Vehicle Silencing Material

Folks,

Anyone have experience with soundproofing material like Dynamat?

My 1998 Land Rover Defender has been awesome and the noise inside is exactly what it’s supposed to do. That said… an upcoming move means I’ll be traveling longer distances and focus of traveling with kids is going from loud enough so they don’t fight to quiet enough to have a conversation.

Looking to install something like Dynamat but wondering if the name brand stuff is really better than some of the alternatives out there.

I’m generally too cheap not to buy the right thing the first time so interested if you all have experience. Thanks!

Andy

It is a fantastic product! Mainly you just want something thick and sticky. You are applying it to the middle of panels where there is less support and moves around easy. The cheaper stuff generally works pretty well too and would probably be a smarter financial alternative for the application that you seek.
I have a bad TBI from Iraq and don't listen to the radio in my car. Listening to the road noise was hurting my head more. I got the Dynamat and layered the entire floor and my door panels with it and it is amazing! Worth the cost for my medical reasons, yes, for the average reasons, I think that the alternatives are better.

My experience with Dynamat is, you're going to have to treat a lot of panels to gain a noise reduction that is apparent to you. Also, if you have a lift gate or hatch style rear and add Dynamat to the panel, the added mass may overcome the hydraulic cylinders and your hatch may not stay up. I don't know if you can buy stronger lift cylinders to compensate.

Also, it's a lot of work to remove the carpeting, seats, doors, and roof liner to install.

It's not too bad at all depending on vehicle, but it is going to be an all day or all weekend project.

Best thing you can do is buy quieter tires. Might not look the part on a Defender, though.

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Originally Posted by Drew

Best thing you can do is buy quieter tires. Might not look the part on a Defender, though.

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Also my first thought. Tires make a huge difference in road noise, especially for a truck.

I think a defender would also do a lot of aero noise and you can't really put dynamat on your windows!

We had a Defender many moons ago. A quiet Defender seems like an oxymoron: engine, transmission, wind, tyres... Nonetheless, I wish you good luck with the project.

I fondly remember doing 5-point turns at switchbacks in the Swiss alps. Such a ridiculous car, I love it.

Loaded topic and I think there are really 3 ways to do this...super generic, may or may not work. Name brand (Dynamat, Kilmat, etc) - results in a bit of change. All in - MLV, foam, etc etc.

I've done Kilmat in my past 2 vehicles. It was tedious...doors, trunk, floor. And the results were minimal. Not sure Dynamat would provide the results you're looking for...

Guys doing DIY RV projects deal with this all the time. (soundproofing by adding misc types of materials)

I'd check out RV forums, I'm sure there are build threads that will give you all sorts of ideas.

You're not so much doing noise insulation with that stuff, it's just sheets of mass dampening material. Doors/panels will feel less tinny and it will alter the vibration/excitation frequencies. But it's not really blocking noise. Still can be very effective on super thin door skins, etc - especially because your automobile doors are also doubling as speaker boxes!

Filling open voids with jute padding or closed cell foam is where it's at for quelling noise intrusion. Find any holes and gaps and seal them.