[a5m]

Probably the worst time to tackle this since it's cold as balls but trying to reduce the cabin noise which is just outrageous in my car. Sounds like when a bus goes over bumps and all the windows rattle.

Recently learned from a thread on NASIOC that the liftgate has adjustable rubber stops, similar to those for the hood. Although adjusting these helps them make contact with the body, it pushes the lower, non adjustable rubber stops further away. If I screw them back in all the way the lower ones still don't make contact.

Could the liftgate need adjusting, or the latch? Plan was to stuff foam in between the trim but I think this needs addressing first and might be enough to eliminate majority of the noise.

Curious if anyone else encountered this issue or can shed some light because I'm a bit confused. Trying to make best use of time since nice weather is all but gone.

 

[silver_scooby]

No exp with subaru hatchbacks but on a couple other hatches, replacing weatherstripping removed noise. The fixed stoppers might just be compressed over time. Given they are cheap, it may be worth replacing the fixed & screw-in stoppers just to see if that fixes it.

I wouldn't touch the hinges or even the latch if your bodylines match and shutlines are even. It's many hours of adjustment to correct any mistakes in hinge adjustment.

 

[a5m]

Good tip on the hinges and latch. You're right, everything lines up so I'll just leave it alone or else I'll create more problems. Someone mentioned tightening the hinges since they apparently come loose? I may investigate that.

Thanks for the weatherstripping suggestion. Will definitely look into that. Might just replace it as a wear item. The stops, the fixed ones, I installed the left one recently after noticing it was missing. So don't think it's a compression issue although that did cross my mind.

So took a drive I take daily with the adjustable stops pulled out a bit and making contact, and the noise seems worse. I think it's just the hatch and the loose ass trim, which I guess is vibrating more now somehow. Probably didn't help that the previous Subro had subs in it. Those will destroy the tightness of trim panels in a car.

 

[silver_scooby]

Can't hurt to put a torque wrench on the hinge bolts. Nice & easy fix if that's the case.

Just curious, how do you know which stops are touching? Normally the stops are well-hidden by weatherstrip and tight panel gaps.

That woofer crap is unfortunate. Any chance vapebro might have removed panels for wiring & broke/pinched/forgot clips while reinstalling? New clips might be another cheap solution.

 

[a5m]

Can't hurt to put a torque wrench on the hinge bolts. Nice & easy fix if that's the case.

Just curious, how do you know which stops are touching? Normally the stops are well-hidden by weatherstrip and tight panel gaps.

That woofer crap is unfortunate. Any chance vapebro might have removed panels for wiring & broke/pinched/forgot clips while reinstalling? New clips might be another cheap solution.

I can just see them through the gaps lol. Now you got me thinking, should that be the case? It does look suspiciously open/exposed to me, and I have wondered about that in the past. But as you move inward I can see weatherstripping creating a seal.

Oh very likely vapebro did all that. Going to use a panel remover and pop it off tomorrow and do some testing. Drive without it, with hatch open in the air etc. JoAnn Fabrics has big foam pieces that I checked out today. I'll just shove that in there worst case.

Only good pic on hand of the rear. Gaps seem fine to my eyes compared to pics I found online and inside looks same too.

 

[silver_scooby]

Looks perfect in pictures. It might just be a subaru thing. Last hatch I worked on was a piech-era vw and the panel gaps were really tight.

Just checked my car and the panel gaps are a joke. I can see the whole door hinge through the gap and same for trunk stoppers. Let us know what you find.

The wind noise might be a subaru thing too. Dealer has already replaced my window seal twice and at 100mph it still sounds like a jet engine at takeoff.

 

[a5m]

Lol @ the wind noise. And 100mph? That's cruising speeds down there right. Crazy. My car seems to have 'developed' a whistling type noise I never noticed before. Might be aftermarket TMIC. Really no idea wth it is.

Haha right you can easily see everything inside without even trying. Thanks for checking your car. So typical Subaru. The cabin noise really takes away from enjoying the car, since I pretty much have it set up where I want. Will update accordingly.

 

[silver_scooby]

Lol not cruising sadly, except a 10mile section of houston-new orleans i10 but some places are good for 100-120 for a few seconds. 80-90 cruising since a lot of hwys have 75-80 limits.

Yeah wind/tire noise is very annoying, I'm considering sound insulation behind wheel liners but not sure if there's a solution for window and door seals.

Good luck with whistling noise, those type of sounds are near impossible to identify source.

 

[a5m]

Lol not cruising sadly, except a 10mile section of houston-new orleans i10 but some places are good for 100-120 for a few seconds. 80-90 cruising since a lot of hwys have 75-80 limits.

Yeah wind/tire noise is very annoying, I'm considering sound insulation behind wheel liners but not sure if there's a solution for window and door seals.

Good luck with whistling noise, those type of sounds are near impossible to identify source.

Even 80-90 is pretty fast. It's mainly 70 here, with some parts of I-88 or I-55 where 80 is the norm.

There's a YouTuber Scoobyfreak86 who applied some type of sound dampening behind the door panels and apparently it made a big difference. Not sure about window seals, maybe electric tape along the edges of the glass?

So I took off all the trim on the hatch. No broken clips or anything obvious. Noise is reduced, but I feel like I eliminated 1 or 2 out of 10 noise sources. Majority still there.

Think this will be a lengthy process of elimination where I gut everything and reinstall one by one. The door cards seem to be creaking/rattling too. This will be much easier with another person driving. Will need to enlist brother's help.

 

[silver_scooby]

Good luck, taking the interior apart is a pain in the ass. harbor freight stethoscope is very useful for tracking down noises.