Sound Dampening Ideas

[dhyde79]

Ok, so, I'm contemplating a decent dual in single out muffler, and want to put some soundproofing inside the X so hat regardless of muffler choice it's quieter inside the vehicle, trying to cut out as much road noise as possible.

I know there are quite a few things similar to dynamite, and doing just the cargo area would be painfully expensive, so, I got to thinking, what if I take a few cans of the rustoleum "professional undercoating" and put 2-4 good layers of that on, it'd be much cheaper, and, since it's nothing more than spray on rubber, it should be pretty effective. It specifically lists sound deadening as one of its uses...and for $7 a can, I should be able to do the whole cargo area of the X for under $15.

I got the idea while running my cb antenna since the cargo hole back there already has some rubber "gooped" underneath the plastic part of the cargo hole back there.

Anyway, let me know what ya think or have seen/heard first hand...

 

[xterror04]

My cargo area is done in rustoleum spray bedliner...as for sound proofing not sure that it did a ton but then again that wasn't my intent. If you do try the undercoating do very thin coats and let it dry completely. If its put on to thick it never dries

 

[AbuseTheElderly]

Honestly, FatMat makes a pretty good product. For $25 I was able to do my rear hatch and half of the front doors. It's not too expensive and the difference is amazing. The sound of the door shutting is much more solid. I know you are looking for alternatives but I have tried spray-on sound deadener and between taping and waiting for it to dry, peel-and-stick sound deadener was just less of a headache.

Also, as far application goes, this a quote from the Rustoleum website about the "Professional Undercoating":

"For best long-term results, apply two coats of Professional Grade Undercoating. Allow the product to dry only one to two minutes between coats. Let area dry before driving vehicle."

A 2 minute wait between coats? Maybe it is never really meant to dry out completely?

I would like to see what you come up with.

 

[J Everett]

I've been around the block with trying to find cheap alternatives to Dynamat in previous vehicles, and to be honest, none of them work half as good as the Dynamat sheets. FatMat is pretty good too, but Dynamat is better. Undercoatings and cheap liquid roll-on sound deadeners don't really do squat.

 

[RATTFINK]

BAM!

http://www.lizardskin.com/

 

[J Everett]

That's a new one. Looks like it would way more of a PITA than laying down adhesive Dynamat sheets, and more expensive too. But, if it works it could be worth it.

 

[AbuseTheElderly]

That's true J, there is no alternative to the quality Dynamat provides, but in my experiences FatMat does great for the price. I can't complain with my results and will be purchasing more to finish off the truck.

I saw Lizard Skin used on an episode of "Trucks" and they seemed to speak highly of it. It went on well and looked good, but it's pricey and needs to be put on with a spray gun. Some spray guns for car paint will work but the episode I saw suggested buying the Lizard Skin application gun. Then all you have to provide is a big a** compressor.

 

[dhyde79]

hmm.....I'm seriously contemplating the fatmat but, it has some REALLY terrible reviews online, people bashing it to death. a lot of people claiming it shrinks really badly when it gets hot...

I may break down and grab the 9 pack box of dynamat off of amazon for $136 and use that to cover the large flat areas and spray the undercoating a few layers thick around it, and maybe a couple of layers over the top of the dynamat too....

 

[AbuseTheElderly]

The metallic looking surface to the FatMat is Aluminum, the thickness of about 5 or 6 layers of household Aluminum Foil (strong, yet pliable enough to work into cracks and crevices). Mine has been on my truck close to 2 years and hasn't shrunk, then again it's not close to heat sources. Still, I've never heard of aluminum shrinking. You can't go wrong with Dynamat, if you have the dough to shell out though. I'll be honest, I don't have the money to spend that much on sound deadening.

After looking at the 9 pack, its 18" X 32" pieces. That is a total of 13.5 sq ft for $136, calculates out to about $10 per sq ft. You could do your entire truck for that much in FatMat, or get FatMat's thickest sound deadener and do the entire cargo area for 1/3 the price.

Just throwing around ideas.

 

[idratherbe]

I had the fatmat in my previous car trunk to stop the rattle from the bass and it worked great. I never had a problem with it. Very sticky. I actually still have the same license plate and its still stuck to it many years later.

One other thing I've never tried but in the roofing section of HD they have a very similar product that is pretty cheap.

 

[Roadwarrior]

I wonder if you could put a layer of this down and then bedline over it.. like herc it.. Just because then it is sound dampened, but it is also then protected..

See I took all the carpet out of the back of my X, just because I couldn't deal with it getting dirty all the time, so I just pulled it.

 

[dhyde79]

The metallic looking surface to the FatMat is Aluminum, the thickness of about 5 or 6 layers of household Aluminum Foil (strong, yet pliable enough to work into cracks and crevices). Mine has been on my truck close to 2 years and hasn't shrunk, then again it's not close to heat sources. Still, I've never heard of aluminum shrinking. You can't go wrong with Dynamat, if you have the dough to shell out though. I'll be honest, I don't have the money to spend that much on sound deadening.

After looking at the 9 pack, its 18" X 32" pieces. That is a total of 13.5 sq ft for $136, calculates out to about $10 per sq ft. You could do your entire truck for that much in FatMat, or get FatMat's thickest sound deadener and do the entire cargo area for 1/3 the price.

Just throwing around ideas.

the dynamat pack is 36sq ft....and should easily be enough to strategically do the vast majority of the xterra if you're smart about it.

good to hear that you've had good luck with the fatmat, the fact that I can grab 100sq ft of fatmat for less than 36sq ft of dynamat is obviously a consideration but, if the dynamat is that much better, how many layers of fatmat would it take to equal the sound dampening (and thickness) of dynamat? (after all, dynamat extreme is pretty close to 1/2" thick)

I had the fatmat in my previous car trunk to stop the rattle from the bass and it worked great. I never had a problem with it. Very sticky. I actually still have the same license plate and its still stuck to it many years later.

One other thing I've never tried but in the roofing section of HD they have a very similar product that is pretty cheap.

that's fatmat, without the fatmat name.....the guy that made fatmat actually got busted on it....

I wonder if you could put a layer of this down and then bedline over it.. like herc it.. Just because then it is sound dampened, but it is also then protected..

See I took all the carpet out of the back of my X, just because I couldn't deal with it getting dirty all the time, so I just pulled it.

well, my current train of thought is to spray it with the pro undercoating, get it good n dry, test it for a week, get fatmat or dynamat ordered and in, then install it in the cargo area as well, and test it like that for a week, then go in and either add more or undercoat over the top for a sealing layer, let it go another week, and if happy with it, maybe bedline it (then paint it), at least spray paint it a dark gray to almost match the interior, even though it'll be underneath the plastics....

 

[BigWhite]

I tried all of those things on my Jeep but none of them worked. Then I put the top back on it and it got much quieter. :lolz:

Don't forget about Greatstuff spray foam for household windows and doors. It works great for dampening sound and sticks to anything...even rust. Not very effective for coating large areas but to fill the voids between the rest of your work it would help alot.

 

[dhyde79]

nothing makes a jeep quiet...other than throwing it in the car crusher...and even then I'm sure it'll still find a way to make annoying sounds after it's cubed.