Nick's Sound-Deadening Journey

[explorerfriend]

Supplies arrived yesterday so been working on installing all the foam today. Has taken about 6 hours to do, but still not done. At first all I wanted to do was get rid of the rattles from all the door panels, but since I was goign to have to take apart the interior anyway, I thought I may as well go all-out. I didn't want to go the dynamat route so been searching the forums to get a couple of ideas and this is what I came up with...

Materials:
4 sheets of 1-1/2 inch foam 24x18" (1 for each door)
3 sheets of 2-1/2 inch foam 24x18" (back hatch and rear quarter panels)
6 cans of Great Stuff Gaps and cracks (For all the pillars and hard to reach places)
1 can Spray Adhesive
6 cans of rubber undercoat (to stop plastic-on-metal rattle)

Pictures:

Finishing up undercoating the final door panel

Put in speaker baffles

Filled around the rear glass with expanding foam and put foam sheets in hatch.

The C and D Pillars are filled with expanding foam, still need to do B pillar, maybe A too.

Not sure how much rubber undercoating will help since Ive got sheets of foam under the door, but thought I might as well use it up.

Going to get 4 more cans of great stuff and finish up the pillars, Have not been on the road with it yet, but after turning on my system I noticed a major improvement in bass response...and NO RATTLES!! I just hope I can get all the panels back on as thick as this foam is.

I would love to get some foam behind the dash but not sure if its worth taking apart?

What does everyone think? Anything more I should add???

 

[Anime]

The foam is good for some noise insulation, but it's not going to be quite as effective as purpose-made material. Rubber undercoating is an inexpensive sound deadener, but it's quite messy. Sometimes the spray-on or brush-on bedliner stuff is better since it hardens solid where the undercoatings sometimes stay really soft or even sticky and messy.

You might want to try sticking more insulating material close to the fenderwells/tires, especially in the front near the kick panels and maybe even the front floorboard under the carpet. You may even be able to get a good bit of foam on the interior firewall without removing the dash.

 

[toypaseo]

Enjoy the undercoating smell for the next week or more...

One of my buddies used that on one of his vehicles in Phoenix, and he said he said the odor was present for quite some time.

 

[BrianDye]

That stuff is rank! Lol i got some for my undercarriage :

I cant wait to see how this turns out, I might have to do it too, im so sick of my back panel rattling with my subs, it sounds like a total POS!

And as for the bedliner stuff, that would be pointless, it turns HARD, which means RATTLES! The whole point of the rubberized stuff is so its soft, yet strong

 

[explorerfriend]

I ordered 4 more sheets of foam to do exactly what you said Anime ran out so couldn't finish the back wheels wells. Guess I'll give the front a try too.

I know what you mean toypaseo, this stuff really reeks and read that a lot of peole could smell it for weeks. Im leaving this weekend and wont be back in town for over a week so just going to keep the panels in the garage and hope it airs out by the time I get back.

 

[BrianDye]

If i were you, Id leave a fan on them....and leave the explorer's windows down, if that adhesive smells...

Obv. you'd have to leave it in the garage lol

 

[aznboi3644]

the foam is just a noise barrier...it does not help with the vibrating panels...a single layer of quality butyl damping mat will work much better with the foam on top

 

[explorerfriend]

So getting a nice bonus tomorrow and thinking of taking the plunge to get 50 sq ft. of the fatmat type stuff. After driving around today I think a layer on the floor and over wheel wells and up to the dash would do wonders. Not sure if I will do the doors in it, already glued down the foam.

This project is getting a lot more expensive then I originally planned

edit: ohh and this morning I was in shock at how much more the foam expanded. Got some carpet cleaning to do.

 

[eXcali]

I've used a dynamat alternative in the past. If you go to your local hobby store they should sell a 1/4 inch foam sheet that has a sticky side. Here it runs about $1 for a 12x12 sheet.

 

[Beastb15]

Don't get FatMat. some of the best stuff on the market is Second Skin Damplifier or Damplifier Pro.

 

[techieman33]

Doing the doors and stuff will help, but the real noise reduction will come from putting something under your carpet, that's where most of the noise is coming from.

 

[explorerfriend]

second skin looks very professional, but a bit pricier than I was planning; of course so is this entire project. Any better alternative to fatmat with similar price/sq.ft? Ive checked around homedepot/lowes/walmart for Peel n Seal roofing product that I've heard good things about but they don't seem to carry it in the south.

 

[aznboi3644]

www.sounddeadenershowdown.com

Fatmat is just Peel N Seal rebadged...it will not last. It is not butyl. It is made of rubberized asphalt. Give it time and it will ruin your vehicle...average failure time is between 2-5 years depends on climate.

 

[explorerfriend]

Thanks anziboi, I will avoid it then. 'Ive been on the sounddeadenershowdown site, but he's taken down all of his reviews and tests since he's selling his own stuff now. After digging through google and finding some numbers to compare the material efficiency of fatmat to dynamat, secondskin, etc, I found fatmat to be one of the poorest so will keep looking around...

 

[aznboi3644]

the products from the sound deadener showdown are very effective.

The cheapest butyl mat would be Raammat. But two layers would be needed to have the same effectiveness as secondskin or Rudys products.

 

[explorerfriend]

So im back for a couple days and decided to do some more Spray-on insulating with the Great Stuff only to find out that one of the cans exploded while under my seat What a mess! I let it dry and got most of it up, but it doesnt like to come off the vinyl seats or carpet. Its ust going to take some elbow grease to get it all off. Still need one more can to finish the A-pillar and still waiting on the rest of the foam sheets to come in. Hopefully I can get this project done before I leave for ny this weekend as I'm eager to hear the final result with all the paneling back on.

I know it is much quieter already but now the engine really stands out, and not in a good way. Im hoping that when I get the foam behind the dash and under the carpet it will sound better, but with the pinging of the 170,000 mile engine it is hard to say im done.

 

[Danimal86]

what kind of setup do you have? is that a basslink i see mounted in your cargo area? seems like you're going overkill on the sound dampening just for a 200 watt setup. just my oponion

 

[BonesDT]

I didn't want to go the dynamat route so been searching the forums to get a couple of ideas and this is what I came up with...

What's wrong with Dynamat?

 

[kevinspann]

What's wrong with Dynamat?

Price. He was trying to sound deaden it, without spending a ton of cash.