- 1. USE THE SEARCH FUNCTION: ODDS ARE, Every topic you can come up with, has already been discussed. Sorry, but your question doesn't deserve its own thread, if a thread has already been started. If the topic has not been discussed, then feel free to create a new thread.
2. USE THE CORRECT TITLE: That means, make sure your title has the topic at hand. Don't title something: "I have a question" or "Small concern" or "strange issues". Instead title it: "tire tpms question" or "Rear bumper paint issue". And don't title it one problem, and list 10 different issues that are completely unrelated! example: "Strange noise when driving" and then you go on about asking questions about oil changes, led headlights, new rims, and your mothers' ford bronco transmission issues, etc.
3. LIST YOUR YEAR, MODEL, ETC: Give us as much info as possible. Members are not mind readers, nor do they have time to dig for answers.
4. WE CAN'T GUESS WHAT NOISES ARE: Ask 10 different mechanics/members what a "rattle" is, and they will give you 300 different possibilities (ball joint, exhaust, shield, strut, hub, lose hatch, etc). Please don't even bother. A "rattle" can be metallic (tin or solid metal), plastic, body parts, junk we put into a car, etc. A tap, rattle, ting, clank, or scratching noise can describe 100,000 different parts and yet be different or the same description for one another; depends on the person. You call it a rattle, I call it tapping, she calls it a shaking metal, and he calls it a metallic noise. Please don't even bother posting that you hear something rolling/making noise INSIDE THE CAR - unless you have turned your whole car upside down FIRST. We are not there with you. I am tired of reading new threads that get updated a week later with: "flashlight in the trunk, baby rattle, etc" - when members spent their time, coming up with possibly could be wrong with your car mechanically. Its just not fair to everyone.
-4a. POST VIDEO CLIPS OF YOUR NOISES: If you ask a question regarding some noise, make sure to accompany your thread/post with a video- with an AUDIBLE sound clip. we are not mind readers, and don't know how you differentiate between taps/bings/tangs/rattles, etc. WE WILL LOVE TO READ ABOUT YOUR EXPERIENCES, AFTER YOU HAVE RESOLVED THE PROBLEM! SOME PEOPLE FIND A STRANGE LOCATION, SOMETHING COULD ROLL INTO - SO FEEL FREE TO SHARE AFTER THE FACT!
5. UPDATE YOUR THREADS: If you ask a question prior to getting expert help/repair - make sure you come back and update your thread. It's not fair to have a bunch of opened threads with unanswered concerns; when you got the repair. I cant stand someone coming in, asking a serious question, and disappearing. I have seen people coming in stating they smell a sweet smell, and its relatively new. Members start posting hypothetical fluid leaks, repairs, diagnostics, etc; and 2 weeks later, after 2 pages of members speculating, the person updates that his wife put a new air-freshener under the seat, and didn't say anything.
6. IF YOU ARE TOO LAZY TO POST EVIDENCE: (by evidence, I mean photos, videos) Then people will be too lazy to speculate on your complaints. It's that simple. People are not going to sit and spend time writing up posts, answering each others posts, when we don't have enough evidence of the problem. We can't judge what you see, feel, smell, hear. Help us, Help you! I cant tell you how many times I have seen some lazy thread-starter, post that he/she sees lines on the paint-job, and it looks like a scratches. People start posting and coming up with potential theories, repair idea's, personal stories, only to hear back from the thread-creator A WEEK LATER, that it was a spider web stuck onto the paint.
A lot of already opened threads, can be found here: ROGUE DIY REPAIRS & MAINTENANCE, FAQ & INFO, TIPS, etc
Thank you for your understanding, patience, and commitment to making this place the best ROGUE forum on the net.
-ImStricken