I decided to start a new thread since my other ended up turning toward this topic. Ah yes the annoying rear window squeak. Some of the things we've mentioned have been putting electrical tape around the "hoop" on the glass. Yeah that stops it for a bit but the latch eventually eats through it and it starts squeaking again. I noticed that a previous owner has put some thin pads....kinda like double-stick tape, but only sticky on one side... around the bottom edges of the back glass...apparently to help it close tighter so there's less play and therefore hopefully less squeak. Any of you tried this? It looks like it might have worked for a while but I think they're getting thin so it's squeaking. Another thing I noticed is that the hoop seems to have some indentations where the latch has wore into it. I've thought about maybe taking a file and filing that smooth. Would this work? Did it squeak from day one? Back in 95 when the vehicle was new, was there maybe some sort of plastic guard on the latch that helped keep it from squeaking? Can the "hoop" on the glass be loosened and repositioned just a bit to remedy the squeak? DID it move a little to begin with and that's why it's squeaking. How about the gas shocks. Mine work....barely...you have to open it up almost all the way by hand before the gas kicks in and holds it and lately it got cold here in the last week and in the cold, it doesn't want to stay up at all. But it would make sense in the shocks are in good shape then it would put a lot more pressure (kind of like someone constantly pulling outward on the glass) and thus, cause it to latch tighter and not squeak. Yes we are getting very scientific about this squeak! Anyways...just looking for other opinions or thoughts on it and how you've solved it.

 

Most of the time this is caused by the weatherstripping taking a set in the compressed state. It causes the tension that it normally would put on the hinge and latch to be lessened.

Here is something to try. Get some soft plastic tubing that fits inside the weatherstripping. You may have to experiment with some different sizes, but find one that you can slide through the whole weatherstripping for the window and that will not cause it to really be difficult to get closed. Start with some 1/16" or 1/8" tubing and move up from there.

I have done this on some door weather stripping in the past to take care of wind noise. Increased tension should work the same way at the back hatch.

 

You can loosen the latch handle with the "hoop" and move it. You need a 15mm deep socket since you have to loosen the pin that goes into the latch and it is a bolt that screws into the handle on the outside. I've been playing with mine trying to get the squeak to stop. I first tried with the handle and inside piece all the way down and that didn't work. I moved it all the way towards the top of the window and that seems to help. From the factory on my 2003 there is a rubber piece that is around where the pin on the window goes and on the latch itself there is a plastic/rubber pad over the edge of the catch to reduce the squeaks. Mine only squeaks over low speed bumps and corners. My 1st gen Blazers were HORRIBLE with the squeaks. I bought a new handle for the glass for my 92 and that did help quite a bit since the bar was worn like you describe so it didn't latch as tight as it should have. Maybe some paint on rubber stuff like you would use to rubber coat the ends of tool handles would work. At least till it wore through that. It should last longer than electrical tape. That only seems to last a couple weeks if you use the hatch much.

 

Thanks for the ideas, guys. Kyle that is a great idea about some tubing. I'm pretty sure I've got some clear plastic stuff.....like the kind you use for air lines on an aquarium....I bet I could get that to go inside the weather stripping and it's pretty flexible. And it makes sense...I figured that GM must have come up with a rubber pad/coating of some sort for the latch since it's the metal to metal that is squeaking. Will continue to tinker with it. There's plenty of rattles and noise in this truck but by far I think the back glass is the most annoying. Some of the other rattles might be able to be solved by replacing worn or broken clips that hold the trim pieces together....and maybe a little rubber padding between the pieces. Haven't gotten that far yet...that'll be attempted after I fix the squeak.....and some other minor problems.

 

thanks so much! that problem has been annoying the heck out of me and i did what you suggested. totally worked, so now i can ride without loud squeaking (now i just hear all my other interior rattles lol)

 

Is there any specific place on the window weatherstripping where that tubing idea would work best? I tried putting 1/8" tubing on the sides, but I didn't put any on the top of the window by the window hinges and I think the problem actually got worse, if that's at all possible.

I heard getting some 3M foam tape on the weatherstripping helps put pressure on the window to stop the squeak. Has anyone tried this?

 

It's scary that Blazer owners all seem to have the same problems. I'm looking to buy another one though.

I'm going to try the tubing for the back glass and possibly the front driver and passenger doors. I get a lot of wind noise and rain coming in both front doors.

 

I flipped the hoop around on my '91, and that helped a lot. Didn't solve the problem, but made it considerably less squeaky.

Mine has the typical blown shocks, well, actually missing now. I took them off rather than fight them every time I opened/closed the hatch :P and the collapsed weatherstripping as well. Rather than shove tubing into the stripping, wouldn't it be easier/better just to replace it?

I've been thinking for some time that's probably the key - good lift cylinders with weatherstripping that's in good shape.

 

I have that annoying squeak also. I'll definitely try the tubing idea until I can replace the weather stripping.

 

According to the owner's manual there is some stuff you can put on it to stop the squeak. It's prob like armor-all or something like that. It has a fancy GM name.