Removing interior panels
 

Well as most of you know Blazers including mine rattle and squeak pretty bad. But I have recently developed a really loud rattle in the pillar panels right behind my ear on the drivers side. So I am wondering how difficult it is to remove the large panel from the headliner down both sides of the little side window and it stops right below were the 6x9 speakers go. Its a fairly large panel and I know theres atleast one screw where the hanger hook is near the top and I think you have to remove the bolt that holds the top of the seat belt. I removed my front door panels to replace my speakers which was not too difficult but this seems trickier. So any advice on getting that panel off or a guide someone has already written?

Oh and im taking it off on both sides to put in some foam insulation sort of like dynamat to try to cut down on alot of the vibration and noise. And yes I realize this probably wont cure the whole problem but i know it will help some.

It should just be snapped in with clips once you remove the seat belt. Just give it a good tug and it should come off. I'm not aware of any other bolts. Check inside the storage area's on either sides of the rear seats though. There may be a few bolts/screws in there. The only other thing I could think of would be the triangle window bracket. I believe it's mounted to the same piece of trim that's for the B pillars.

alright thanks. but first i need to find a star bit big enough for that seat belt bolt.

Here you go man...found this on GMSI (Service info). This should help you out. I was looking for the size of the torx bit you needed for the seatbelt, but found this instead :). It's a little hard to see, but you can get a general idea of where they are...

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...flf/303390.gif

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v6...flf/303387.gif

ok its kinda hard to see but Im only wanting to remove the piece from the first picture. But does that show just the two bolts we already talked about and the rest of those are clips. just wanting to clarify?

I'm assuming they are all clips. I tried zooming in to give you a better shot, but unfortunately they are terrible quality pics. Here are the steps as posting in SI for removing it:

•Remove the upper and lower front seat anchor bolts.
•Remove the rear seat belt lower anchor nut.
•Remove the assist handle.
•Remove the coat hook.
•Remove the endgate or the liftgate opening door sill trim plate.
•Fold the rear seats down.
•Remove the jack storage cover (left side only).
•Remove the screw that retains the upper body side trim body side trim panel to the vehicle (left side only).
•Remove the upper body side trim panel from the vehicle.
•Feed the seat belt through the trim panel.

Sounds like mostly clips as I expected..

ok sounds good. Anybody got an input on what kind of insulation to use?

Dynamat? Expensive...but works well from what I hear. Spray foam is another option, but it's messy and permanent.

I forgot what its called but I have seen it used in construction. It looks like they took alot of different colored foam and chopped it up and then pressed it into sheets. Its not a fiberglass insulation but just feels like foam. Anybody know what im talking about?

im thinking of taking those things off this weekend and fixing the god awful squeaks that come out of them they drive me crazy. im thinking of using a combo of sticky 3m foam and fluid film to eliminate this ****. those panels are the biggest interior panels im aware of. simply ridiculous. i saw the same info in SI, so that should all be correct.

In my 2004 2 door once you get all the osh** handles off and the seat belts, the panels all pop off.. i am sound deadening my truck this summer which isn't really cheap but at lowes they have cheap insulation and such.

my buddy with his 98 explorer used the carpet insulation you can buy and just duct taped it into place because his system made his whole life rattle

I think the insulation I was thinking about is carpet insulation( mentioned above ^^). With some trimming and some kind of aerosol or heavy duty glue I would think that would work pretty well.

My buddy did it about 2 years ago and he's still been pushing his 1400 watt rms system hard and the rattles are no where near as bad as they were.... they're still there but not as much. (it does not replace real sound deadening no matter how much you use)

i think he did his 98 4 door explorer for like 40 dollars

My friend, who is a master car audio installer, suggested I use silicone to kill some of my rattles. I'm getting ready to put in a 10w7 and I think that will be a good time to try some sound deadening and rattle removal. I'll let you know if I find a cure for my annoying rattles and squeaks. :p

That would be helpful because my 12w6 with only 200 watts shakes all my panels (i still need to deaden them better though)

what do you mean by sound deadening with silicone?

Take all panels out and make a custom shag carpet sound damping interior?

hello,it is cliped on other than the bolts on seat belt and screw for coat hook a good tip is to get new clips if they have been off several times they will be loose also in high end cars i see alot of velvet-felt type materal at the mateing points to reduce creeking and squeaking thanks and good luck.

thats a good idea with the velvet. Im trying to think of an alternative. I wonder if just a round or two of electrical tape but not tight enough to prevent the clip from flexing would work similar or if it would have to be a velvet type material.

well i got the insulation job finished that I started this whole thread about. I used carpet padding and some aerosol elmers glue and it went really easy. It also helped out alot with the rattling and noises. i would highly recommend it to people with the same problem and wanting a fix thats alot less expensive than dynamat or other sound deadeners.

How is the sound outside the vehicle? I hate my "trunk" rattle.

I actually havent listened from the outside too much but my sub is not turned up really loud but when I have had it up and got out to do something I can hardly hear it.

interior rattle & removing panel to get at it
 

I have the same problem with my 04 Extreme. It has developed a bad rattle somewhere in the piller or overhead section just behind my ear on the drivers side. It's been awhile since your post, but I wanted to check if you had any luck removing the huge interior plastic panel. And then did you find what was causing the rattle. My Extreme has a sunroof and I suspect that may be some of the problem.

I believe I found the main issue with these squeaks and rattles. I took mine apart today, and it isn't very hard, and I noticed that each clip, the ones that you must hit to engage it on reassembly, end up rubbing against the body. In my case the blazer is blue and at each clip, top and bottom of each rectangular hole they go into, the paint was rubbed off. I went to the hardware store and bought some 3/4" thick 1/2" wide window insulation foam. The kind that has glue on one side. I cut two pieces about a 1/2 to 3/4" long and placed it over each rub spot. I also put some foam around the speaker and I used duck tape on the back side of the ash tray seam since I think some of the noise was coming from that. It just doesn't fit real tight. On my test drive, after doing the drivers side, I now noticed the rattles on the passenger side since the drivers side is quite. I didn't even know the passenger side rattled. It got rid of 90% of the rattles. I did the same thing to the passenger side and got the same results. I feel like I am driving a different vehicle. My new complaint is a few door and dash rattles......I know what I am going to do! Oh yeah I won't for sure know if this is a real fix until it has cycled the temperature extremes.

i cant remove the front seat belt bolts any ideas?

why not? seat bolts are a t-50 bit i believe. they might take some torque to get off if they've been on long enough. my 04 took a good tug to start

guess ill have to find a power tool or an air tool me and about 8 of my friends tried getting them off no luck and i may need a third star bit idk yet ....


it is a t50 but mine is an 98 lol sooo they have been there for a while

I got mine off my '92 by just tugging on them with a normal ratchet

put a breaker bar on the end of the ratchet and pull hard. ever try to take wheel locks off a car without the actual tool? smash a socket on there and grab the meatiest ratchet with breaker on it and heave hoe. so man up and get it done!!!!!!

jp with you man

its cool lol but ur not the first pone to say that about 8 of my friends did. thought they were all big and bad well my seat belts showed them and most of my freidns r stronger than i am lol

im gonna hav to gewt another bjit ande get a breaker bar they r starting to get stripped from trying so hard

i tried the normal ratchet it showed me and aboiut 8 of my friends