Creaking noise above driver's ear (1 Viewer)

[Rainmn]

Taking a long shot here in the hopes that someone has had and fixed this noise, since it's driving me insane. Right above my ear, somewhere around the top of the B pillar, I have a creaking noise. It gets worse and better, but never goes away. It definitely seems to be a metal on metal thing, not a rattle. I can't reproduce it with the car parked - only happens when I'm driving, even just into my garage. Assuming it just needs a slight flex of something to cause it.

I have the headliner out of my truck now, along with all of the pillar trim. Doing sound deadener on the roof, along with some other items like replacing the windshield seal. I was hoping that once I had the headliner out, this noise would be obvious, but it's not.

Here's what I know for sure it isn't:

Windows - happens with them open or closed.
Doors - same as the windows. (Also, all door seals, belt molding, and window run channels are new.
Headliner or any associated trim - Since it's all in my dining room
Sunroof glass - happens with the sunroof open, closed, or tilted....no difference at all

I'm going to pull the whole sunroof out when I do the sound deadening, so if it's in the frame or mechanism, I'm hoping I'll be able to prove that with a test drive while it's all out.

Just hoping for a smoking gun here. If I get this thing all back together and hear this noise again, I may drive it off a cliff.

 

[Pierce]

I had a similar issue. My roof rack was loose. Rivnuts were spinning freely so I couldn’t tighten it back down. RTV to the rescue. Only I could hear it because it was right next to my ear. For a quick test I taped it down, went for a test drive and the rattle was gone. Hope yours is this easy.

 

[Rainmn]

I wish it was that easy, but I can definitively rule out the roof rack. I don’t have one, aside from my Thule setup, which hasn’t been on since winter.

 

[Pierce]

Boo, sorry man. Good luck!

 

[96LX]

I have the same exact noise right above my left ear! I had the whole sunroof assembly out of the truck last summer for painting the roof and adding sound deadening. When I was reinstalling, I somehow cross threaded or over-torqued one or two of the nuts that holds the assembly up, I was in a hurry and put the headliner back on anyways.

I'm willing to bet that one of of those nuts not being tight is the cause of our noise. Be very careful threading and torquing those nuts when you do reinstall the assembly.

 

[danthman114]

sunroof? mine does it too. just turn up the stereo

 

[polloelastico]

Did you ever solve this? I have the same thing and I've dropped the headliner already to add some sound deadening, so I thought I would address it now. I figured it would be obvious, but it's not.