Is sound deadening worth it?

I read AdventureTacos write up on sound deadening and it's spot on a good read. I was only able to do the four doors when I was installing a new Kenwood Stereo with Matching Speakers. I wish that I was physically able to do the floor and the roof, but my body limits what I can do. I think my new stereo sounds much better, and I don't hear as much road noise when driving on the Freeway. I also put some foam padding behind my speakers. It just depends on how far you want to go doing this project.

 

I'm thinking of doing my doors. Possibly the speakers area too. I was going to use Dynamat Extreme, but the testing data linked to in this thread suggest pretty much anything works fine.

It seems like the most critical thing might be the thickness of the material, because if it's too thick it's going to interfere with the windows, or the panels won't close right. Any insights there?

 

I called my car audio guy that I've used multiple times, and he uses Dynamat, but he asked me if I was going to do it right away and said for the first time in months, he had no installations and made me the proverbial deal I couldn't refuse if I'd drive over right away. Being the lazy old 74 year old that I am, I took him up on his offer.

I drove on the highway for forty miles yesterday, and there was a big difference. Really worth it to me. I'll get the carpet with sound damping backing next.

 

That old original deadening gets sort of stale. Dries out and doesn’t do much. Also very messy and a pain to remove. If you don’t remove it the sound absorbing stuff doesn’t work nearly as well applied over it. The trick to is to super chill it with dry ice. Just buy a block at a grocery store and place it on the bare steel. In a minute or so the old deadener gets brittle and some light taps and scrapes flake it right off. Scoot over and repeat a few times.

It’s the easiest, cleanest and cheapest method I’ve found. Did it with the floor pan in an old Camry and plan to again on a Tacoma whenever the carpet gets bad enough to replace. Looks kinda like a witch’s cauldron rolling out of the car and the kids got a kick out of that.



That Adventure Taco tutorial is extremely helpful. Thanks!

 

Please save yourself some money go to a place that just sells roofing materials and get the 12inch wide by however many feet you want foil backed butyl peel and stick for pennies on the dollar compared to other products. If you don't like it it only cost you $80 double layer for the whole truck instead of $375. Works as perfect as high dollar stuff. They try to tell you it smells BS. I have Done like 8 vehicles with it in the past. It's an inexpensive mostly easy once the seats are out task. A weekend job cut, adhere and roll kinda mindless. I think it's a good thing but not for big dollars.

 

I still have my hood noise dampener shield attached that Toyota offered way back. It’s a bit tattered now.

 

What brand did you use? I looked at several and they all smelled terrible inside the nice air conditioned stores. Some were oozing a thin tar type liquid. I expect they would off gas much more when hot. All of it was asphalt based and none had thick foil.

I used Damplifier Pro and it’s held up for years under the roof with summers over 100°. I think it’s also more dense. Bought a bunch on sale and also some factory seconds and partial pieces. It still works and applies great years later.

 

Cool, i would use the other stuff dont get me wrong if it was a bargain. No brand name on material I used its generic foil backed peel n stick butyl comes in a roll no label basic roofing supply house stuff. I live in San Antonio 100 deg here all summer long no lasting smell for me once applied at all. I also put it in newer type vehicles and 3 of my own. Twas no down side. Here's a Pic of my leftovers. It smells inert as of now I actually just smelled it. I think a new roll has an odor but not like anything you would run from or wanna hurl. Never lasted a day after install. Smell for a day and save I'm in. BTW it's primary use in the roofing world is a moisture barrier.

 

That looks a lot better than the junk I found at Lowe’s and Home Depot. Maybe I should’ve went to the place where actual roofers get their stuff.

This discussion inspired me. Was waiting on a new pair of speakers but oh well. I just slapped on almost 3 12x20” sheets into the passenger door. It would’ve been a neater install had I cut it into strips instead of folding it but I don’t think anybody will be looking at the crease. The foil on amplifier is no joke. It would probably be smart to wear cut resistant gloves or at least not have old man skin when handling it.

 

Yeah stuffing your arm inside the doors kinda sucks for scrapes and cuts. Long sleeve shirts help. A big wooden spoon and a little rubber roller helps for molding and sticking it down all over in the little nooks and crannies. Use both sides of the wooden spoon and work it.

 

I did my '03 in stages & IMO, it's not really worth it unless you do the full treatment. By that I mean CLD (Constrained Layer Damper), barrier layer (Mass Loaded Vinyl), and decouplers (neoprene, other closed-cell foams). Most stop at CLD. While it does make a difference, IMO it's not big enough to justify ripping out the interior for just that first step.

Full treatment is well worth it though. You get a luxury car feel out of a once rattly old truck. It's a ton of work, and a bit of coin, but so worth it...especially if you have a powerful audio system. That will expose a lot of rattles.

Do your research and get good materials. Don't go cheap here. Again, it's a ton of work, so do it right the first time. Also consider that there's not a lot of room in the doors. It's barely gonna fit. Cheap materials can also be dangerous - in that they offgass nasty fumes. Make sure you get a good butyl formula and not asphalt or some other nasty stuff. Or something that's gonna melt off in the heat and become an unruly mess that will never come out. Ever.

 

So true. I did as much of the decoupled MLV over dampener as possible in my old Camry. It wasn’t fun trying to make it fit under the carpet. Could only do dampener in the doors. The goal was to make it as quiet as a LS400. Started approaching the point where it was counterproductive because you can’t really stop vibration or wind noise from the mirrors and standard, non acoustic side glass. It may reduce overall noise but it draws attention to spots you can’t do much about. I expect the same on this Tacoma but it won’t be at highway speeds often. Also there’s a lot more tire and mechanical noise from below.

Man I just love how well made these old Toyotas are. Working on them is so rewarding.

 

Yeah, it’s totally worth it. I went over this one again more completely. Inside the door skin, behind the inner door frame and in the stamped valleys behind the door panel. I used to carefully measure and cut the dampener to make it look pretty. Now I just eyeball it and slap it on.

The only issue is now the gear noise seems louder. It’s not and eventually it will get some attention.