Okay, so I have this really loud, anoying rattle, somewhere above and / or behind my head. Granted, it only does this when I'm playing some kind of techno bass track, at very high volumes..... but once in a while (or during a stereo demo) that's exactly what I want to do.

So anyway, my mechanic friend and I already struggled for 2 hours to get most of the rear portion of the headliner down, so I could put some thin sponge rubber up there before bottoning all back up. It seemed to fix it for a little bit, but it has come back now even worse ! I'm thinking the sponge might have slid.

Next time, I might try some spray adhesive..... But also, next time, I'm going to start some bass music testing with the headliner still dropped... then button up one point... test again... button another point... test again, and so on.

This is not some little tinny kind of rattle that you have to listen close to hear... This is a loud flapping rattle, that is half as loud as the bass ! Yet, I can lean back in my seat, and put moderate pressure against the headliner, and it instantly goes away 100%. It's just kind of funky to have to hold onto the headliner for every demo.
BTW, I'm really not to surprised that something is flapping against itself up there, as it feels like my roof is flexing and rippling 1/4".
Maybe its good that I only have one big rattle, instead of 20 smaller ones....

So what's my actual question here ? Uhhh..... HTF do you get these headliners down a little easier ? Those little hook clips are a total bitch !

Anybody here effed with our headliner ? Do you feel my pain ? Any advice ?

Thanks,
Fish

 

the push pins are probably the biggest pain the **** outta the entire job! the rest is just tedious BS having to take off all the trim to lower the headliner. The pins in my opinion are twice as long as needed. Do you have a sunroof, a rail system or just the dome lights. Look for the wires running along the top of the headliner for the dome lights make sure they are secured. What i do for the pins is use a door panel tool to grip around the pin and use a rag under the tool to use as a piviot to help pull the long sucker outta there. hope this helps

 

I had to get a couple of dings taken out by my PDR guy and he said the headliner takes about 1 hour to completely drop...he said its tedious....but not bad.

 

i had a weird clunking sound from my headliner when i bought it. there are rigid blocks that keep the headliner and dome light from touching the roof, but the headliner bounces around and the blocks tap the roof, making the sound. take some 1/2" foam, small pieces of carpet, or whatever you may have. pull out the dome light and on either side of the opening of the dome light, you should be able to feel these blocks attached to the head liner with your hand. wedge your foam or whatever between the blocks and the roof and re-install the dome light. should quiet it down.

 

Chris, put some sound deadener on the roof and attach some foam dampener on the headliner where the rattle is (luxury liner or rattletrap by secondskin is a great option). It will fix your problems.

 

Much thanks to all of you. I read all of your posts 'twice' !

After I posted this this morning, I was afraid I might have a bunch of guys who don't have an upgraded stereo.... nor any rattles caused by such, who would be like.... "That's what you get ! Big **** subwoofers... Giant amplifier..... Too bad. Deal with it" ! ;-)

Man, that mechanic that can take the whole headliner down in an hour is good ! I spent about an hour getting the drivers side rear portion down, and then slapped a peice (about 8" x 10") of 1/2" foam against the roof, with this special glue stuff I have.... Positioned about where that concaved square section rises up close to the roof. Buttoned it back up.... and it fixed it.... kind of
But now it seems that the rattle has shifted to the back edge. It's not as bad, and it takes very little pressure to make it go away.....

So, my next plan of attack, is going to be to pop those two rear push plugs. Shove some thin foam back behind there.... and then, since those plugs are just about shot from going in and out 4 times now, I'll just replace them with new ones.
What a bitch..... I'll have to spend $10 or $15 in gas, to travel to a town where the Ford dealership has not been shut down, for a couple .50 cent parts :-( The closest 3 Ford dealerships, all within 15 miles, have shut down in the last two years.

Hey mSaLL, For sure..... but that will have to wait until this Fall.

Peace,
Fish

 

man, I'm 99% sure that your problem is the one that i had. if you already have the headliner out, see if those hard blocks are attached to the headliner by the rear dome light. put some 1/2" foam spacers on them to quiet them down. no need to tear the whole truck apart.

 

Hey Big Slick, I'll look into that too.

Peace,
Fish

 

See if this old post helps you..I had the headliner noise and fixed it..See my post #32 & 35
https://www.f150online.com/forums/in...-bounce-3.html

 

took us about 2 hours to completely remove Jwool's headliner in his 05 supercrew. The overhead rail system took us the longest. Its was pretty difficult to swing it out around the steering wheel.

Good luck Chris :o
-Patrick

 

Hey RobNY, now that's interesting. I actually did have a rattle up near the rear cab light 'before'..... but it sounded more like the plastic of the light cover itself, definately seperate from the louder, lower frequency slap of my headliner hitting the sheet metal..... and anyway, that is gone now.

If any more rattles develop further forward, near the light, I might try the light removal trick next.

For now, I think I just want to put a littlre foam between the back edges (where the headliner curves down towards the rear window) and put some new, tight push pins in there, and see what that does.
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BTW, from reading that other thread, it seems like some people are getting this rattle during "normal use".......
And again, I have to admit, I'm only getting the rattling and slapping when I'm cranking the heck out of a pretty big, powerful system, with two ported 12"s.....
Sometimes it even makes my head rattle :-) Maybe if I shoved some sponge rubber in my ears ? ;-) LOL

Peace,
Fish