Deadening against road noise (bazillion questions)

[Astral]

I'm thinking about applying some strategic sound deadening to lessen the Protege's road noise. So I have a couple of Q's.

1) What are the main "pain points" as far as road noise goes? That is, what are the areas that I should deaden first, to get a decent improvement?

2) One of the things I keep seeing in prior forum posts is "wheel wells..." How do you deaden those? Does that mean putting the sound deadening inside the wheel wells, behind the wheels, but technically on the "outside" of the car?

3) What are best areas to deaden in the trunk? I see everyone deadening the floor w/ the spare tire--for a while, I had the impression that the trunk lid itself was the main objective. (this is both for better trunk audio and road noise)

4.a) Finally, not quite road noise related, but is it better to have the trunk "sealed off" from the rest of the car? I took out the rear speakers from the rear deck, so now there are two holes where the speakers used to be. I can now hear things move around in the trunk, louder than I used to before. Would it be worth my time to seal those holes off?

4.b) Is it worth to apply sound deadening to the rear deck? If it is, should it be applied on top, under the plastic console, or below, where it's visible from the trunk? (I suppose it shouldn't matter, since it's all mass loading anyway, in which case, I'd prefer the former)

 

[1sty]

I actualy got a few less Dbs in the cabin by putting extream dynomat on the roof. However alot of people will mention that road noise isn't really cured with a stick on sheet like dynamatt and the other but instead is best fought with something called jute. Its basicly the padding uder the factory carpets and on the fire wall. If you want to use the matts first then I would put the sound deadening sheets ont he rear wheel wells and as much on the in skins of the fenders int he back as you can. The trunk lind, entire floor, roof, door (Seal those bastards up), inside the doors like we did on your front doors, on the fire wall. After that, put a laer of jute under the carpets.

To put it in a hit list:
The doors first, This way you get the benifits of better audio aswell. Its also the closest to the ears.
Next the roof. Basicly just becuase there is almost no soud deadeing on it and its again close to your ears, definitly use Jute under the head liner.
Next up I would do the trunk then the fire wall. I would save the firewall forlast becuase its a PITA

 

[Astral]

However alot of people will mention that road noise isn't really cured with a stick on sheet like dynamatt and the other but instead is best fought with something called jute. Its basicly the padding uder the factory carpets and on the fire wall. If you want to use the matts first then I would put the sound deadening sheets ont he rear wheel wells and as much on the in skins of the fenders int he back as you can. The trunk lind, entire floor, roof, door (Seal those bastards up), inside the doors like we did on your front doors, on the fire wall. After that, put a laer of jute under the carpets.

So, for the rear wheel wells, just to confirm, do I take off whatever plastic covering is behind the wheels and use matts there?

For the door--how much benefit is there in actually sealing up the door? (vs. just covering it as much as possible w/ mats, but leaving holes open)

To put it in a hit list:
The doors first, This way you get the benifits of better audio aswell. Its also the closest to the ears.
Next the roof. Basicly just becuase there is almost no soud deadeing on it and its again close to your ears, definitly use Jute under the head liner.
Next up I would do the trunk then the fire wall. I would save the firewall forlast becuase its a PITA

Ok, thanks for the advice!

 

[ards]

where could you get this jute? would the ones in home depot which is colored pink and says acoustic deadening works the same?

 

[1sty]

I'd have to see the depot stuff. HOwever the Jute is oneof those things I have been told about and never got the chance to try myself.

Astral, deaden on the inside of the car, not the outside.
Sealing up the doors blocks the wind noise running by the outer skins. Its pretty much the most common way to deaden the doors.

 

[TrueProtege]

Do not use pink acoustic deadening. This stuff is ment for your home. Use products designed for the car ie. Brown Bread, Dyanmat, Accumat....etc.
Some of these products absorb sound and others add mass to a given panel inside the car to stop the transmission of sound through the panel.

 

[1sty]

I don't think he ment Pink panther insulation. Jute is available in a pinkish color and I've herd is used under carpets. This actualy blocks or absorbes the sound as apposed to dynammatt style products that lower the resonating frequency of a panel so that there is still noise but its just at a lower frequency. THis is why you will notice the more expensive mercedes and other high line luxury cars, don't use all dynomat. They use a fabric to stop road noise.

 

[Shane5425]

.. i have a dreaded problem with my 12 diamonds , my gas tank rattles.. dont know how the hell id fix that...

 

[fLyPiNoY7]

in deadening the rear wheel wells, is it ok to block the vents behind them that exit right behind the bumper?

 

[ards]

Yeah, I think I have to be back at home depot and check the stuff and their names that are available from them. These fibers is what I'm gonna use in addition to Dynamat or Fatmat which I think is cheaper. I know I've already read some post from here what 1sty is recommending.

 

[1sty]

in deadening the rear wheel wells, is it ok to block the vents behind them that exit right behind the bumper?

Just don't get get shut in the trunk.

 

[1sty]

Yeah, I think I have to be back at home depot and check the stuff and their names that are available from them. These fibers is what I'm gonna use in addition to Dynamat or Fatmat which I think is cheaper. I know I've already read some post from here what 1sty is recommending.

The good thing about dynamat, is that its alot cheaper online and who cares who the source is. You can get the bulk pack of exteme for $150 on sounddomain.com
This cost $300 in a store. 2 pakcs will do almost the whole damn car.

 

[ards]

I've also seen 100 sq.ft. Fatmat for $100 at ebay.