Why is there no insulation in the doors & how hard is it to INSULATE an automobile

[meyek91974]

On two ocations (A:when fixing a door lock, and B:when looking into/through rear panels&hatch areas) I saw that there is about NO insulation in my '99 Explorer

Why is that??? Why wouldnt it have any thing to help keep it warm or cool as we know we'll have summers and winters? Is it common thought that the factory ac & heat is overpowering in cars, trucks, & SUVs that I am the only one to catch this?

So is there an easy way - or - how hard would it be to insulate an Explorer?

Pardon my language on this one but a half-a... job would be better than none

 

[Dave 1955]

Well it's cheaper not to and the air and heat work well enough..not like you live in it.
Plus insulation could get wet in there and that could be bad..but hey..insulate away..it will cut some road noise prolly.

 

[pbnj22]

Yeah it can get wet and then not dry out and cause mold and stuff.. I wish cars put more sound deadening material though. which i guess is kind of like an insulation but not really. My heat and AC work well enough though... its not like you need to be able to heat and cool your car super efficiently like a house..

 

[Dave 1955]

Yeah it can get wet and then not dry out and cause mold and stuff.. I wish cars put more sound deadening material though. which i guess is kind of like an insulation but not really. My heat and AC work well enough though... its not like you need to be able to heat and cool your car super efficiently like a house..

the percentage of windows in a car to volume is way to high and they are not even thermal ..lol.

 

[koda2000]

from the hot rod world you can get a foil backed self stick insulation material. it's quite expensive. i think one of the brands is called Thinsulate. you can put it anywhere but it's put on the floor, firewall and inner roof for thermal purposes. they also put it in the doors more for sound deadening. you only need a small piece (maybe a foot square) in a door to really cut down on noise, but people usually cover the floor/firewall to stop heat transfer from the hot engine and exhaust. luxury vehicles also use thicker glass to help keep them quiet.

 

[1996BLKBauer]

In the doors, the air acts as an insulator, air is actually the best insulator, if you have the room. Plus if they put some sort of fabric, or foam in the doors, it will deteriorate, and fall off, and jam up the lock, and window, so it really isn't worth it, the components inside the doors are designed to be in all temperature extremes. I wouldn't both with it if I where you, unless you are located din Alaska, or some other sub artic place.

 

[deweyville65]

You can always go out to the Ford plant, I think it is still on Grade Lane, and ask them why. If you do, and get an answer, let us know.

 

[SoNic67]

About winter time: All that rejected heat from radiator to go to waste? Why bother to save interior heat when you have a 'free' heat source?

And... windows represent 80% of heat losses in winter, but they are 90% of heat gain in summer (heat-reflecting ones like the Explorer's). Roof is 15% (insulated already). Insulating the metal doors would do almost nothing for A/C savings.

 

[corkey]

moisture would rust it out pretty fast if you insulated the doors, maybe look for an auxillary heater to put behind the back seat,
they used to put them in vans...they ran off lines ran from the factory heater and had a fan in them,

 

[jprentice94]

There is supposed to be some weird looking purple stuff for sound deadaning and insulation could have been removed i have removed it from mine as its a pita to deal with