Be QUIET! or... how to sound-proof your Taco cab

As I continue to get used to this new truck, I am becoming aware of road noise when driving w/o noisy distractions (stereo, phone, wife - LOL).

Wondering whether any of you folks have tackled the task of installing sound dampening materials in the doors and that rear wall.

I would very much appreciate any sage advice you can offer me... as far as materials, difficulties, do's & don'ts, etc.

I am thinking of starting off with some Dynamat panels inside my driver & passenger doors, then moving rearward to the access cab half doors and, hopefully (if it isn't too hard or disastrous), the rear wall of the cab where I especially seem to notice it most. Also pondering some sort of liner under the hood (not heat stuff, just for noise).

 

A lot of folks have gone down this route successfully. I have seen @phocas 's Taco. Just shutting the drivers door is a significantly different feeling and sound.


IMHO, I'd leave the engine bay alone, at least until you attack the cab and try out the results.

 

I’ve done it

I did the doors when i replaced my speakers and Ive done from the B pillar along the floor and cargo bins up the back wall. It made a huge difference, especially since i pulled out my rear seats for the goose gear seat delete.

I did 2 layers - 1 noico Black 80 mil and 1 layer noico red 150 mil.

Doing 2 layers like this is definitely the way to go.

Be sure to get a roller and utility knife. Makes the install way easier. Trim panel removal tools too if yo don’t have them.

If you take off the door panels, be sure to get the cable hooked back in the handle properly, or you’ll close the door and not be able to open it again.

If you’ve got other questions, let me know.

 

Single layer of noico in each doors.



I also did the back wall with noico and sprayed lizard skin (heat blocking sound deadener) onto the roof.

 

I did everything with Kilmat except the roof. It helped but I think most of the noise is probably coming from the windows which you can't address.

 

I did it to all the doors and back... here are pictures of the back. It made a difference but if you need to be wowed you will have to do the roof and floor.

Layer 1 -BXT II RAAMmat
Layer 2 - Ensolite IUO
Layer 3 - Mass loaded Vinyl

 

There is a clear film you can get for windows that adds sound proofing. Not sure how well it would work in a truck, as its mostly designed for house windows.

 

I've recently been looking for some tutorials as well. My new speakers just arrived, and I have some Kilmat 80mil, a roller, and a trim panel removal kit set to arrive in the mail today. As far as I can tell from my research so far, you mostly remove the door panel, and start sticking the deadening material on any bare metal where it won't get in the way. I thought there might be a more step-by-step, this-is-where-the-deadening-material-goes tutorial, but I haven't yet found an end-all-be-all write up.

This video is pretty good though, and it's posted to the official Noico website:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6txLlGy8jMU.

 

There’s not much to it. You basically just stick it to anything you can.

 

Doors and back wall are fairly easy to do.

80 mm Noico then ensolite made a nice improvement for me.

if you really want to get crazy - https://www.tacomaworld.com/threads/removing-your-headliner-and-insulating-sound-deadening.394469/

 

Did all my doors, back panel and roof years ago. It made a difference for sure but everytime I addressed 1 thing then other things became apparent.
Spend special attention to the vent on the back wall and figure a good baffle setup for it without plugging it up. A good portion of road noise comes in through that vent. I ended up putting a pool noodle between the bed and the cab below the vent to block a lot of road noise from coming up to the vent then used some jute padding loosely over the vent so it could still breath but the fibers would still absorb sound vibrations. Don't completely block it up or you'll hate closing your doors as that is where the pressure bleeds off through. You'll also notice the door seals suck (at least in a 2016, maybe they have better ones now) but I put 1/4 irrigation drip line inside my door rubber to fatten them up just a tad for better sealing and also glued them down so they would seal better. Lastly, If you have an Access Cab, that is where a majority of noise enters now. I still didn't get around to figuring out the rubber seals as I'm tired of working on it only to find the next sound issue. I can be parked in my parking lot waiting for work and during a nice crosswind I can still hear the wind coming into the truck.

 

Did this a while back and it’s a lot of work. Knu knoise kolossus, closed cell backed loaded mass vinyl. Right at 100 sqft of MLV + foam for top, bottom, door skins. Don’t expect a huge difference, but enough to tell. Majority of noise now comes from the firewall, which there isn’t a whole lot to be done about it... Read about mass loaded vinyl, that’s what you want.

 

I’ve done doors in dynomat extreme but the rest with Noico 80. Just did the floor and rear with 80 them 315 mil (accidentally ordered the wrong one) that stuff is thick. I would prob. Stick to 150 or do 315 in the floor and 150 mil on sides as some areas don’t lay flat very well. On the rear I did extra 80 mil on the recessed spots. I need to lay 150 over the dynomat on the doors. The roof area will be a major improvement for sound inside and out. For audio you loose a lot there.

this is almost finished floor.

 

I’ve also have used noico sound deadener. I originally bought it for my wife’s Mazda, i was so impressed that i picked it up for my truck. Makes a huge difference. It does take some time to do the whole truck so clear your schedule.

 

Yep, the MLV is pretty much the only thing that will actually reduce noise and I believe the minimum for decent reduction is something like 1lb/sqft. The dynamat, noico, kilmat, etc stick on stuff only reduces the vibrations of the surface they're attached to. So it's pretty good for things like roof/doors where the panels vibrate.

I did kilmat in my f250 in the hope of reducing exhaust drone and it didn't really do much. I'm sure that layering the whole cab in MLV would have produced better results but it would have cost another couple hundred dollars and I didn't want to pull out all my seats and carpet.

 

for clairty sake... thats about 1/8" thick roll.

 

Exactly right. 1 lb/sqf minimum. Also, the more mass you stick onto a vibrating surface (think resonance) the better it will be at changing it to a lower frequency. I like 80mil or better, kno knoise kolossus is 100 mil thick. Took 35 sqft to effectively do the whole truck, + some butyl rope for those internal door supports (very effective).

 

I found the full length version of the video that I posted earlier. By far the best comprehensive panel removal/sound deadening tutorial I've come across so far: https://youtu.be/_vxpT62AP0M

 

I'm going to tell you right now the door seals on these trucks are nothing special.

did a rear seat delete and have a moly panel back there. Stuck some rubber floor mat back in with help, but I really need to do the dynamic thing and actually cut them to fit and get all the corners.

You can also drive with the windows down and your stereo up.

 

Well... I did it. Used the excellent post on this board about removing the jump seat bits, then yanked the back wall sections. Wiped the whole area down using a clean towel w/alcohol and went to work. I'd gotten my wife a set of new speakers for her front doors along with a box of Dynamat Xtreme. Thanks to her COVID fears about anyone getting in her vehicle it's been sitting for quite some time... and I couldn't wait... and so I commandeered it. LOL. There was just enough square footage in that front door kit to do the entire back wall, plus the narrow strip of the floor exposed directly under the jump seat mounts. All told I had maybe a couple of solid hours into it from first pop out to last snap in. Thankfully I did not break any of the red snaps. Too tired to take it for a spin now. Need food & rest. I have to do a grocery & gas up run tomorrow, so I'll find out then if my efforts have yielded bountiful fruit. If so, I will continue forward towards the front doors. Not sure about the floor or ceiling but if it can be done w/o trashing the carpet & roof liner to the point where they no longer fit properly then I will eventually do them as well.

We have a major road trip coming up at the end of this week so that will be the real trial by fire. Now if I can just get a little tinting done before we leave I'll be way ahead of the game. My heartfelt "Thanks!" to all who posted here with their various struggles & successes. CHEERS!!!