Cwopinger's Trail Limo Build, Travels, and BS Thread

Morning John. Have a good Wednesday

 

Thunderstorms here, have a north wind blowing too. Made it cool enough I cut my walk short. Good day to work on the truck in the garage.

 

Morning John Off to get some yard work done. Hope you have an easy day.

 

Thanks. Rain started way earlier than it was supposed to. Guess I’m done for the day

 

Good morning Pings!

 

No snow for us thank goodness but it is going to get below freezing at nigh for a few days. We have a gale wind warning for tomorrow and the high is only supposed to be 50 so it’s going to be very cold wind chills.

Rain stopped here a while ago so I went back to the yard. Then it started raining again. Stopped. Started. I got wet but I did get my chores finished. I’m done for the day.

 

Morning Stock!

 

Dual batteries part 2 and noise reduction stuff (mostly noise reduction)

When I last posted something meaningful here I was running the wires for my dual battery system. As I was doing this, I also put down some sound absorbing mat behind the rear bulkhead trim pieces. While waiting for a few odds and ends to ship for this project I had left the trim pieces out of the truck and noticed it was still loud (very loud actually) in the truck and it was obvious most of this noise was coming from the pressure relief vents in the back wall of the cab. Since I bought the truck I had noticed/heard the “open window” noise coming from the back of the truck. A Google search showed this is an irritation for a lot of people. There are several threads here on the subject, imagine that. Of course I read them for ideas.

The general consensus is all the noise on the 3rd Gens is from the vents which Toyota moved from the lower C pillars to the back wall with the generation change. The vents provide air flow even with the AC and fan off and allow the doors to close easily without popping your ears. The design is nothing more than a series of openings with a flimsy rubber flap to “close” it. As I was driving around I could see the flaps open as I increased the AC fan speed, even at the lowest setting the flaps would crack open and the road noise would increase significantly. Even with the fan off at about 25 mph there was enough air flow to cause the flaps to partially open. This was noticed by everybody in the other threads also. There were several ways to tackle this problem with mass loaded vinyl or some other heavy (and expensive) soundproofing mat being tried. These work to a certain extent but nothing completely silences the noise.


Here’s the problem (I’ll explain the white goo in a minute)


These flimsy rubber flaps are all thats between you and the outside

A couple of cheapskates I mean frugal individuals went with some acoustic foam squares over the vent area of the wall and were happy with the results. One guy decided part of the problem was the looseness and gap around the vent assembly itself and took the extra step it silicone around the vent first. He said this made a noticeable difference. I decided I would order the acoustic foam because I’m a cheapskate too and while I was waiting for Amazon to deliver it I would try the silicone. I had some leftover flexseal on the workbench and it did the job nicely.


Now you know what the white goo is and what it’s for.

After it dried, I took a short trip to town and to my uncalibrated ears it did seem to make some difference. Don’t get me wrong, there was still a lot of noise but it seemed quieter. My foam came in finally so it was time to button this project up. I cut the foam into 8” thick pieces and jammed them into the voids between the panel ribs. Then I put the original sound mat back in place and reinstalled the trim pieces.



Oh, I guess I should throw in a few comments and pics of the battery install to finish that project too. When I started this project I had considered removing the factory plastic trim pieces behind the seats and replace it with some plywood covered in carpet. After seeing what I had to work with and the tight tolerances I would be dealing with I decided to use the factory stuff after all. The biggest problem was the 100 AH battery was too deep to fit into the storage tray on the trim piece behind the 60% seat Careful measurements showed me the battery would fit behind the seat it was just a bit wider than the pocket. To make it fit I took a new hacksaw blade and made a “battery access slot.” While hacking away I also cut a slot for a battery tie down strap.





My DC-DC charger fits in the pocket behind the 40% seat and has enough room for a future solar charge controller beside it. A Blue Sea Systems power distribution block ties the 4 gauge wire from the truck battery into the DC-DC which will only accept up to 6 gauge wire. The short jumper between the power post and the DC-DC will handle the amps without any problem. From the DC-DC more 6 gauge wire goes through the trim pieces and to the house battery. Again this is fine for the 30 amps the charger puts out to the house battery. All that’s left to do is crimp on the cable lugs and connect it up.



You can see my little goof when I was measuring upside down and backwards when I was initially figuring out where I wanted to put the 4 gauge wires. The positive wire was supposed to be further into the corner behind the right had trim piece. I would then run the wire behind the trim and into the pocket. It didn’t work out that way It’s hidden behind the seat when it’s up and protected enough when the seat is down so I’m not worrying about it.

Time to put the seats back in

Tight


Just fits. Math is important!


In phase 3 I’ll run power from the house battery into the bed for my lights and USB chargers I have planned for back there. I’ll also add a small fuse block inside the truck from the house battery for the fridge connection and my HAM radio and many a couple of other goodies I don’t know I need yet.


So after getting everything back together was the soundproofing worth the hassle? To my uncalibrated ears I have to say it was. It hasn’t totally eliminated the noise in the cab but it has stopped the “open window” noise that I used to have. It was a noticeable overall reduction in road noise and makes the truck much more pleasant to ride in.

 

Looking good Blevin

 

Thanks Shane

 

Nice work!

 

Thanks guys. It’s slowly coming along.

 

Good morning Pings!

 

Evening Bob and John. Hope you guys had a good day

 

Mine was rather boring....so good!

 

Boring is so satisfying

 

It's nicer as I get older.

 

Pings!