Heh, weird subject - I know. But I've got a serious question. Next week (Friday, specifically) I'm going to be practically taking apart my entire interior to replace the entire Bose system. New amp, new head units, new speakers, new subwoofers, new changer. My car is rattle free and feels rock solid up to and beyond 100mph right now. The one rattle I had, I solved with air conditioner weather stripper from Home Depot (thanks for whoever came up with that idea..).

Anyway, I'm aware that having a lot of the interior apart can generate lots of squeaks and rattles once the tight factory assembly is disturbed. I don't want to avoid this as much as possible, but completely. While I've got a lot of the dash apart and the door panels removed I want to take steps to stop rattles I might cause and prevent future ones. In case you don't get it, rattles and squeaks REALLY bother me. They drive me insane and distract me while I'm driving. And don't ask how, but I can hear them over the loudest music if I'm in my car.

I've already got a lot of ideas on what to do where and I'll post them if they actually work. But I've got a question right now - does anyone have any advice for me on how to eliminate rattles? Like I said, I'm going to through extra trouble to do this. Since everything is going to be apart this seems like the perfect time.

Any advice? What I'm most worried about is getting the trim pieces in snug and keeping them that way, especially on the bumpy and rough roads of CT.

Thanks, guys.

 

Check out this site and it might give you some ideas.

http://www.b-quiet.com

I had my Max interior apart and when I put things back together, I used carpet cushion foam material (used for carpet padding) from Home Depot. I put the foam material on the inner side of the plastic trim parts. The foam is easy to cut to size. It helped cut down tire noise and rattles.

 

Before starting my English paper of 1500 words w/ an synthesis style, I'll help you out

To stop rattles in the dash, the main idea is to STUFF it, just as you were advised. Get the low to medium density foam w/ an adhesive backing. If you have your dash taken apart, line any metal or potential rattle area with this stuff. With this you create a sandwich which will dampen any minor rattles, esp. through potholes, rough roads, etc. I did this extensively to my car, and it eliminated the problem. Be sure to do a thorough job by lining the whole dash frame that touches any center console piece, plus the dash pieces that touch other parts of the car. This might require a smaller and lower density foam to actually fit and not look overstuffed.


Don't worry, you're not curious about a weird subject. I spent 260+ proud hours of sound deadening/sound upgrade just as you did. It took me around 2 months to compelete my project, being as painstakingly **** as possible hehe. Anyway, the best way to avoid rattles after taking your car apart is to add weight to every piece. It may sound a little extreme, but this is the only way to ensure a rattle free car. Something else you can do is find any lightweight plastic piece that might a potential rattle area, and add more stuffing (foam) in that area. It should do a decent job to stop rattles. But to do a compelete job, get sound-acoustic mat, such as RAAMmat (my recommendation) or a Dynamat equivalent.

Hope that helps and e-mail me if you need anymore help.

BTW, I was inspired to do my sound deadening project from SWEETSOUND, as he started me off with good advice. Also, LOTS of credit goes to Jonathan (Whitemax) who helped me through my whole audio installation. So if you need more help, I'm sure they'd also be glad to help you out.