Rattle bucket

[jauch]

My 1972 Challenger 340 is such a f'n rattle bucket, were to even begin... not looking for any special handling performance, just a smooth ride, i maybe drive the car 100 miles a year at most.

[Cuda54]

Is it under the car or front or back? I hope it is not the motor. Some times the window guides will loosen up and rattle. You can real hear it when you shut the doors. The exhaust pipes will rattle if the bracket are not tight or mounted right. The jack in the trunk  if it is loose it will rattle like crazy going down the road. Anything  that is just laying loose in the trunk will rattle. The ends on the shocks can be a bad rattle. Just go over the car and check the nuts and bolt to see if they are tight. ottom fender brackets if loose will realy rattle going down the road. Tortion bars the ends are known to rattle if not tight. As you go over the car grab the bracket and parts and try to shake them to see if they move.  Or put on 3" exhaust with headers and dump them under the seats you should not hear any rattles after that. 

[Jamiez]

The worst rattle in my car was caused by the passenger door panel.  One of the clips was all broken and bent when a previous owner did an install.  This allowed the panel to vibrate and the part of the clip that was left would squeak against the edge of the hole.

Another spot where I had a rattle was due to the console not being tightened down well. 

Both were pretty quick fixes.

You might want to consider sound deadener as well. It will really cut down on the metal rattle caused by the panels vibrating.

[spamtank]

One of my rattles was the exhaust pipe against the gas tank.  Sounded awful.  A little persuasion of the bracket and it was fine.

[jauch]

the rattle is pretty much the entire car lol, both door and windows all rattle, the front end rattle. I'm sure it's all the original suspension parts on the car, just wondering if i should just do a full front end rebuild and shocks all the way around, or try and just trace down all the rattles and work my way down to the suspension. the motor and exhaust is good. had the car since the mid '80's so im sure its in need of alot of suspension work, just wanted to see if that was the best place to start

[LAA66]

 Since the front end needs to be rebuilt why not do it now? It will drive better also. As for the other rattles, work through them one at a time. I have enlisted the help of a passenger to help locate the tough ones inside the car. Surprisingly, even loose wiring can cause a rattle.

[brads70]

Fix the front end first so it's safe to drive...... then buy a louder exhaust or stereo and don't worry about the rattles so much!

[Super Blue 72]

After fixing known issues, maybe get some Dynamat or other insulation to sound proof the car a little?  Might help with road noise and such. 

[jauch]

should i replace the t-bars while im there, not sure if they lose their effectiveness over time, might be cheaper to just get a louder sound system and exhaust

[brads70]

should i replace the t-bars while im there, not sure if they lose their effectiveness over time, might be cheaper to just get a louder sound system and exhaust

To start to bring it up to modern handling I would get 1" t-bars IMO. PST usually has them on sale?

[jauch]

sounds good guys, looking forward to getting busy.

[dodj]

The noises in your door are probably window 'fuzzy' adjustment. Also the door lock rods have a cloth covering, maybe yours came apart or is all bunched at one end allowing the rods to rattle against the door. 

[Chryco Psycho]

I agree , take apart the doors & look at all the bushings & adjusters , often some are missing or broken . Start looking into other rattles as well , a lot of them are easy fixes .
 The front end is basically a must do , figure out how far you want to upgrade things & pull it down , Poly bushings will tighten the feel , larger T bars are a good idea , there are some excellent shock choices as well as improved sway bars , upper control arms & brakes .

[jauch]

great places to start, time and money are rare commodities these days, you guys are awesome thanks for all the comments.

tim