Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

[jpitt1987]

Yet again another brain storming thread.

For those of you who read my other thread about my exhaust, you know that due to my recent exhaust purchase I am experiencing some excessive noise in the car. Even though I am actually going to be repairing the exhaust, it did accomplish in making me aware of how incredibly noisy it is inside. So now I am looking into some sound dampening ideas. However, I am not one to just go and hand my car to some shop and say, "fix it", and I am sure many of you feel the same...otherwise what are we doing on here

So my fellow DIY'ers what say you to a discussion?

Here are some thoughts of my own:
*Dynamat has become the "band-aid" brand the sound deadening/dampening industry, however many others exist, such as raammat and secondskin, and many people don't know this.
*But these kits are quite costly...any alternatives? I have heard of using foam that goes beneath home carpeting, but not sure how it would hold up in a vehicle.
*Also what do ya'll think would be good for helping to seal the doors better? I am getting some pretty serious windnoise? I heard a guy on a truck forum used surgical tubing from home depot and solved his problem.
*Anyone use 3M undercoating before? It claims, along with various people on youtube, to be good at lining fender wells and such for sound dampening.

Fire away!

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

I have some EXTENSIVE sound deadening done in my Focus, and I have also done deadening in all of my previous vehicles.

I've used Dynamat- it *****, and it costs way too much. All hype, no value. (extreme or original, tried both)

I tried Brown Bread- it was "ok but stinky and thin. Also messy.

Then I tried Raamat and I was very happy. It was incredible to work with, not messy, not smelly, and really made a noticable difference in the sound deading areas. I did a total of 2 full coats (inner and outer skins) of my doors, and "sealed" them with the final inner layer behind the panel.

The other KEY player for actually blocking sound (ie road noise and exhaust) was the product Rick from Raamat sells called Ensolite. It goes OVER the sound deadener (or can be used alone) and really helps to isolate sound, as well as the added benefit of adding pad between panels to cut down on rattles (although that isn't really the intended use for it, it does an excellent job at it).

I think I bought 4 yards for my Focus ZX3 hatchback and it was enough with almost a half yard to spare. I coated the ENTIRE floor, doors, rear hatch, sides, and, well, everything but the roof basically.

No matter how you cut it, any quality product will be costly, but Raamat and Ensolite are considered the best values around, period.

[jpitt1987]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

You are the umteenth person I have heard raving about Raamat!

I did some looking into his website and I was really impressed with what I found. A lot of the other products seemed to be getting negative reviews, but when I saw this, I thought it was something to look further into. Not only are the customer reviews reassuring, but the price is rather enticing as well.

Now I was somewhat confused as to what the whole ensolite product did. The picture I saw of it looked like just a thin piece of foam with no real significance at all. I wondered why you would want to put that on top of what you already put down? I sent him an email and have yet to hear back, maybe you can explain some more?

I am all down for paying for quality, especially on my DD!

[jpitt1987]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

Now what do think would be good for around the doors and such? I have no idea!

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

The sound deadener (in this case Raamat) is designed to add phyiscal MASS to a surface. Basically you are adding weight to a panel, be it plastic or metal in hopes that the weight will keep it in place so it does not resonate and create extra sounds. Although it will "absorb" some sound, that is not the primary function of sound deadening matts DESPITE popular misconception.

The big "dynamat myth" is that you can simply add dynamat to a panel or floor or whatever and it will "stop rattles." In reality, it is NOT even intended to fight most rattles! (Crazy, huh?). Most rattles are caused from plastic touching plastic, or metal touching metal, or a combination of the two. So, in some cases a layer of mat will isolate the two surfaces and reduce or eliminate rattles, but not always *by a long shot.*

Ensolite is a special foam that is specifically intended to actually form a BARRIER that stops (via absorption) sound from traveling through. This product happens to be very good at doing that, and will block as much or more sound that any mat will in a car application. In other words, you will block more road noise with that in most cases than you would with a mat.

Additionally, the HUGE bonus is that Ensolite is a very soft and pliable foam that also stretches and fits over contours to allow a uniform coverage over EVERYTHING before you add in the carpet and cosmetic plastic panels. The result is a complete removal of the possibility of rattles!

I have a fairly loud stereo in my vehicle, but I built it for sound quality, and one of the biggest compliments I receive is how "clean" it sounds and that there are "no rattles."

I give the credit to Raamat, Ensolite, and a few hours of trouble shooting on my part.

Go big or go home with sound deadener, trust me, the last thing you want to do is spend $200~ and sit there wondering if it really helped, and then realize how much work will have to be done to tear the car back apart to add in more deadening later.

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

Now what do think would be good for around the doors and such? I have no idea!

I think 2 rolls of Raamat if you want to be VERY thorough and double up the doors and floor and do single coats for the entire rest of the interior. If you aren't going for mega crazy quiet and don't have a high-end stereo you are looking to show case, a single roll will certainly do.

As for the Ensolite, I would go with 3 yards.

Ask Rick to double check- he's pretty good about that stuff.

[jpitt1987]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

Thanks for that information, it really cleared up a lot in my mind, especially the difference between the two products! Wow, I didn't realize they did 2 completely seperate things! I can't believe i thought that foam was pointless, ha, shows how much I knew.

But like you said , go big or gg home! I guess I'll just have to save up until I am able to get enough to do a full out project. Won't be until the winter time though.

Thanks once again for the help!

[Jokeman]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

Another Raamat user here. My 02 Silverado is done with 2 layers, inner and outer skins on the doors, floor, back wall, and ceiling. Raamat just made sense to go with, price was right, easy to work, and did a great job removing vibration.

I also added a heavy layer of edead v3 on the inside of the door panels.

[RaskyR1]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

I used this stuff in my competition car. It's a little $$$$ but works very well.

http://www.cascadeaudio.com/

[jpitt1987]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

Thanks for all the responses! I am really diggin this.

I understand that the 2 layers of raamat help to combat resonance and such, but would two layers of ensolite be more effective as well?

[Markus Kleis]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

Thanks for all the responses! I am really diggin this.

I understand that the 2 layers of raamat help to combat resonance and such, but would two layers of ensolite be more effective as well?

Eh, maybe, but that would be getting fairly think and may not fit.

I doubled up where I could, but it isn't that necessary IMO.

[Wolf-Strong]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

I always look to Second Skin Audio and no other. Quality products for a good price. Here is an interesting 3rd party review/comparison.

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/

[jpitt1987]

Re: Ideas for vehicle sound dampening...

I was finally able to get a hold of Rick from Raamat. Apparently he has been suffering from the flu, but said he needed to get back to me about some questions I had. He did a great job of explaining all his products and was just an overall nice guy. I am definitely going with Raamat!