Rear Cabin Tapping / Clicking Rattle Noise

LeeRoy24 · June 22, 2016

Interested to know if anyone else is hearing a tapping / clicking noise coming from the back seat floor area of their new Silverado 1500 crew cabs? I purchased a brand new 2016 Silverado 1500 Z71 midnight edition last Friday, 6/17, and immediately noticed the noise on the drive home. It is very noticeable with no radio on and the windows up. My wife noticed it too, and being a rattle freak that I am, we proceeded to try to "chase" it down by riding in the back and listening closely for it with no luck. We have even removed the back seats and are still hearing the tapping noise, which eliminates the possibility that it is coming from the seats. From the best we can tell it sounds like something under the truck is sporadically hitting the cabin, creating the sound. The best way I can describe the sound would be that it sounds like someone with long fingernails tapping them against the underside of the cabin.

So I proceeded to crawl under the truck and get the best view I could of the area. I saw an exhaust heat shield in the general area of the noise that could have loosely been tapping the cabin so I cinched it up tight, and the noise persisted. I saw some cables that looked like they could be making the tapping noise so I cinched them up tight, and the noise persisted. The only other thing I saw in the area it sounds like it is coming from is the gas tank itself. Interestingly, the noise seemed to subside a bit when we filled the tank up with gas, but it is still happening and is most prominent when we are braking.

Long story short my wife and I dropped it off at the dealership this morning, Jim Norton Chevrolet in Broken Arrow, OK, and they are going to try to find the source of the noise and fix it. I will keep this board posted on what they do and if it fixes the issue. I've go to say I am pretty impressed with this dealership so far as they seem to genuinely try to offer quality customer service. I wish I could say I was as impressed with our brand new, very expensive Chevrolet truck. It is actually our second brand new Chevrolet truck purchased over the last 13 months. Our first was a 2015 Colorado purchased in May, 2015, and we traded it in for this Silverado in part because it had numerous very annoying rattles (including one that the dealership attempted to fix but could not).

I have been a used Ford truck owner all my life and have never had an issue like this. We have bought two Chevys now because my wife likes Chevy and I actually really want to like Chevy too, but she knows this is the last chance for us with a GM product. I think it has the potential to be a VERY nice truck, but there is no excuse for this type of issue on a brand new vehicle that costs this much money. In the meantime we will be using my rattle free 2009 Ford F-150.

Thanks for any help and I apologize if there is already a thread on this topic. I looked and did not see one.

Lee in Oklahoma

emeryz28 · June 23, 2016

I believe I might have a similar noise. it sounds like it is right behind the rear door under the truck on the drivers side only. I can only hear it wieh the radio off and windows up and it doesn't always happen.

I can say it is the only thing that I have an issue with, otherwise the truck is flawless. Most people probably wouldn't even notice this noise.

did you check to make sure it wasn't the seatbelt buckle tapping against the side of the cab?

LeeRoy24 · June 23, 2016

What you are describing sounds like the same noise and the exact same location my noise is coming from. It's not a continuous noise, but more intermittent. Sometimes I have gone 10-15 miles without hearing it, but it always eventually returns.

It is definitely not the seat belt as we took out the rear seats and both my wife and myself have ridden back there literally checking everything with no luck. Our truck only has 500 miles and it is the only issue we currently have as well, but my patience has been diminished since we just traded one in with similar annoyances.

Please let me know if you ever find the source of your noise and I will keep this thread posted with what the dealership attempts to do to mine and whether or not it fixes it.

GMCustomerService · June 23, 2016

Hello Lee,

I am sorry to hear you are experiencing a ticking noise in the back of your Silverado, and can understand how this can be frustrating considering you have a brand new vehicle. However, I am happy to see that you have dropped your truck off at the dealership to have this looked at, and would be more than happy to provide additional support while it is in for service. If this is something that interests you, please send me a private message with more details.

All the best,

Julianne M.

GM Customer Care

Interested to know if anyone else is hearing a tapping / clicking noise coming from the back seat floor area of their new Silverado 1500 crew cabs? I purchased a brand new 2016 Silverado 1500 Z71 midnight edition last Friday, 6/17, and immediately noticed the noise on the drive home. It is very noticeable with no radio on and the windows up. My wife noticed it too, and being a rattle freak that I am, we proceeded to try to "chase" it down by riding in the back and listening closely for it with no luck. We have even removed the back seats and are still hearing the tapping noise, which eliminates the possibility that it is coming from the seats. From the best we can tell it sounds like something under the truck is sporadically hitting the cabin, creating the sound. The best way I can describe the sound would be that it sounds like someone with long fingernails tapping them against the underside of the cabin.

So I proceeded to crawl under the truck and get the best view I could of the area. I saw an exhaust heat shield in the general area of the noise that could have loosely been tapping the cabin so I cinched it up tight, and the noise persisted. I saw some cables that looked like they could be making the tapping noise so I cinched them up tight, and the noise persisted. The only other thing I saw in the area it sounds like it is coming from is the gas tank itself. Interestingly, the noise seemed to subside a bit when we filled the tank up with gas, but it is still happening and is most prominent when we are braking.

Long story short my wife and I dropped it off at the dealership this morning, Jim Norton Chevrolet in Broken Arrow, OK, and they are going to try to find the source of the noise and fix it. I will keep this board posted on what they do and if it fixes the issue. I've go to say I am pretty impressed with this dealership so far as they seem to genuinely try to offer quality customer service. I wish I could say I was as impressed with our brand new, very expensive Chevrolet truck. It is actually our second brand new Chevrolet truck purchased over the last 13 months. Our first was a 2015 Colorado purchased in May, 2015, and we traded it in for this Silverado in part because it had numerous very annoying rattles (including one that the dealership attempted to fix but could not).

I have been a used Ford truck owner all my life and have never had an issue like this. We have bought two Chevys now because my wife likes Chevy and I actually really want to like Chevy too, but she knows this is the last chance for us with a GM product. I think it has the potential to be a VERY nice truck, but there is no excuse for this type of issue on a brand new vehicle that costs this much money. In the meantime we will be using my rattle free 2009 Ford F-150.

Thanks for any help and I apologize if there is already a thread on this topic. I looked and did not see one.

Lee in Oklahoma

emeryz28 · June 23, 2016

Now I only notice mine when I go over bumps or rough ground. Not sure if that is the case for you.

On another note, my 2011 Camaro makes a tapping noise on occasion, almost sounds like someone is in the trunk tapping. I found out is very common and it has to do with the fuel pump cycling. Does yours make the noise when you are idle or riding on smooth surface?

LeeRoy24 · June 23, 2016

Does not make the noise at all when idling, but will occasionally do it riding on smooth surface. It is most frequent when it is bumpy and when I am braking.

MOhunter92 · July 4, 2016

My truck makes the same noise. Took me forever to figure it out, it is the back seat driver side. Go back there and just slightly start wiggling it up and down. It makes a clicking rattling sound that is intermittent while driving. I had my fiancé go back there when I was driving and with weight on that back seat it was gone. Gonna have the dealer fix that along with a couple other rattles I found.

Sent from my treestand using Tapatalk

hirdlej · July 5, 2016

_{My regular cab had a noise similar to what you're describing. I was pressing around while driving and I found out it's the black plastic trim that runs the full width of the cab and up against the rear window. I used a 1/8" thick piece of spongy weather stripping and jammed it down in there and all the way across the cab. It's a perfectly rattle free truck now.}

emeryz28 · July 5, 2016

definitely not the same noise I was talking about. Mine sounds like it is under the truck around the frame rails, somewhere near the backseat area, drivers side only

LeeRoy24 · July 5, 2016

Yea its not going to be the same as mine either as I took the back seats completely out and the noise remains. Mine sounds like it is under the truck about where the gas tank meets up with the underside of the cabin, drivers side only. Sounds like fingernails under there tapping. As an update my truck is still at the service shop at Jim Norton Chevrolet. It's been two weeks to the day that we took it in. Hoping to get it back this week so I can post on what they have found, and hopefully have a rattle free truck. The wifey is getting impatient!

emeryz28 · July 6, 2016

So I listened today as I went over speed bumps at work, radio off, ac off, just back driver window open. It is more of a clanking noise when I hear it from the outside. wondering if this is the leaf spring slap that everyone talks about. It sounds completely different then when I hear it with the windows up

LeeRoy24 · July 6, 2016

I didn't try that when I had the truck but wish I did now to see if I could hear it with the back drivers window or rear sliding window open. In any event I stopped by the dealership today and they have not yet located the source of the rattle. They did acknowledge that they all hear it. They initially had their trim person look for it with no luck, so they now have their other service techs and even their service manager looking into it. Mentioned that they think it might be an exhaust issue.

It makes me very nervous to know they will be essentially taking apart my brand new $50,000 truck to hunt this rattle. If I would have known this would have happened, I would never have bought the truck. Perhaps some silver lining is that other GM truck owners with this issue might learn something from my experience. I left there with an assurance from the service rep that they are working on it and will fix it, but with absolutely no timeline for how long it might take. I asked him what the protocol was if they cannot fix it, and he didn't have an answer for me. Needless to say I am losing patience too.

I'll keep the board posted when I have an update.

emeryz28 · July 6, 2016

I have to say at this point, my noise is not bothersome enough to head to the dealer for a tear down. Heck if the truck wasn't so damn quiet I doubt I would have ever heard this

badfnz · August 18, 2016

I have the same rattle from the rear roof area when going over any bumps, no matter how small. At first I thought it was something in my sunroof, but it turns out it's my headliner. I can tap on the headliner behind the dome light and the whole thing is loose. It's like one of the clips that holds the headliner to the roof has popped out. I tried banging around on it to see if I could get it to engage, but no luck. I'll probably bring it up to the dealer when I take it in for my first oil change.

For anyone that has this same rattle, try banging on your headliner behind the dome light in the center of the backseat area and see if it is loose.

Sparky45 · September 29, 2016

I have a 2014 crew cab and have about the same issue. I think mine is worse when the wind is blowing and I think I found the problem but don't know how to fix it. If you look between the cab and the bed there is a rubber boot or strip going up and down that appears to be some kind of deflector. If you move that with your hand you can hear it hit the cab with a slapping noise. Not sure what to do about it and it seems to only make the noise on the passenger side of the truck.