Sound deadening checklist

smon · Jul 5, 2012

UPDATE-
Since I had the 4th off from work I thought I would finish up this install. I had no idea that this would be so time consuming. I spent about 5 hours working and was only able to get the rear cab finished up. Having an extra person is almost a must. Those seats are akward with just one person.

Anyway, here is what I did...along with some crappy pics.

Strip everything except the car seat hooks. Don't try and leave pieces (middle seatbelt) like I did. You will end up removing everything. Make sure and mark every bolt and plastic clip hole with a sharpie. This way you can cover up unused ones and avoid covering up the ones you need.

Here is my helper...she was good at taking up cab space and stealing the corners from my nice square neoprene sheets.

You will end up with this:

Here is a MAJOR source of road noise. I didn't want to cover up the vent so I just added a couple layers of neoprene to the jute that covers it on the carpet. There seems to be a piece of MLV already on the carpet.

Peel off the moisture barrier for the rear window. I added a few pieces of FatMat inside. Not much room to get your hands in there.

I tried to strategically place the FatMat where the panels had the least amount of support. Went for 25-35% coverage everywhere. Do not lay the FatMat on your carpet. The edges of the Butyl will stick and is impossible to remove.

smon · Jul 5, 2012

The floor was pretty easy, except for trying to hold up the carpet and lay the mat all by myself. The factory "caulk" type junk on the floor is worthless. I added a large square of fatmat right on top. Leave large enough holes for the seat bolts or you will have trouble getting them to thread with an extra 1/4"+ underneath.

The neoprene wasn't too bad since it sticks very well and is flexible. I ended up using two pieces for the rear wall. I used a little glue on the hump near the rear wall, but just layed down a big sheet on the floor. You have to work the neoprene under the carpet up to the middle console. This is another place where an extra pair of hands is needed.

Time for the MLV. This is where I really began questioning whether or not this was worth it. This stuff is frustrating. Don't try and use one big piece like I did. It's just too heavy and not flexible. 3 or 4 pieces would be better. Even Gorilla glue doesn't stick to this crap. I had to use a vinyl glue on the top section to get the tape to stick. Forget tight curves, even with Super 90. Luckily the rear has enough room to almost let the stuff just hang. It doesn't look very good, but it works. I also found that cleaning the piece of MLV helps with the smell.

At least the floor was easy. Just a big piece right on top of the neoprene.

The rear pillars are pretty tough since you are just using small pieces here and there. I only used MLV about halfway up since it doesn't stick well. Make sure and keep the corner of the rear wall and rear pillars trimmed or else your kickpanels won't go all the way back very well.

Everything went back on pretty well. No problems getting bolts to thread or anything...just make sure the rear seat latches are right side up when you reinstall. There is a fairly good reduction in road and exhaust noise. I have the stock muffler and never realized how much noise still came through. This weekend I plan to get the other 3 doors finished.

Nick568 · Jul 5, 2012

Thanks for the update and valuable tips! Lookin' great so far!!

smon · Jul 23, 2012

Almost finished now. I was able to tackle the last 3 doors this weekend. Still have the front cab area which shouldn't be too bad considering it's mainly flat.

I have quite a bit of FatMat leftover, but the neoprene and MLV will be just about perfect. Heres a couple pics of the rear door:

I was at Home Depot and saw that they have a 3M Super 80 which is for rubber and vinyl. It seems to stick to the MLV a littler better than the Super 90...but it's still a pain to get it on the panel. You can see how much gorilla tape it takes to just keep it hanging there while you work. Turns out I will use two cans of Super 90 and one can of Super 80. Each can costs about $11 so that was something that I did not factor into my project.

So far the noise reduction is fairly significant...and so is the smell of the MLV. The rear took about 2 weeks to out-gas, so my truck has been smelling for about a month now since it is taking me so long. Hopefully I will finish up the front of the cab tomorrow and be road noise free. I wish I had something to test the DB before and after. I have a friend with the exact same truck as me so maybe there is an app or something that I can use for a test

smon · Jul 30, 2012

Last update. Finally finished with my sound deadening project. The front area was a piece of cake. You can get one piece to cover about 95% of the area on each side...not much trimming either. Also gave me a chance to vacuum out all the crumbs inbetween the seats and the console.

It has made a significant difference in road noise, especially on rough roads. Noise only comes through the windows and from the big tow mirrors. I would say 85% of the road noise is gone now. That is also with the crappy Rugged Trail tires that are at the end of their life. Now I just have to wait for the smell of the MLV to dissipate...

The total price comes to about $350, but I ended up with too much material left over:
MLV 100 sq ft: $125 - had about 20 sq ft leftover
Neoprene 106 sq ft: $85 - had about 20 sq ft left
Fatmat Megamat 50 sq ft: $125 - had quite a bit leftover...could have gotten away with 25 sq ft for $70
3 cans of glue/ 1 roll of gorilla tape : $35

Nick568 · Jul 30, 2012

Thanks for the update on this project!
Sounds like you're pretty happy with the results.. Definitely worth the time and money you put into it?

smon · Jul 30, 2012

I am very happy with the results. Definitely worth it for the money. Seems like just buying "kits" or from a local audio shop would run 3Xs what I paid and that doesn't include MLV.

It was the time that makes me think this was a one time deal. I thought I would get it done in two afternoons...it ended up being at least double that. 100* weather outside doesn't help either. It's frustrating when it takes that long and you keep needing to trim places and finding missed screw holes.

Making templates out of cardboard was a huge time saver I found out...and having a friend to help would have really cut down on the time - especially the back area.

Nick568 · Jul 30, 2012

Yeah, the impression I've received from seeing a few sound deadening threads is that it always, always takes more time than you anticipate.
If I decide to do it on mine, I'm going to allow for several weekends and do it in small sections each time. Got a whole lot of other bills to pay off first though!

HRTKD · Jul 30, 2012

I didn't insulate the entire cab of my Titan. I only did the doors, back wall, back posts and the back floor. It was indeed a lot of work but I did it in three steps: front doors, back doors and the back seat area. Each section took a day with the backseat area taking the longest (more like two days over a weekend). I can't imagine doing the whole cab on the Titan. That is a huge job. I did the entire cab on my Ranger and that took three or four weekends with it being completely taken apart and undrivable the entire time. The Ranger has to be alot easier than the Titan since my Ranger has almost none of the electronic gizmos that the Titan has.

One mistake I made was taking bolts out and putting them in a cup. Instead I should have taken the bolts out and put them right back in so I knew where they went. I still have a couple in the cup and I have no idea where they belong.

I really overdid the Ranger. With the volume way up you can hardly hear it outside the cab - even the bass.

smon · Jul 30, 2012

Yeah, the impression I've received from seeing a few sound deadening threads is that it always, always takes more time than you anticipate.

I saw that a few times also...I didn't believe it until now. I thought it would be like playing with big stickers....just stick and go.

I only did the doors, back wall, back posts and the back floor. It was indeed a lot of work but I did it in three steps: front doors, back doors and the back seat area. Each section took a day with the backseat area taking the longest (more like two days over a weekend). I can't imagine doing the whole cab on the Titan. That is a huge job.

I didn't do anything from the pillars up...mainly due to the airbag stuff. I didn't want to mess with that. I don't think it would really make a difference either. The front cab floor was really easy, just unbolt seats and lean them back to get a big rectangle in there.

and yes, good point about putting the bolts back in. Or at least marking those holes with a sharpie. the ones that got me were the clips. There are tons of extra random holes in the sheetmetal, it's really easy to cover up a used on or cut open a non-used one.

smon · Jan 2, 2013

So I just wanted to update this thread with a problem I am having after 4 months since finishing my project. The MLV I bought was the cheapest I could find off of ebay. It had a pretty funky smell. Fast forward to now...and that crap is still off-gassing. It still has a fairly strong odor...that unfortunately transfers instantly to your clothing. I kept telling myself it had to stop, but I am finally going to pull off the MLV and replace it with higher quality stuff. I am tired of smelling like a mixture of hospital, grandma, and gasoline.

I got in touch with Don from sounddeadenershowdown.com. He is sending me a couple samples of "fresh off the roll" MLV for me to compare to my "regrind" MLV. We will see if it passes the "smell" test. Hopefully it is stink free and this can be a lesson for those who want to do this in the future.

Sound deadening checklist

smon

smon

Nick568

smon

smon

Nick568

smon

Nick568

HRTKD

smon

smon

Top Contributors this Month

Recommended Communities