Rattling sound under Badlands

[Legacy40k]

Edit:
Problem solved. One of the bolts for the skid plate was in fact loose. Not enough that you could tell from visual inspection but they found one slightly loose and tightened it in the quick lane. It was enough to cause the noise. Fixed with no cost or issue and we're now sound free.


For the last few weeks I've had a metallic rattle/clang sound coming from under the vehicle whenever I hit a bump in my badlands. It's annoying. I've emptied everything out of the vehicle, tightened the licence plates and tightened the spare tire to try and suss out the problem with no luck.


It started happening not too long after getting an oil change. Do they have to remove any of the metal under body panels to change the oil and maybe one wasn't tightened properly?

Vehicle runs fine otherwise - but any little bump I get this sound. Has anyone else had something like this?

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[kshaw]

Loose catalytic converter shields is a frequent source of noises like this.

 

[thomasm23]

Check to see if all the fasteners were reinstalled and tightened on the shield under the engine.

 

[Mark S.]

Try this:

 

[Davenorton]

To the OP's question, yes , shields do have to be removed to change oil/filter. Guessing a fastener was not replaced/tightened . Go back to the source. Good luck

 

[sajohnson]

As others have mentioned, the bash/skid plate does have to be removed:

That's an aftermarket skid plate (I couldn't find a good photo of the stock one) but it'll give you a good idea what's involved.

Not to be alarmist but you might want to take a look before driving your Badlands any further. The photo above shows the location of the mounting bolts. Ideally, if you have access to tools, you can snug them up yourself -- but at least confirm they are all in place and not ready to drop out.

Final tightening should be done with a torque wrench.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

For the last few weeks I've had a metallic rattle/clang sound coming from under the vehicle whenever I hit a bump in my badlands. It's annoying. I've emptied everything out of the vehicle, tightened the licence plates and tightened the spare tire to try and suss out the problem with no luck.


It started happening not too long after getting an oil change. Do they have to remove any of the metal under body panels to change the oil and maybe one wasn't tightened properly?

Vehicle runs fine otherwise - but any little bump I get this sound. Has anyone else had something like this?

Hello! Send us a private message with your VIN and current mileage. Allow me to see what I can do to assist. Thanks!

 

[Legacy40k]

Problem solved. One of the bolts for the skid plate was in fact loose. Not enough that you could tell from visual inspection but they found one slightly loose and tightened it in the quick lane. It was enough to cause the noise. Fixed with no cost or issue and we're now sound free.

 

[Glamdring70]

I also had a skid plate bolt back itself out between oil changes. Not far enough to drop out, but it was maybe 1/4" out. It might be prudent to re-apply some locker compound after a change or two or opting to inspect them when you check the oil and air.

 

[sajohnson]

Edit:
Problem solved. One of the bolts for the skid plate was in fact loose. Not enough that you could tell from visual inspection but they found one slightly loose and tightened it in the quick lane. It was enough to cause the noise. Fixed with no cost or issue and we're now sound free.


For the last few weeks I've had a metallic rattle/clang sound coming from under the vehicle whenever I hit a bump in my badlands. It's annoying. I've emptied everything out of the vehicle, tightened the licence plates and tightened the spare tire to try and suss out the problem with no luck.


It started happening not too long after getting an oil change. Do they have to remove any of the metal under body panels to change the oil and maybe one wasn't tightened properly?

Vehicle runs fine otherwise - but any little bump I get this sound. Has anyone else had something like this?

Glad to hear it Andrew!

One note -- one or more of the mounting bolts can seem tight, when actually the plate is not in contact with the subframe. More than once I've snugged the bolts up using a 1/2" drive ratchet only to find that when finishing up with the toque wrench, 1 or 2 bolts require a few more turns to draw the plate up to the frame, while the rest only need 1/4-1/2 turn. It seems as if the plate is not stamped properly to make equal contact at all mounting locations.

Granted, these are not head bolts, but it's best to use a torque wrench.

Also, as Tim mentioned, thread locker is a good idea. It is applied at the factory. When fasteners are removed it makes the thread locker much less effective.

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