Sound Deadening "Diminishing Returns"

Thank you again! How much would 20 ft cover or how much would cover at least my doors for my '07 access cab?

 

I used 50 ft of RaamAudio's Raammat for my four doors and a section in the back of the rear passenger seat for a sub (about 1/3 of the back wall).

 

I am not from San Antonio, but from Central California. I am not technically a dealer for SS products so I would just suggest ordering from them direct.

 

Sorry man - I don't know WHY I thought you were in San Antonio......

 

I don't know about a Tacoma but when I had my Jeep Wrangler, I pulled all the seats and carpet out and had the floor coated in spray on bed liner. Worked awesome.

 

I used sound deadening on all four doors, backwall, and some parts of the floor. I was a little apprehensive to tear into the roof lining to apply sound deadening so I did not take that on. I am happy with what I did so far and would recommend it to anyone. I used Elemental Designs eDead sound deadening material. They make a variety of thicknesses and also allow you to order it by the square foot. Whether you need 5 square feet or 200 square feet, you can get what you want which is pretty cool!

 

We need to differentiate between vibration dampening material and sound deadening material.
Only for those who don't know:
Dynamat, Damplifier, and Raamat is vibration dampening material you stick onto sheet metal in order to to stop road vibration, engine vibration, sub vibration, etc. from coarsing throughout the body of your cabin.
Sound deadening material refers to Luxuryliner, Ensolite, etc.. which is closed cell rubber material intended to block noise from entering your cabin.
Making that distinction and adding that I had to pay for shipping to Hawaii, I am very satisfied with the results of:
#1 Applying Damplifier pro to all four doors (inside and outside skin), parts of the b pillar, under the backseats, around the base of the back seats, and the indentions of the rear firewall.The entire rear firewall and the floor close to the rear firewall is not done yet cause I'm waiting for a subwoofer/amp rack from Marv and he told me his projects are usually a very tight fit.
#2 Applying ensolite to the inner skin of all doors.
#3 Applying Luxury Liner Pro to the floor, hump, and base around the back seat.

You do not need to cover every square inch with vibration dampening material; only those parts that sound hollow and tinny when you knock on them.
If you decide on Luxury liner Pro, then you should know this stuff is heavy and thick. do not extend the liner so wide that it runs to where the plastic trim (kick panels, b-pillar covers) seats on the carpet. You will not be able to replace the trim without forcing it and having it set funny.
If you have Weathertech mats they will not fit as perfect after installing Luxuryliner Pro.
Before you order any of these kinds products for the first time ask them to send you some samples. Know what you will be working with.

It takes time to install nicely. When I installed the Luxuryliner Pro I drove my truck for two days with nothing but the drivers seat in the cab .<<thats a period, there.
It took a while to appreciate the difference but it is more appreciable especially after driving, or being in, other vehicles. Also, I absolutely hated the JBL sound system previous to the modifications but now find the sound tolerable.

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. Covering every square inch of your doors and cabin with dynamat, etc is overkill.

Not going overboard, and making up for the inherrantly(sp?) very poor audio environment our trucks present makes a huge difference in how your stereo system sounds and how quiet your ride can be.

The only thing I cannot compensate for yet is the sound of air rushing over the "engineered by a dork" mirrors we have on our trucks. I reall wish there were aftermarker areodynamic mirrors designed for 2nd generatin Tacos.

 

I get that too if i eat too many hot wings...



/hijack

 

So how much sq. ft should I order for a double cab '06? I'm just looking to add to my aftermarket stereo. No subs or anything, but 6x9 JBL throughout, sounds good but I have noticed a little rattling, after reading this thread it seems like it would make some sense to go ahead and add it to the Taco.

 

If you plan on doing the entire cab, doors, floor, then you'll need at least two rolls of the RAMmat. That is 120 sq ft. Don't forget the Ensolite.

 

This is true... especially if doing the floor. That takes up a lot of square footage.

I personally deadened first the doors and rear wall (I used 50 sq ft of FatMat). Then I had a poly-type rubbery undercoating spray to the underside of my truck 1/4" thick (this REALLY cut down on road and tire noise). This spray acts as an undercoating, it seals cracks, protects joints, and acts as a sound deadener. It's not the asphault type which will eventually dry up and crack off, and is guaranteed for the life of the vehicle. So I didn't mess with the floor. I also didn't mess with the ceiling... however, my ride is VERY quiet! A friend has a stock 08 Tacoma, and the difference of interior noise between our two trucks is unbelievably different.

Here is my install and what it looks like with my deadening... I could've done the second layer of the inside doors, too, but this was good enough for me.
http://www.tacomaworld.com/forum/audio-video/40900-09-double-cab-complete-audio-makeover.html

 

I've been reading up on sound dampening materials again. Everything jimirich said is spot on for the most part. There's sound dampening, sound absorbing, and sound proofing each one uses a different material. The guy who tested many of the materials of sound dampening created a website www.sounddeadnershowdown.com he has since taken the test down and sells his own line of products.

Sound dampening materials do a great job of reducing vibrations, great always nice to get rid of shakes. From what I've read the material doesn't do so well as a sound proofer. A uniform material such as Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) will do much better.

If you take it to it's logical end, you could have up to 3 different layers of material to completely deaden your vehicle: dampening mat, absorbing foam, and sound proofer. Trying to make this all fit in your particular application is going to be time consuming and in some cases just not possible given the constraints of the interior trim which must fit back into the vehicle.

I still might cover my entire cab with dampening mat, it's not the best for sound proofing but it's better than bare metal, add some ensolite in the mix and I think I'll have a quiet ride. It's a compromise like everything else.

 

want so save some $$$, what can I get away with?

 

does anyone have an idea of how many sf is needed to do the back firewall and the doors?

 

I bought 50 sq ft of Fat Mat... did all four doors and the back wall, and still had plenty left over.

 

cool, thanks, I might just get the 36 sf roll because I have an access cab so not much needed for that back doors.

 

That should be plenty. I think I have 15 sq ft left out of 50 after the four doors and back wall were done.

 

Any sound dampner mat will fit without issue, and some ensolite on the doors. The "typical" mat is anywhere from 2-5mm thick, ensolite typical 1/8 in, and MLV 1/4in. It's when you start pilling all the layers together that the thickness can get close to 1/2 in, which is a bit much in alot of places where trim is located. The MLV you have to build a solid wall in order for it to work properly, that's the biggest drawback. Simply placing a piece of MLV on the floor of the cab isn't going to do any good. You can mix and match were needed.

Rolls of dampner come in various sizes, I used Fatmat on my wife's old F150 100sf, I did everything behind the front seats and all the doors, extended cab. I had quite a bit left over.

I'm using RAAMaudio BXT this time around, would've tried second skin but Rick gives us a discount (I had a coupon) and he's a straight shooter on the phone, good customer service.

 

Keep in mind here that you only did the inner panel. You should have done the inside of the outter panel AND the inside panel. That 50 sq ft would not have gone that far had you done that.

 

Right... I would've used all 50 sq ft if I decided to do the inside of the outer panel, but I didn't. I'm content with the quality of sound though, because I still have a nice sound barrier. He only has an access cab... I'm assuming he's applying the way I did... if so, 36 sq ft is enough? If not, and he wants to do the inside, he'll need 50 sq ft.