 1/2"



7*) Optional* Clean up your part by filing the cut edges smooth, de-burring the holes, and polishing the faces.



8 ) Now take your newly made shims and check the holes against the bracket and mount them up in the truck. Start by only lightly snugging up the center bolt and close the KC door.



9) With the door still closed add the other bolts and lightly snug them up as well. Open and close the door a few times two get everything to settle where they are happy. After that tighten everything down real good.




10) Snap the cover back in place and bingo! No more rattles:D
Before all this I could grab the rear door and more it back and forth a good amount where as now I can't move it at all.


Note: If after doing this and instead of rattles you now hear like a squeaky rubbery noise, wipe all of your doors seals down with Silicone lube. This will condition them and quiet them down.

Also I realize now that I could have only made 1 shim per side by making them out of 1/4". The factory shims measured ~1/16" and ~ 3/32" for a shim thickness per side of 5/32" vs the 1/4" of shim in there now.
 
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#3 ·
Nope:) The door feels pretty much the same as it did before. I takes a tiny bit more force to close it but not much. It really made the cab feel solid.
 
#4 ·
Very Cool. Thanks for taking the time to do the photos and the details on the work. This may come in handy as my truck gets older.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Ok, so I was bored today and figured I would give this a whirl. I did what Glamisdude suggested and bought 1/4 " stock. Couldn't find it from Lowe's Hardware, so swung by Tractor Supply , and they had it. Actually, they had a much better selection of Aluminum stock, so just keep that in mind. (I don't know if they have Tractor Supply in Cali though ;)

I shot a pic of the inside of the fascia that you will be removing. You pull straight out, and then slide it as Glamis mentioned. I ALWAYS break plastic stuff, so I figured someone might like to see the actual "other side" of the part. This is the passenger side.
 

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#8 ·
Thank you Glamisdude for the great DYI write up. My passenger rear door is loose on the bottom latch. (top latch is snug) I've already tried loosening the torx bolts and tapping the latch in toward the truck. They didn't seem to move at all. Any other suggestions?

Thanks
 
#10 ·
Yes, I could move them around easily with my fingers. It seems that they are not adjustable, i.e. the bolts don't screw into a slot, just hole..

Were you able to get your to move?
 
#11 ·
No problem guys!

Sneaky: Glad to see the 1/4" flat stock works as well. I believe we have TSC out here but I was just at Depot for other things so I not wanting to make another trip I just grabbed the 1/8"

Ploobr: Mine moved only a small amount after some love from a big orange Harbor Freight mallet. It only made a marginal improvement for me, the bottom of the doors were still a bit loose before I did the above. I'd give this a try even though you say your tops are tight, hardly costs anything, doesn't take long, and completely reversible.
 
#15 ·
I did an abbreviated version of this mod using fender washers. It only made a slight difference but I only used one washer per bolt (could only find three) so it will tighten up the door, more washers/thicker spacer equals tighter door. I have the side curtain airbags and had to maneuver around the air bag to remove the latch. Not fun but doable.
 
#18 ·
i had a few minutes and did this today. the passenger door has had a terrible rattle in it since i got the truck. i was convinced for a long time that it was the passenger jump seat. i really inspected the door today. i don't think the bottom latch has ever completely closed. i had about a half inch of movement at the bottom of the door when it was closed.

the passenger side got the full glamisdude treatment. i even went a little farther and loosened up the bottom hinge and moved it forward a little. i have always felt that the bottom of the door scraped a little on the sill as it was closing. it was a little tricky getting the plastic shroud out of the way to access the hinge bolts.(the door needs to be closed, to sneak the plastic out of the gap between the door and the bed.)

the drivers door only recieved the rubber mallet to the u latches.i wont be able to really test it till tomorrow, but im wondering if this will also cure my 'wind noise at high speed' problem in the drivers door.
 
#20 ·
its worth a shot. it may be easier to do it yourself. it only took me 15 minutes. it might take longer to drive to the dealership and back. also, who is to say they could take care of it on the spot. if it is for the 'principle' then i would say go ahead.
 
#22 ·
Bringing back an old thread guys. Would it be OK to remove the bottom latch and drilling out to slot the bracket holes a bit so it can slide in toward the truck a bit more? I'm going to be doing this to my KC in the next few days or so. Thanks.

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