I just finished putting a ton of sound deadening material in my 01 Maxima and thought it did a really good job lowering road noise. I used RAAMmat BXT damping mat and Ensolite closed cell foam from RAAMaudio, Rattle Pad from Second Skin, and some Quiet Batt accoutical insulation from AMI. I didn't like the idea of using liquid sound proofing products. Rather I selected other products that seemed better suited for the right part of the car to quiet all that horrible tire noise and trunk-area sound that plagues my Maxima. Anyway here are some photos of the job for those of U thinking of doing something similar.

To begin with, I completely stripped the interior and trunk.



Nissan put a fair amount of damp mat in a few areas of the car as you can see from the gray padding on the floorboard. Had 2 layers here. But other stuff as you can see from the simple paper covers over the frame holes was...well, simply crapy.



I really focused on the rear deck, as I think a lot of trunk and rear wheel noise came thru from there. Big holes in the deck and absolutely no sound proofing.

 

I was really concerned about fitting rear seats and trim back after adding a bunch of sound deadening layers, so I put the RAAMmat damping and Ensolite foam to the underside of the rear deck instead of the top. It wasn't too difficult. From this photo taken in the trunk you can see the bottom of the deck with the RAAMmat and foam applied. I peeled back some of the foam so you can see the RAAMmat underneath. This way I covered up just about all the extra holes in the deck. I'm sure glad I did this way, because when I put the Rattle Pad foam on top of the deck later on, IT WAS a tight fit getting the deck cover back on when I was all done.



I also did the rear seat frame which I think was a total waste now that I'm done. Again all the stuff was applied to the rear of the frame to make the seats easier to reinstall. But it was a pain reinstalling the frame later on with all this sound damp material on it. Amd I'm not sure it did much to quiet the car.



I put Second Skin's Rattle Pad on the top of the deck. Rattle Pad was a lightweight accoutical foam and real easy to work with. I used the deck cover as a template to cut the foam and then placed the cutout on the deck to mark seat belt holes and the like. Then made the cutouts. Once done this way, the foam was a near perfect fit.



Here is the rear deck with the cover back on after the Rattle Pad was installed. It was a tight fit so I am really glad there was not RAAMmat or Ensoilte foam under it too.

 

Here is what I did with the doors.

Basically stripped them bare to start with. I did add the red wire looms based on what I've read from others who've sound proofed thier doors. Cool stuff.



On went the RAAMmat. Again, an easy product to use. I did put some behind the speaker (Ensolite foam already covers it in the speaker hole), but otherwise I did not put any on the outside skin of the door, only the inside skin as you can see in this photo. Now that the job is done, the doors are totally quiet. So I doubt I lost anything by not doing the outside door skin.



I don't think the closed cell Ensolite foam added much accoustical value to be really honest. It seems more like a vibration damper to me. But it did add a really nice finish look, and protected other parts from the black butyl rubber material on the edge of the RAAMmat. I got pretty **** about not covering up the bolts and wiring harnesses in case I ever had to get back inside the door frame. That added a lot of extra time to the project.

 

The interior door frame was pretty easy. I completely removed all the factory installed sound deadening and cleaned off the old glue.



Then I lined the whole door with SS's Rattle Pad. Spray glued it to hold it in place.



I ended up stuffing some of the accoutical insulation to the big open areas of the doors frame for added quieting. The accoutical insulation is not fiberglass insulation. It's 80% recycled cotton treated for mold and mildew resistance, but I did add back a make-shift plastic vapro barrier B4 reinstalling. Even with all this stuff on the frame it went back together in a snap.

 

I also added the accoustical insulation to other big open spaces in the car. Here I put some between the extra frame brace in the trunk above the rear wheel and the outside sheet metal. I don't have any extra pictures of the trunk. As you can also see in this photo I just applied RAAMmat to the whole trunk and then covered it with the gray Ensolite foam.



I also stuffed scraps into the small opening above the rear strut.



For the front wheel wells, I stuffed the insulation behind the plastic lining.
1st I made a mold of the area I wanted to fill.



Then I cut the insulation to fit, and wrapped Ensolite foam around it to keep it water tight. Ensolite is closed cell foam and doesn't let water pass thru it.



In it went. The Accoutical insulation and Ensolite foam thickness together was a perfect fit between the sheet metal. I put a little RAAMmat and Ensolite on the plastic wheel liner B4 reinstalling that. It held the insulation in place just right.

 

For the floor baord, I simply RAAMmat'ed it to death and then completely covered it with the RAttle Pad. I did not put more damp mat on top of the two layers of the gray colored factory matting already there because 1) I didn't think it would add any more sound proofing value and, 2) I did want to build up so many layers of stuff that the seats and carpet would be difficult to reinstall.





By the time I was done, it was completely covered with Rattle Pad from end to end.

 

O...d......

 

hell of a job man....

 

Holy crap, hows it sound, and how much about does this cost?

 

Oh, it wasn't cheap. About $700 all together. That Rattle Pad was really expensive. RAAMmat seemed like the best value to me compared to Dynamat or B-Quiet. I'll use RAAMmat again on my Ford Escape. But, the car is much, much quieter. The noise from the rear of the vehicle is virtually gone. Nothing from the doors anymore either. I still hear some front tire noise, but it's not as bad as B4.

This little job below cut more of the front tire noise than anything else I did. I drove the car around B4 all the trim was back on and noticed what I thought was a lot of front tire noise. And it seemed to be coming from the floor area by the driver and passenger's feet. As it turns out there are a couple of big holes in the side of the frame by the hood release and blower motor (passenger side) that a bunch of wiring harnesses go thru. I covered them up with RAAMmat and a lot of Rattle Pad. You can see some the foam I stuck in there to left in the picture below...plus the stuff I glued to the trim itself. Very quiet now.

 

Yep, those pics bring me back...GJ!

 

wow thats alot of work but great thing to do

 

Hey Metal! I must have read and re-read your old post a dozen times before I got up the b#@**s to take this job on myself. Glad I did.

 

Well, it looks fantastic, my friend.

I am actually a bit envious of the fact you used more barrier loaders than I did.

Were I to do it all over again I would have gone w/ a single laye Damplifier, 3 layers ceramic liquid deadener, many layers of ensolite.

Oh, if you're looking to rid yourself of those last few decibles, I highly suggest looking into some Firestone Turanza LS/V tires... they aren't cheap, but ride a single mile in them and you'll know why.

 

Sweet Job! I'm curious, did you weigh all of it before installing it? That's a ish load of material. Probably more than I'd be willing to spend, but sure would want to

For the front end noise, as you discovered there is a ton of open space behind those kick panels and behind the dash. I'm sure if you pulled out the whole dash and stuff you'd eliminate most of it but that is a TON of work (lots of wires, not a lot of room) that would take an awful lot of motivation for me to do anyway .



Sound deadening was always one of those double sided projects for me. While I wanted to, the additional weight and the main focus for my car kept me from doing it. I did have the entire interior gutted though and had the perfect time to do it. It's quite a bit of work isn't it

 

so how does the max feel/sound now?

 

Good timing and excellent write-up. This is my next project for the Altima. I plan on starting with the doors & back seat area then depending on how brave I feel, I'll do the floor.

 

Do you have an aftermarket exhaust? If so, did it reduce the in cabin drone?

 

Damn, that's a hell of a job sound proofing your Max! :O I need to use my excess RAAmat on my rear deck and see what it does for the doors...

 

OMG! Hope it was worth it. Definitely need some RAAMmat in the rear deck.

 

I think the weight added to the car was insignificant. The UPS shipping weight from all the different vendors was @ 60-65 lbs, including packaging. I've probably got about 10 lbs of RAAMmat left over (and a ton of that accoutical insulation). So I'd guess I added about 50 lbs total...one passenger is 3-4 times that.

Still use factory exhaust. Never really hear the exhaust. Tire noise on the other hand...

I'm sure that over time I'll get used to the new quiet and probably forget how bad the noise was before, but right now I really, really...really like the difference as I drive the car.

 

thats some serious work

 

bah, 50-65lbs isn't much of a concern for me, if it was 200+ on the other hand.... lol

 

Thank you for taking so many good photos and the detailed description.

 

yeah dude, good job, i bet it took you a whole day to do this. i want to do mine soon...but not the whole thing, just the floor and the wheel wells.

 

Oh yeah... a whole day. Times 21. This job took about 3 weeks. But then I took my time and had an extra car to use as well.

 

I wonder if the 5th Gens are noisier/allow more noise than 4th Gens. I have always considered my 95SE to be a quiet car. I literally can not hear the engine at idle, following an AutoRX treatment, and with the addition of new Yokohama Avid H4S tires last fall it is quieter than before.

If I were concerned about road noise, I would be inclined to just turn up the stereo, lol!

To you sir, an A for effort and you should be awarded the **** ORGER of 2006 award. You have truly earned it.

 

This is one hell of a job! Good work man!

 

wow, damn impressive. If you were to do just the top 3 or 4 places to reduce sound, where would they be?

 

Rear wheel wells & trunk, deck, doors. Probably in that order.

 

Very nice. Did you do the b or c pillars? I found that thoey offered quite a bit of added deadening to outside sound.

Have you read the deadener sticky in the audio forums yet?

 

nice job man!
hopefully one day i will get around to doin a big job like that!
i might add some sound deadening when i get my system!

 

holy crap!! you got big b@lls..to take your ride apart like that. but im sure it sounds quiet as the best lex or bmw. good job bro..word up!

 

Impressive! Now that you've garnered all this experience, what is the one thing you did that helped quiet the interior the most? (In other words, I want to do something to quiet the interior of my Maxima (that would take a day or less) but I lack the dedication and commitment you've displayed with your outstanding work).

 

I doubt there is one thing that will do the job by itself, or else this wouldn't be so much work. Sound comes into the car 360, but primarily from the road below. But to answer your question, I suspect that covering various holes was the "one thing" I did that helped the most. By that I mean the holes in the door frame, holes in the rear deck and the holes in the side frame in front of the door by the driver and passenger's feet.

The basic problem is that as soon as you eliminate once source of sound, you start to notice other sources that you didn't hear before. There really is no end to this madness. You just have to keep at it until it reaches an acceptable level for you.

 

I agree with you 100%, I sound deadened my roof on down except the floor and the trunk. The cabin is noticeably quieter but you do hear noises that you didn't hear before. Even though I put 3 layers of edead in each wheel well, I definately notice more noise from the floor and trunk than I noticed before. I plan to do my floor and trunk in the spring when I add leatherseats. The only thing I recommend to anyone who is going to try this is to plan out your mods. If you are going to add new speakers, sound deaden the door at the sametime; if you plan to add speakers or a new sub to your rear deck, do sound deaden at the sametime. I took out my dash last summer and dyed it black, I wished I sound deaded the firewall at the same time, now I may have take the dash out again and it isn't easy. You guys catch the drift, just don't do double the work, plan out your mods so you can do everything when the interior is stripped.

 

Great job! I have been inspired by the work, and my roll of 50sq.ft. of B-Quiet Ultimate arrived today. I'm not looking forward to the work involved, but it looks like the rewards will speak for themselves.

 

awesome man, i gotta get started on my rear deck some time this century.

 

I use Panasonic and Pioneer 6x9's to *deaden* my sound

 

very nice job and thanks for the detailed pics!