I finally had some time this past weekend to address the irritating dash noise. I had recalled this post by "Halfdog" and went to work.

Dash removal was not necessary. I removed: wipers, wiper cowl, glovebox, support bar that the bottom of the glovebox bolts to, and the blower/fresh air/recirculate damper assembly (all as 1 piece), plus two metal mounting brackets for the aforementioned assembly located on the passenger side footwell.

I sprayed like Halfdog said and also sprayed from the top of the seams at the base of the windshield inside the cab. You can access it from under the dash when you have the glove box out. I also sprayed where the sheetmetal that supports the hood hinges meets a few other layers. This can be acessed by opening the doors and standing behind them, looking toward the front of the truck. You'll see them between the front quarter panels and the engine bay (passenger side one is near the antenna).

I used Tri-Flow rather than WD40 for several reasons: It's what I had, it has a better lubricant that I thought would last longer once it penetrated and the solvent evaporated, and it smells MUCH better <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" /> (and believe me, you'll be smelling it).

I did this on Saturday afternoon, took a few test drives, tried to get it to flex as much as I could so the lube would penetrate everywhere, and once I heard no sounds, I put it all back together. I haven't heard a peep since. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> I can't believe I waited this long to attack the problem.

It's amazing the psychological impact this has. My brain percieves the truck to be so much nicer and more solid without the snap, crackle, and pop. I know that it is flexing just as much, if not more, but man is it nice!!

Note: I realize that this is kind of a band-aid fix, bit I did it because I figured that at this point, with the truck's age, I'd have better luck playing pick-up sticks with my butt cheeks than getting Toyota to help with any repairs. And, frankly, I don't trust my local dealer to remove the dash and have the autobody shop remove the windshield to add more spot welds to attempt the fix.

Good job man... At least now you know how it all comes apart. I have the same sounds eminating from my dash, but if I ever hear anything I simply turn up the music <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> You'll have to keep us posted on how long it lasts <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" />

Muhahahahah! Thread back from the dead!

As you can imagine, the band aid described above didn't last more than a few days.

I finally got this fixed permanently (methinks) this weekend. I had to pull off the bumper, grille, and fenders. After that I had to drill out some spot welds to remove the pieces at the lower corners of the windshield. Behind those are 6 spot welds rear of that safety catch hook thingy for the hood. Those guys needed to be drilled out and re-welded (carefully-you don't want to blow through the firewall and start a fire behind the dash!!). Then had to re-weld the pieces I had removed, replace fenders, grille and bumper. All done. No noises since Friday! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/patriot.gif" alt="" />

I should have done this years ago. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/shiner.gif" alt="" />

Thanks fer the follow up. Got any piccies? :P

Here we go. First two show the piece that needs to be removed (both sides), second two show the new welds to fix the faulty spot welds (both sides). Bumper, corner marker lights, grille and fenders have to come off first, of course. I primed and painted over the new welds before putting it all back together.









<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/drunk.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Thanks! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />