Cab Heat and Noise Insulation?

[RSchwarzli]

Is there any good sound/heat insulation materials that can be purchased from Lowes, Home Depot, etc that can be used in our doors and under the carpet of trucks? Just looking for something with good insulation properties so it does not sound like a tin can inside the truck Oo. ! Thanks!



Robert



P. S. Happy New Year!

 

[KOG]

B-Quiet sound deadening materials - Dynamat® Xtreme

Is the best place I've found for good stuff at a good price. You probably want to start with a damper on the metal topped by an absorber. Line everything in the cab below window level.

 

[dpuckett]

I got some Reflectix Insulation from Lowe's for my pickup. It is the stuff that looks like bubble wrap with aluminum foil on both sides. Made a big difference in my pickup on only the right half of the cab floor. (someday, I'll pull the driver's seat and put it under that half). It was about $50 for two rolls, which is plenty for 2 layers on the entire floor of a club cab, and probably a goodly amount on the back wall and sides. When I installed the vinyl floor, I lost all my sound deadening, so it has been noisy, esp with a straight pipe.



Lot better price than the DynaMat, et al. I cant give a comparison, as I have never used Dynamat, but the cab of my pickup is as quiet at hightway speeds as my mom's with the stock carpet and a muffler.



Daniel

 

[KOG]

The bubble wrap is decent heat insulation, but doesn't begin to compare with the stuff I suggested for noise. The damping and absorbing stuff doesn't do as much for heat bubble wrap.

 

[tugboatphil]

KOG, in Daniel's defense, he was responding to Robert's question as to what could be purchased at a building supply store. I don't know that they don't have your product there, but I've never seen it.

I prefer suffering hearing loss myself. Gets me out of some of my honeydo chores.

 

[KOG]

Daniel is correct about that. You can't really purchase any good sound insulation at Lowe's, HD or other local building supplies.

 

[RSchwarzli]

OK. Maybe I need to broaden my options to more than just hardware stores. From what I gather you all are saying is that the stuff at Lowes, HD etc, is going to be OK. For the best stuff, go elsewhere.



I guess I need to consider going elsewhere even though it means I can't assemble the doors on the weekend. That is the main reason I was hoping to pick it up locally.



Robert

 

[dpuckett]

There is the old 90/10 rule- you spend 90% Of your total money to get that last 10%. As I said, I have no experience with the higher dollar stuff, so it could be 75% better- but for a $200 savings, I am happy with what I have now, and havent even installed all of it (just the half of the cab over the exhaust system). I have to turn my stock (01) radio up about 3 notches at hwy speeds vs idle. G/F's Dakota transmits that much wind and road noise.



In my research for noise reduction (there is a lot of info to sort through), basically adding mass will lessen sound transmission. So, even the heavy laminate flooring underlayment will help with noise. Others used lead sheeting, bubble stuff, you'd be surprised.



DP

 

[KOG]

I have some direct comparative experience with this stuff. We've got 9 minivans in the fleet including '91, '92, '93, '94 Caravans and '02 T&C Limited. The '94 was the best of the early batch stock. The '02, being a Limited, has all of the sound insulation you can get on one of those things and beat all of the early ones. The '92, which is my wife's daily driver, has had a lot of sound work done. Brown bread (Dynamat clone) on the entire floor, up the firewall, tailgate, side panels and doors to window level throughout. Foil backed jute behind all of the interior panels from window level up and the entire roof interior. Expanding urethane foam in all interior and exterior body cavities. Lead lined foam from top of interior firewall to floor at front of front seats. Various later model door seal upgrades. All hard plastic interior panels covered with carpet (thin "car" grade flexible able stuff, but still absorbs sound). Result is that this one is now quieter than the '02 and has interior noise comparable to an '03 Deville DHS (high trim line, not the bottom feeder stripper Deville) that one of my uncles drives. The difference is quite noticeable and quite worthwhile. This isn't just a subjective "it sounds better" judgment. I have a good dB meter.

I haven't done much of that to the CTD except for foil backed jute inside of the door panels. And if I drive that more than about 20 miles I use ear plugs. I don't use it enough on long trips to make it worthwhile to sound proof it. If it were a daily driver I'd go through it entirely with every piece of sound deadening I could get. But I don't have to drive a pickup of any variety that often and I don't drive one unless I have to haul or tow something HEAVY. If it's under 3000lbs I tow it with a Caravan. Much more comfortable than any truck.

 

[jandtjil]

4" x 33' Window and Door Sealing Tape
A foil faced tape such as above will work, I did the rear cab wall, it helped. But I can't compare it to a real sound absorbing pad, the flashing material also tends to get a bit hard in the winter and seems to lose some freq damping ability.

JJ

also be prepared for a bit of petroleum smell, when the tar gets warm the first few hours of use.