Rav4 Rattling Glove Box
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Whenver we drive, our 2021 Toyota Rav4 Hybrid’s glove box rattles and it drives Amanda crazy. Initially I assume it was due to play in the latching mechanism, but it rattled even when that was clamped shut. Giving the glove box a good whack temporarily stopped the rattling, making it a mystery that had to be solved!
Upon inspection, I discovered a piston on the right-hand side designed to prevent the glove box from slamming open. The geometry is rather complex since as it opens the distance between the mount points changes, so the angle changes too. Toyota engineers solved this with some clever “pinch” attach-a-ma-dubers, but in order to let things pivot freely there is enough play to let it rattle. Removing the piston stopped the rattling. It was a simple process, requiring needle-nose pliers.
- Open, pinch the tip of the joint on the glove box itself and slide off that end of the piston.
- On each side, find the catches that keep the glove box from opening too far, push them inwards and release them past their stop points so the glove box is hanging straight down
- Now you’ll have space to pinch the end of the piston attached to the car and slide that end off
- Remove the piston.
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That’s it! Amanda is happy and I feel clever.
