Sound proofing to reduce road noise

[Sherri Zann]

Thump rrr
Want to post more pics of your process, and what you observe as the result?

In particular, I'd be interested in what you found difficult, what you found easy, and what seemed to make the most difference, if you did things incrementally.

Personally, I'm intimidated by the thought of ripping out my entire interior. How long did that take you?

[thump_rrr]

Originally Posted by Sherri Zann

Thump rrr
Want to post more pics of your process, and what you observe as the result?

In particular, I'd be interested in what you found difficult, what you found easy, and what seemed to make the most difference, if you did things incrementally.

Personally, I'm intimidated by the thought of ripping out my entire interior. How long did that take you?

I actually didn't take anymore pictures I only took that one because someone thought I was B.S.ing them that I had the interior torn out of the car.
Removing the interior took about 2 hours in total including the center console and center stack.
I took my time over 2 evenings and completed the whole floor from firewall to under the rear seats. I really underestimated how much material was required.
There is nothing difficult about it if you do it thoughtfully.
Most interior trim pieces on modern cars don't even have any fastners in them.
I probably removed 30 screws and bolts in total including the seats and seatbelt anchors.
The rear seat comes out in 20 seconds and weighs less than 8Lbs.
The front seats only have 4 bolts each holding them in place + 1 wiring harness for the power seats and 1 for the airbags.

I did mine incrementally with the floor and trans tunnel being first.
I have longtube headers on the car along with an aftermarket K-Member and very firm urethane motor mounts and it reduced the sound, vibration and especially the amount of heat that was coming into the vehicle through the floor.
With the car having folding rear seats the next area which will be tackled will be the trunk area since I installed the new mufflers last fall.

[M54]

Messing around with sound insulation is like pissing in the wind vs a good set of quiet tires like Goodyear Comfortreds for example.I've got them on my Benz and they're the quietest tires i've ever owned.

[thump_rrr]

Originally Posted by M54

Messing around with sound insulation is like pissing in the wind vs a good set of quiet tires like Goodyear Comfortreds for example.I've got them on my Benz and they're the quietest tires i've ever owned.

Driving on a set of comfortreads is like driving on tires made of jello. I'll stick to my Michelin Pilotsport PS2 thanks.
Road noise isn't the only thing people are trying to abate by adding sound deadening material.

[M54]

Originally Posted by thump_rrr

Driving on a set of comfortreads is like driving on tires made of jello. I'll stick to my Michelin Pilotsport PS2 thanks.
Road noise isn't the only thing people are trying to abate by adding sound deadening material.

Well what else on the car touches the road?

[TortoiseAWD]

Originally Posted by M54

Well what else on the car touches the road?

Check again what thump_rrr said: "Road noise isn't the only thing people are trying to abate by adding sound deadening material."

Tires are the only thing that touch the road, but NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) in the cabin comes from much more than just tires alone. For drivers that are performance-oriented, sacrificing handling for a quieter ride isn't going to be acceptable. This thread is (mostly) about what can be done to quiet the cabin *other* than swapping out tires.

Tort

[cmartins1963]

I found interesting.
Super Soundproofing Hoodliner

[Sherri Zann]

Yeah, I thought the super soundproofing web site was interesting, too. But it looks sort of jack leg, and I wouldn't feel comfortable spending $80-some without knowing someone who used the product and said it was worth it.

Anyone here used this hoodliner, or any other?

[nonsensez9]

Originally Posted by thump_rrr

I really underestimated how much material was required.

I'm looking at doing the same this year. Roughly how many sqare feet did it take to do the floor? did you do the doors and roof too?

[thump_rrr]

Originally Posted by nonsensez9

I'm looking at doing the same this year. Roughly how many sqare feet did it take to do the floor? did you do the doors and roof too?

Almost 40 sq ft for the floor alone.
I haven't done the doors or roof yet.

[boon4376]

I have a question, A lot of noise i get is mostly wind noise as my saab is pretty well insulated from road noise.

I'm guessing most of this is from 14 year old seals around the doors and such, and would putting caulking stuff behind the strips (making them a little thicker) create a better seal with the door against the frame and quiet wind noise down a lot? Or does that sound silly?

[cmartins1963]

I would buy new seals.