How Much Weight Does Soundproofing Add ?

I don't know how many of you have ever thought about putting soundproofing into vehicle.

I have seen some online that looks like sort of a heavy gel. I guess what got me started on this was seeing inside the door of my old BMW.

Thing is, I wonder how much weight it would add. Do you have to do it all for it to work, or are there certain areas that give the most bang for the buck. (I think I have seen mentioned between engine compartment and inside of vehicle, whatever that wall is called, is best ROI.)

Does anyone have experience with this ?

Looking forward to seeing what group sourcing can come up with here !

Thanks !

It's called the fire wall. The rear cargo area and inside the doors . it's a long tedious process. The 5th Gen seems to me to be quieter then the privous gens if you don't have a after market roof rack.
edit: A few pounds of insulation will not effect the performance of a bulky suv..

I probably added about 50 lbs max. I used some left over Rammat and and their foam for the back doors and rear hatch. Used Dynamat and Norico Red closed cell foam for the floor and front doors. The roof only had Dynamat. Doors helped a lot, floor much more in my opinion.

I added a Borla exhaust and on road trips going uphill in a lower gear, the sound was too much. Now it's much more tolerable.

Materials were about $400, though I had a bit of Dynamat left over that I gave to my nephew. That was the biggest cost. I don't include my time or my helpers time in the cost.

As for the ROI, it's a subjective thing. It won't make it as quiet as a Jaguar, but it makes it more tolerable on long trips. It was a must for me, so definitely worth it.

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Enough to need heavy struts for the minivan hatch, but i guess adding real speakers helped also.

Mass Loaded Vinyl is what you want for actual sound deadening. Dynamat and these other products are meant to reduce vibrations. Yea they'll deaden some sound, but not as effectively.

MLV is 1lb / sq ft, so calculate based off that.

CLD tiles (Dynamat, Rammat, any other brands) are meant for large resonating panels and should have ~25% coverage

CCF (closed cell foam) is meant to decouple; it'd go between panels that vibrate a lot, "shield" the MLV from direct contact with plastics, etc.

Either way, I'd estimate ~100-150lbs if you did the full car, depending on how thorough you are.

I used about 90sq ft to cover the entire cab, doors, hatch, floor, roof, and hatch. I estimate about 100lbs, but spread out over the entire cab

Wow, looks like a pretty big project. Thanks for posting the pic.

So floor and firewall > doors > roof ?

This stuff fits the description you gave, is this what you are talking about ?

Amazon.com: Noise Grabber Mass Loaded Vinyl 4.5’ x 4’ (18 SF) 1 LB MLV Soundproofing Barrier, Best Quality, Made in the USA : Musical Instruments

I'm guessing that once you start with one part eg. floor and firewall, then the feeling would be that you have to do all sides to really get the best effect. I mean it might be hard to know at what juncture to stop vs going the whole hog.

Wondering if there is a point where the "80-20" rule would apply . . .

? ? ?

I'm guessing the doors might be more of a hassle to do, ie. require more meticulous work . . .

Like Lonst4r above, I have some long freeway trips, mine are every week or so.

I'm guessing your 4R must be pretty quiet inside now.

Are you glad you did it ?

Pretty much. You might as well do it all one time since you're in there. Haha

It's definitely quieter, but also that the car stays a lot cooler, and is cools down a lot quicker with the AC. Also the feel and sound of the truck improved. The doors feel and sound a lot more solid now when opening\closing. It's cool, too, when raining you don't hear the drops on the roof anymore, only on the wind shield

Definitely glad I did it. I did it in my previous truck, and also did the wife's Camry, so it was a given that I would do the 4Runner when I got it. I don't think I could go without

That is a pretty strong endorsement.

Is there a rule that everything has to fit together with perfectly tight junctures? I mean all the pieces of MLV ?

You'd be surprised how much difference it makes to add just a square of the material in the middle of a large sheet of body panel. It doesn't need to all fit perfectly, but the more coverage, the better

Interesting, and encouraging. I just noticed you are in HI. I spent a year over there so get what you are saying about keeping it cooler.

I hope to find someone to do it for me, not sure if I have the time it would take to do it myself. Especially since it would be first time for me.

Did your door panels all snap back in nicely ? Did you have to replace any tabs or anything ?