Road noise, rear of cabin

[Wynford]

Only just bought a rav 4 2.0 petrol and drove it home from London. Was surprised at how noisy it was in the cabin, coming mostly from the rear! . Can anyone explain why? Fear it maybe that really big and heavy rear door not shutting tightly enough...tx

[daveh_rav4]

Hi, welcome to the forum.  Well, depends on what kind of a nose it is... a rattle, knocking or drone/grinding?  A few things to check, make sure that the rear door stop rubbers are present that fix to the body.... these stop the door rattling; they have a habit of falling off (best to use a bit of glue to hold them in). Adjust rear door striker plate adjustment to make sure the door is closed tight against them stop rubbers. Also rear diff support bushes can wear... this is normally a clonk though when on/ff throttle.  Diff bearings?   Obviously check exhaust for blows or broken support rubbers/knocking.  Also check for noisy wheel bearings (jack each wheel, spin and listen for any rumbles and or slack... or if worse when cornering can also be a clue. Could even be a brake shoe or brake pad hanging up (if yours is rear discs), even a stone trapped behind brake disc/backplate.  Else get it up on a ramp and check for anything loose under ^  Good luck.

See you at the next Toyota South coast meet 🙂

 

[Kos_ta]

If it's just a road noise, it's quite normal, RAV4 is not a quietest car to start with, it has very little (or maybe it is right to say not at all) soundproofing. When I bought mine I took two cars for a test drive: KIA Sportage and RAV, both same model year and similar mileage. Despite the fact that KIA was diesel it was a lot quieter than RAV. After about 8 month of ownership the noise has done my head in and I soundproof the whole cabin. Took me 2 days work and about £500 for materials. It is now almost as quiet as my previous Rover 75.

[Wynford]

thanks @daveh_rav4 and @Kos_ta for the replies. The noise is droning....on the motorway....I'm used to an audi a6 estate, just switched to rav4. 

I found it unbearable, it was very 'boomy' - no luggage cover in place - could it be that? I'm going to put a load of old blankets in the back see it it helps

thanks guys

 

ps: i read on another forum one guy drives with noise cancelling headphones on, lol!

[Heidfirst]

Tyres can make a difference & certainly no luggage cover will make a difference. 

[daveh_rav4]

4 hours ago, Kos_ta said:

If it's just a road noise, it's quite normal, RAV4 is not a quietest car to start with, it has very little (or maybe it is right to say not at all) soundproofing. When I bought mine I took two cars for a test drive: KIA Sportage and RAV, both same model year and similar mileage. Despite the fact that KIA was diesel it was a lot quieter than RAV. After about 8 month of ownership the noise has done my head in and I soundproof the whole cabin. Took me 2 days work and about £500 for materials. It is now almost as quiet as my previous Rover 75.

LOL... I must have got so used to the in-cabin 'drone' I just don't notice it... mind, mine is a SWB ,so perhaps not as pronounced as a five door. Wow... that must have been some sound-proofing kit for that amount of dosh !  I did throw some extra lagging and felt into an old Ford I ran some years ago; but that was a lot cheaper; worked quite well t5hough and worth the effort. 

Yeah, Wynford... get some heavy blankets and experiment and see if you get any improvement.  I don't have a luggage cover in my SWB 4.1... so don't know about that, but if it's missing than you probably need it! ! 

[IanML]

8 hours ago, Wynford said:

Only just bought a rav 4 2.0 petrol and drove it home from London. Was surprised at how noisy it was in the cabin, coming mostly from the rear! . Can anyone explain why? Fear it maybe that really big and heavy rear door not shutting tightly enough...tx

I have the same car as you, but mine is whisper quiet unless the engine is working hard on a hill.  My rear door is quite resistant to being shut, so I would guess yours has either lost the rubber buffers or needs the striker adjusted.

[Wynford]

thanks @IanML & @Heidfirst - will have to further investigate.....noticed x 2 rubber stoppers missing from top and bottom corners of the door.

must get some, but where? 

cheers

wyn

 

[daveh_rav4]

Yup, those two stop rubbers have a habit of dropping off (as stated earlier, good idea to glue them in)  Where to get them?  Well, when I ran a Ford... my first port of call for spares was my local main dealer; I would suggest you obtain them from there or possibly our very own 'Parts King',  you will get yout Toyota Forum discount then 🙂

It is strange... but I notice quite a few people on here requesting where to obtain spares for Toyota... makes me wonder if there is a spares supply problem?

DaveH 

[Heidfirst]

5 minutes ago, daveh_rav4 said:

It is strange... but I notice quite a few people on here requesting where to obtain spares for Toyota... makes me wonder if there is a showpares supply problem?

I think that most are just looking for a cheaper source than a Toyota dealer (for some things I find Toyota quite reasonable but sometimes it is a definite "they want how much for that? 😮 " )

& of course after a certain age parts supply will become limited.

[daveh_rav4]

Thanks Scott... 🙂 my last comment was a bit of a sarcastic swipe at Toyota; but probably all manufactuers are keen to reduce the service life of there vehicles by making the sparesexpensive or non exsistant!  How else will they sell new vehicles if everyone keeps them going as long as I do!  Thankfully, I am not blessed with wanting the latest shiny new toy every five years...

🙂

[Heidfirst]

iirc within the EU spares have to be available for 10 years but understandably (& particularly for low volume parts) once a vehicle goes out of production they are less than keen to sanction a production run for vehicle-specific parts. For high volume parts often one or more 3rd party manufacturer will bring something out.

[Wynford]

Toyota Cushion Back Door Stopper RAV 4 is what they are called. Just them off eBay, i read there are 2 sizes, i bought one from toyota eBay shop and one from tss

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/322082572053 - toyota one

and

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/254046231880 - this is the upper stop

[IanML]

On the general point about spares for older models, if unavailable in UK, a good site to try is Amayama.  They have a large warehouse in the UAR, and will air freight to UK.  Not cheap, but if you're stuck....

[Wynford]

thanks for the tip @IanML 

wyn

[Kos_ta]

On 1/4/2019 at 9:18 PM, daveh_rav4 said:

Wow... that must have been some sound-proofing kit for that amount of dosh ! 

@daveh_rav4 3mm vibro + 5mm noise cancelling on the floor, the rest of the car 2mm + 3mm, it's become slightly heavier now as well 😂😂. 

Unfortunately, my OCD won't let me get away with old blanket thrown in the back 😂