B-Pillar Interior Trim

[bwoodard]

We are chasing a rattle in the B-pillar in our newly purchased ‘21 Expy Max that the dealer is too incompetent to fix or just doesn’t care. Does anyone have any idea how to remove the upper interior B-pillar trim panel without damaging the clips (already figured out the lower panel)? I know the assist handle must be removed and there’s two torque screws at the bottom of the panel that will need to be removed…just trying to figure which way to pull the panel so clips aren’t damaged. An excerpt from the workshop manual for this piece for this generation expedition would super helpful if anyone has access to it. Thanks for any assistance!

 

[Squark]

I had a rattle in the B-pillar that turned out to be the seatbelt height adjuster. I moved it up one click from the bottom and the rattle went away. I don't know how to remove the cover, but thought I'd mention it in case your rattle is the same.

 

[bwoodard]

I wish the fix was that easy. We’ve put the adjuster in all positions and the rattle is still there. Sounds like plastic hitting metal. The dealer replaced the upper panel already but clearly not the cause. Just aggravating to have a new car with 2k miles on the odometer with rattles so soon.

 

[scottdm]

Have you tried isolating the cause by wedging felt or cardstock around the edges, near joints with other panels, etc? If you can locate it, you may be able to resolve without removing the panel. We had a rattle in the driver's side B-pillar and I solved it by placing black felt between the plastic B pillar panels and the rubber gasket that goes around the drivers door area.

 

[bwoodard]

Have you tried isolating the cause by wedging felt or cardstock around the edges, near joints with other panels, etc? If you can locate it, you may be able to resolve without removing the panel. We had a rattle in the driver's side B-pillar and I solved it by placing black felt between the plastic B pillar panels and the rubber gasket that goes around the drivers door area.

Thanks for your response! I’ll definitely try that…just ordered some felt tape. I’m convinced it’s coming from the seatbelt mechanism or something behind the panel but could be wrong. The tapping/rattle comes and goes…if I go around a curve real quick or hit a bump in the road something gets thrown off in there and causes a persistent rattle/tapping noise the remainder of the drive and then will go away until something else sets it off.

 

[Mlarv]

My friend had bought a new Chevy car about 5 years ago. He had a really bad rattle coming from the drivers side door area. He went to the dealer a few times to get it repaired, they could not find the problem. I took it apart with him and checked everything in sight. It was all tight with out any rattle. I stuck my hand down in the bottom of the door and found a bolt loose and rolling around. We searched all over the inside of the door and didn't find any missing. Maybe not your issue but you never know.

 

[5280tunage]

I was going to ask, can you recreate the rattle while not driving? i.e. banging around the area with different levels of umph, in different areas? Many years ago, I had an issue in a moonroof that rattles off and on for nearly two years. Dealer could never replicate it, till finally one day I was so pissed, I just started banging on the headliner. Finally found one spot, that worked. Funny, dealers still couldn't figure it out, till Jeep sent out 3 engineers from detroit, they took the whole thing apart and found that someone on the line forgot to put one nut on the moonroof track, in that very spot. rattles are huge PITA's.

I currently have a rattle in my grill that I can hear anytime I go over certain types of bumps. It's way more prominent now that it's getting cold. At first I thought it was due to work I've done up there, but the other day I was waiting for my PCM reflash, found the only Expy on the dealer lot, went and banged on the grill and voila, same noise. It appears to be the two layers of plastic on the grill rattle, especially when cold.

 

[bwoodard]

I was going to ask, can you recreate the rattle while not driving? i.e. banging around the area with different levels of umph, in different areas? Many years ago, I had an issue in a moonroof that rattles off and on for nearly two years. Dealer could never replicate it, till finally one day I was so pissed, I just started banging on the headliner. Finally found one spot, that worked. Funny, dealers still couldn't figure it out, till Jeep sent out 3 engineers from detroit, they took the whole thing apart and found that someone on the line forgot to put one nut on the moonroof track, in that very spot. rattles are huge PITA's.

I currently have a rattle in my grill that I can hear anytime I go over certain types of bumps. It's way more prominent now that it's getting cold. At first I thought it was due to work I've done up there, but the other day I was waiting for my PCM reflash, found the only Expy on the dealer lot, went and banged on the grill and voila, same noise. It appears to be the two layers of plastic on the grill rattle, especially when cold.

Yes, I’ve banged around on the panels and cannot recreate the noise. It seems to lessen the tapping in the panel if the seatbelt is retracted and tight against seat, but will eventually come back even if I leave the belt buckled and retracted. I’m determined to take the panel off to see if anything is loose behind it, just don’t want to make anything worse while trying to do it. I’m done dealing with the dealer. They never seem to handle interior noise issues correctly and while I understand it can be time consuming, having rattle box does not make owning the car enjoyable!

 

[5280tunage]

I don't have any real good diagrams and I certainly haven't taken it apart, but from the parts catalogs, you'll need a small plastic panel popper, pull the cover off of the grab bar (the whole rubber front of the bar), you should find bolts under there. Remove those and the grab bar, then the plastic trim piece should just pop off the top and middle, then pull up and out. you might need to pop the lower trim panel off, at least the top compression clips, then pull it out. I don't believe you even need to remove the weatherstrip as the plastic doesn't go behind it.

 

[Sean Zerges]

View attachment 71292We are chasing a rattle in the B-pillar in our newly purchased ‘21 Expy Max that the dealer is too incompetent to fix or just doesn’t care. Does anyone have any idea how to remove the upper interior B-pillar trim panel without damaging the clips (already figured out the lower panel)? I know the assist handle must be removed and there’s two torque screws at the bottom of the panel that will need to be removed…just trying to figure which way to pull the panel so clips aren’t damaged. An excerpt from the workshop manual for this piece for this generation expedition would super helpful if anyone has access to it. Thanks for any assistance!

If you figure it out, let me know!!! I also had water coming in one thanks to and moonroof seal.

 

[Bow512]

I had to remove all the panels to drop the headliner when replacing the rear sunroof panel due to a rock cracking it. I’m not 100% sure thinking back, but I’m thinking it was just remove the 2 grab handle screws and the one screw on the bottom and then you just pop it off. All the panels were surprisingly quite easy to remove.

 

[bwoodard]

If you figure it out, let me know!!! I also had water coming in one thanks to and moonroof seal.

I was able to get the top portion of the B pillar off surprisingly easy once I got the guts to jump in and make an attempt. There’s two torque screws under the assist handle as another member mentioned. Pop the assist handle of with a tiny flathead screwdriver to get to the screws. There’s another two torque screws on the bottom of the panel beneath the lower portion of the B pillar trim (the lower B pillar trim pops off pretty easy as well with a plastic trim pry tool if you go from the sides behind the weather strip). Once you’ve removed the 4 torque screws from the areas mentioned, there’s two clips at the top of the panel…just pop the panel off. I used the trim pry tool at the very top of the panel where it meets the headliner but didn’t have to use much force at all. I added felt tape to almost every area I could that touches another piece and hoping that resolved the tapping noise I’m getting in the panel.