Sound dampening mat: Long term effects.

Yesterday I spent a couple real fun (that's very much a lie) hours putting in Kilmat in my front and rear driver side doors. Hard to really tell the benefits of it until I get the rest of the cab done.

Obviously those doors now have a noticeably solid feel to them. Which I like.

But, as I was thinking about it, kind of made me wonder what kind of pressure that extra weight is putting on the hinges of the door. I get it's not a crazy amount of weight. But, it's not nothing either.

My last truck as of 3 weeks ago was an Explorer Sport Trac. A few months back the plastic grommets in the hinges gave out and the door started to sag. Granted that truck was 21 years old.

Was curious if anyone had put in deadening mat and noticed any issues with their Tacomas (or I guess any vehicle they've done it to) after some years with it?

 

I’ve had the inner/outer skins of my 4 doors deadened since ‘08. My doors haven’t fallen off yet, nor have the hinges bent. I think it’s okay.

 

I think you only now have about 18.75 years of hinge life left.

But it will be a quieter time.........

Kidding. I don't think the door cares. At all.

 

The only long term effect will be from water corrosion...and that's only if you install incorrectly (if the drains are blocked or massive air bubbles aren't rolled out).

If you installed correctly, then there should be no long term effects. It's not nearly as bad as wear/tear from the old-man habit of leaning on the door when getting in or out.

 

If it's just a butyl & aluminum damper, the butyl will compress to the contours of the doors. Of course aluminum won't compress, but it's not very thick. Generally where you get into fit issues is when you start stuffing barrier layers in (MVL, lead, etc). I have quite a few layers in my 1st Gen doors and they're hard to get back on right. But - that's a good, thick damper, MLV, and a few layers of neoprene as decoupling material - among other decoupling items. It's worth it though as my once noisy 1st gen is now has that luxury car feel

Starting with a warm medium and materials also helps

But wait, you were asking about hinges. I read too quickly. You'll be fine. Might be an issue with lead, but just a single layer of damper won't tear the doors off.

 

Doors designed to take a 5000lb side impact from another car will not be defeated by 4lbs of rubber.

 

it was also a ford...

 

My taco was parked next to a similar year Ranger a few years ago in a nasty hailstorm. I got away with maybe 10 dents and a broken windshield. The Ranger had hundreds of dents - just totally trashed.