thinking about sound deadening the car

[terminaldegree]

Howdy All,

I'm just in the "thinking about it" stage right now- nothing serious yet. And yes, I read the mods encyclopedia link here.

My gripe with the car [as it affects the sound system anyway] is how much road noise gets into the cabin. The stereo sounds SERIOUSLY different at 75 than at 30, more than any other car I have driven, anyway. I recently upgraded my HU to something with a seperate sub/amp control, which has helped.

The exhaust and engine noise don't bother me as much as the tire/road noise issue, if that helps in terms of placement of material.

I want to know from some of you stereo guru's [and anyone else who has done this] what would be involved in a DIY sound-deadening project, whether the results are REALLY noticeable [drastically better], what material to use, where I'd need to put it, and how much of it I'd need. A rough estimate of the cost would be cool also.

Because I'm thinking DIY, I'd like to avoid fooling around with the headliner. My level of technical expertise is decent- I've done the sound system and alarm myself, but never something like this. Thanks in advance.

[T-Punk]

to do it right you should remove all your seats and them all the carpet. Then stick the deadner down everywhere. then take off your door panels and do the same. i did this with a friend in his blazer and it took a few days for us to do but we werent working fast either. all in all road noise has gone down a lot but the amount of weight added is way more than i will ever put in my car. if you want any performance you dont want sound deadner. also brands are dynamat, phatmat (i dont think i spelled that right though), Edead, and many others. its all pretty much the same stuff though. good luck it is pretty time consuming and tedius.

[Luke]

Hi terminaldegree,
If road noise seems to be your main concern, then placing it on the floor and on the inner wheel well will have the greatest effect. Since it will be on the top of a horizontal surface, it would probably be best to use a thick mat. And like T-Punk said you'll have to take up the seats and the carpet to get to those areas.

- Luke
luke@edesignaudio.com

[memphis_raines]

I didn't go as far as removing the seats, but I did pull up the carpet and kinda work around them, all the way from the trunk to the dash. I would say go for it, it makes a world of difference as far as road noise. But if you're one of these idiots who wants everyone to hear their stereo from 2 miles away, it won't help you much since it keeps the music in the car.