nadir_s

hey guys, well I've been thinking and rather than dropping some more money on an RSB and other things... I want my ride to be comfortable. I don't know about you guys, but my 96 has horrible road noise. I've searched, googled, called a couple places and I'm still not satisfied. I want to make this thread so that we can get some useful info about current products out there that would reduce road noise... i'm not worrying about rattling or anything because I just have Bose.

I looked around and I guess there are 2 kinds of affordable options... the spray-on foam stuff or mats. I was leaning more on dynamat but they're for audio systems... i want something that would eliminate most of the outside road noise coming in. I have dynamat in my other car that is equipt w/ a hefty system and it does wonders keeping noise inside the car.

Spray:
Noisekiller Blue

Mats:
a bunch of them... dyanmat, fatmat, vibramat... etc etc

I am willing to go w/ dynamat just because I've had experience w/ them and they seem to do a good enough job. Now, I want to know what YOU guys have done to kill road noise? Any feedbacks ( + prices) on products would be great!!

1 more thing: does costco sell dynamat?

nadir_s

also, how much sq.ft. mat would I need for each door? thanks!

Vyrus

iTrader: (4)

I've heard that even with Dynamat, the car will not be as soft as you expect it to be (i.e. the quietness of modern expensive luxury cars). I'm not sure if it's true or not, but lots of people blame the seals rather than the dampening. By the way, be prepared to spend LOTS of money on dynamat ($500+?) if you want to do the whole interior, and don't forget it isn't exactly light.
-Cyrus

nadir_s

Hmm, when you say seals, do you mean the weather stripping? How much do those usually run from the dealership?

500 bucks?! how much do we really need tho... I was thinking to do just the doors. How much sq.ft. is usually required for each door? They have some decent deals on ebay.

Vyrus

iTrader: (4)

Yes I mean the weatherseals (as well as windowseals) and sorry I do not know how much they run. From some which measurements I just took, you would need 12 sqft. per front door and around 10 for each rear door (those measurements would be to cover the entire doorskin).
-Cyrus

nadir_s

thanks!! I'll call the dealership and post a price here on the weatherseals.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

Sometime back I saw a thread by sweetsound2001. He sound deadened his car like crazy. I've never seen such a complete DB noise killing project. The roof, doors, everything was deadened. His car gained quite a bit of weight, and he measured a noise reduction of about 3 db. That may not sound like much but it's considerable, especially when you consider that in order for an amplifier to go 3 db louder, it has to use twice as much power. Anyways, I most certainly would not want my car to gain weight even if it's quieter. One thing I have found, though, and I guess you wouldn't want to hear this, is that using smaller rims with bigger tires makes the car much quieter. Normally I run with 17s, but in winter I put on 15s. It always gets me how the car gets so much quieter. It's like I turned my SE into a GLE

Food for thought

DW

Mishmosh

iTrader: (3)

I would agree with the weather seal problem also! There is no way my 95 had this much road noise when it was new. The seals are definitely not as soft and compliant now.

nadir_s

Yeah, I actually didn't think it'd be the seals because I checked for any drafts. I guess it doesnt matter... no matter what, 6 years is quite a while for weather seals to perform just as good!

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

I nearly matched sweetsound's project except the roof lining...I didn't have the guts to detach everything just to take that off.

So right now, our other Maxima has about 3-5 layers of RAAMmat (Dynamat Extreme equivalent) all around the doors, floors, trunk, etc etc.

I don't think just doing the doors will do it. You'll either have to go all out, or focus on some main areas. By main areas, I mean wheel wells (most important IMO) and the floors.

Our sound deadened Maxima is quiet, but since we have Z rated Potenza tires on it, road noise is still audible. Tires make a big difference too since they're the only thing touching the ground.

Dave Holmes

I had my entire back seat out and went to the store. The noise was extremely loud from the back end. I may look at sound deadening the rear, including the metal behind the rear seat back (the trunk area is loud).
For wheel wells, wouldn't rubberized undercoating work well in there? Easy to install, and pretty cheap. I think I saw some marketed as a sound deadener at AutoZone before.

Dave

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

Can't believe I'm still up...I just finished watching "The New Guy" good movie btw..hahah, it surprised me.

Anyway Dave,

I've done exactly what you plan to do. Sound deadening the wheel wells helps minimally. It's best to avoid the sound of rocks hitting the inside of the wheel wells. To reduce noise in the back quickly and effectively, go to jcwhitney and search for heat shield. It's a foil with a thick carpet backing. Use that or an equivalent. Place a layer or two (or however many you desire) on the rear seating area, especially the wheel well area. I bet you'll notice a difference.

Anachronism

Does anyone have any recommendations on what areas will give the most noise reduction for the least effort and material cost? I have some dynamat left over from a previous car audio project and I was thinking of doing the front doors. I noticed that the floor of the trunk makes quite a bit of noise if I bang it with my hand, it is far from the passenger compartment but would be very easy to add sound deadning to. I also took a trip without the back seats in (when I went to get my heated seats ) and noticed that it was extreamly loud in the car, so I may do that area also.

On an audio forum I used to frequent some recommended 'Ice Guard' as an alternative to dynamat. It is a roofing material sold at home improvement stores but it is only available in large rolls. Browsing the first page of that forum someone also recommends 'Weather Guard', sold at home depot.

I have not posted at this car audio forum lately but I remember it to be very good from when I was a little more into car audio. Unfourtunatly their search function seems to be down at the moment http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb2/

EDIT - I found a good thread over there recommending 'Peel and Seal' also available at home improvement stores - http://www.caraudioforum.com/vbb2/sh...hreadid=133771

nadir_s

wow, peel and seal looks like a good alternative. I'm just concerned about the "tar smell". Some say they don't have it where as others did? Do you guys think roofing material would be good?

Chris- after sound deadening your car, did it make a real big difference w/ road noise??

Also, when you guys talk about the rear seat, are you talking about the metal part right underneath the rear seats? If you put a layer of mat on it, do the seats still lock in place?

Also, is it pretty simple to remove the carpet and apply the mat w/o having to worry about the carpet not fitting anymore? Sounds like a big project, thanks!

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

it's a very big project if you want to go all out...I spent about 2 months on sound deadening and car audio since I was a first-timer in removing panels, installing amps, etc etc. Anyway, if you want Nadir, you can come by some time and get a ride in the sound deadened max.

About the tar smell...well, if you do the whole interior, you will get a smell, no matter what.

The rear seat section we're referring to is the back plate, if you remove the vertical part of the rear seat and also the part right under the seat cushion. And yes, the seats can still lock (as long as you don't go above 2-3 layers of insulation, you just have to put your weight on it

MyGray96SE

iTrader: (3)

I just got a roll of some stuff called Brown Bread from B-Quiet up in Canada. Their stuff is as good as Dynamat from what my research has found. It's MUCH cheaper though. I emailed them asking for some advice and they replied the same day! Very helpful.

I haven't installed it yet. I'm waiting on the weather to break here in Ohio...

nadir_s

How much did you buy? It looks expensive to me!


btw, Chris- How much sq ft did you need for the entire car minus the roof??

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

About 150 I think.... tee heee

MyGray96SE

iTrader: (3)

Here's a section of the email Wade at B-Quiet sent.

"I would suggest Brown Bread throughout the vehicle to control structural borne noises, such as rattles, resonances, vibrations and also to slow the propogation of road/engine/exhaust noise into the cabin. Full coverage with the damping layer (Brown Bread) is not required - you can get away with 2/3 to 3/4 coverage, but most people will opt for 100% coverage of a panel.

For even better reduction of road/engine/exhaust noise, I would suggest that you consider a layer of Lcomp (or Vcomp) over top of the Brown Bread on the floor and lower interior firewall to absorb and block airborne noises.

I would recommend the 70 sq. ft. roll of Brown Bread and 20-30 sq. ft. of Vcomp for your vehicle." - Wade

I just got the Brown Bread, I haven't decided about the Lcomp stuff yet. Check out the site. They have a few nice picts of some installs.

Chen127

Wow, now I feel really old. I remember this being discovered and covered over and over many years ago, people on Rec.Car.Audio (RAC) newsgroup used to preach about this stuff all the time. I'm suprised no one has mentioned this, but you can get generic Dynamat from a place called http://www.mcmaster.com/ Search for item number 9709T19 It has been said that this is the exact same type of dampening material that dynamat is, except the Dynamat stuff says "Dynamat" and costs about 4-5 times more than what this stuff costs. A 34" by 54" roll of this costs I think $15 or so and about $70 for the dynamat http://www.dynamat.com/ , you make the decision. Just spend a couple bucks on this stuff just to check it out, trust me you won't be disappointed. Also click on the cataloge page on that website, you will see other types of dampening material which looks suspiciously like the other types of dynamat like the truck/roof liner stuff with the aluminum on one side etc etc. Go onto google and put in Dynamat, Mcmaster carr, and you will get alot of results like this one http://www.spydermagazine.com/2002/F...at/Dynamat.htm that talks all about Dynamat and it's alternatives. Sound proofing DOES work, if you do it correctly. If you only try to sound dampen parts of your car, it won't make a difference, you have to sound proof literally every inch of your car if you want the full effect. Some DB drag competition vehicles have seen increases of up to 10 DB(decibel) increase in volume after soundproofing, sure that's the extreme, but it just depends how much sound proofing you really want to do. I've been in many older fully sound proofed cars that are just as if not quieter than today's newer "luxury" vehicles. Some people like to put layers of mat down on noisier areas, then spray everything with a few coats of sound dampening material, which works quite well. You can buy the liquid stuff by the buckets, for pretty cheap and just buy or borrow a spray gun, find an air compressor and voila. I've been in the car audio business for over 5 years now and have seen what works and what doesn't. If your'e gonna do it, do it right, or you'll be wasting your time and money.

nadir_s

wow! thanks for the info Chen. Have you used this product personally? If so, how do u like it?

I just looked it up on their website but I can't seem to find any pictures or details... just the price. That's $14.62 for 144 sqft.

Definately a cheap alternative to dynamat!!

Chen127

umm i don't think it's quite 144sqft for 14.62, i think it was more like 10 sq ft or something, no I have not personally purchased it, but I have many friends who have used it and have it in there cars, and have helped some friends installing it, and I've touched, smelled and played with it, and I could not tell any difference between this and dynamat.

nadir_s

oops my ****ty math, it is 12.15 sq ft.

damn i don't think i can afford soundproofing everything then

Anachronism

So in your opinion it is all or nothing? Trying to hit a few problem areas would not be worth it? I am definatly not willing to do a complete soundproofing but I was hopeing to do a few areas and get some reduction in road noise.

NYCe MaXiMa

iTrader: (9)

i'll be doing this soon since i'm doing a tan to black interior swap and ripping everything out..
I chose to go with RAAMmat as opposed to the other things, Dynamat is too pricey.. I almost bought that mcmaster.com stuff but i heard you get that burn asphalt / tar smell along with it, especially on hot days.. i rather keep my car smell free and leave the roofing material alone..

i'll give raammat a try,
i'm going to try to cover the front footwell and the door panels as thorough as possible and as i have enough material for. also open for any other suggestions..

TurDz

iTrader: (3)

Right on, RAAMmat is cheap. Rick McCallum, owner and distributor of RAAMmat is a really cool guy, and not to mention he has one of the best SQ vehicles in the US.

The last time I bought it, it was around $60 + or - $5-10 depending on his sale prices. It's a great deal, and you get 50sq feet if he still offers it in that same size.

Mike H.

Just to let you know that RAAMMAT has a tar coating as well. Also, there are two different thicknesses to raammat, 45mil and 60mil.

Just to give you a heads up, it has been mentioned in the past that there was a bad batch of raammat in that the adhesive didn't stick. Sweetsound had a problem with it and he had to redo the whole roof of his maxima because the glue started dripping. I had a bad experience with it as well. I did my trunk lid and the glue started to ooze out and i got a lot of air bubbles. I gutted my whole trunk lid.

Oh yeah, I covered 2 computers with the mcmaster stuff and that thing works pretty well. Also, it didn't have a tar smell to it. the raammat did.

Just to give you a second opinion.

hakk97se

There used to be a guy here in Norcal that had a max and came to meets. He worked at a dealership in the south bay. He sound deadened his '97 max. Basically, if I recall correctly, he also used roofers materials.. He took all the seats out and ripped up all the carpeting in the car. Underneath it he placed basically the equivalent of asphault sheeting like they use for shingles. HEAVY stuff. Then on top of that he placed household carpet foam padding and put the carpet back over that. Sealed everything real well. He was also able to cut this stuff out and put it in the doors.

I got to ride in it for a minute and it was DAMN quiet. I mean *really* quiet. He told me that like 90% of the sound came through the floor and that if you really get down there and cover the whole floor, including all the little rises and stuff, you can get rid of most of it. I believe he was debating on whether to do the roof liner at that point, as he had already added about 300+lbs to the car.

That's a huge project though. Nadir, I would start out with getting those seals. Make sure everything is sealed up tight. I don't know if you have a sunroof, but make sure thats well sealed too. Also check the rear pass through. If the armrest isn't well sealed, you can get a fair amound of noise coming in from the trunk. Then I would look at your tires. A ton of noise in the car comes from tires. Some a really loud, some arent. If you need to go further, consider some thicker floor mats. My point is, you don't need to add 300+lbs and spend hunderds to get your car comfortable! Try it in stages.

dwapenyi

iTrader: (3)

300 + Lbs? Holy cow. a Supercharger should be included in these noise reduction projects just to offset the weight increase

DW