Where to install sound deadening...
- Thread starter mtbnole
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Anywhere and everywhere you can 
The best place to start is the doors (including rear hatch), then the floor and the firewall. If you still want to keep going after that the roof would be the final place to finish up.
Dynamat is good stuff and the original, but there are other brands that I am sure are just as good. Some other people will hopefully chime in and give you some more brands. I have heard the foam stuff (spray into doors and it expands) does not work all that well. Not sure how accurate that is. I used Road Kill, I think that is what its called?
Anyway, good luck. Its not hard, just a lot of work.
The best place to start is the doors (including rear hatch), then the floor and the firewall. If you still want to keep going after that the roof would be the final place to finish up.
Dynamat is good stuff and the original, but there are other brands that I am sure are just as good. Some other people will hopefully chime in and give you some more brands. I have heard the foam stuff (spray into doors and it expands) does not work all that well. Not sure how accurate that is. I used Road Kill, I think that is what its called?
Anyway, good luck. Its not hard, just a lot of work.
dekeman
New member
Gary (Harper7) did this (of course) when he was adding extra storage. Very cool mod that Toyota Motor Co. should take under consideration.
Here's the thread: click here.
Here's a link to Harper's photos on Picasa using eDead.
If you do it, take notes and pics and post here, please thanks.
Here's the thread: click here.
Here's a link to Harper's photos on Picasa using eDead.
If you do it, take notes and pics and post here, please thanks.
Last edited:
sound deadening
I have a thread going in yhis forum "audio install". I have been working on my 5th gen and started with deadening in the doors. You can expect to add from 4 to 10 pounds depending how serious you get. Note that sound deadening is not to reduce noise but, resonance of the panel you apply the material too. If you are serious about reducing the noise level in your car, you need to add a layer of foam with the deadener. Additional jute mat under the carpetis also common.
I use a product called "Raamat". Check the site for a great tutorial on sound reduction.
I think it is Raamaudio.com
I have a thread going in yhis forum "audio install". I have been working on my 5th gen and started with deadening in the doors. You can expect to add from 4 to 10 pounds depending how serious you get. Note that sound deadening is not to reduce noise but, resonance of the panel you apply the material too. If you are serious about reducing the noise level in your car, you need to add a layer of foam with the deadener. Additional jute mat under the carpetis also common.
I use a product called "Raamat". Check the site for a great tutorial on sound reduction.
I think it is Raamaudio.com
Front doors
The front doors will make the biggest difference and you will love the sound of closing the door. If you don't want to do the sheet metal covers over the door openings, you can carefully cut the adhesive that holds the factory plastic and restick it after the deadening onstall.
The front doors will make the biggest difference and you will love the sound of closing the door. If you don't want to do the sheet metal covers over the door openings, you can carefully cut the adhesive that holds the factory plastic and restick it after the deadening onstall.
SOcalTRAIL
New member
I just finished laying 120 square feet of sound deadener in my TE. I did the whole enchilada - Started under the hood, front doors (both inside skin and under door panel), rear doors, rear cargo area, rear hatch, and passenger floor. I stopped at the drivers floor for a couple reasons - I ran out of material, and there is already a pretty good layer of both sound deadener and sound absorbing felt under this area - also I was pretty burned out.... this is a ton of work!
I used Fat Mat Rattle Trap Extreme for this project - purchased here:
100^ 80 Mil Rattle Trap FatMat Deadener+ Dynamat Roller | eBay
I have personally had a quite a bit of experience with car audio and sound deadening and have used the original Dynamat, Dynamat Extreme, Brown Bread, and eDead. The Rattle Trap extreme is by far my favorite so far with eDead coming in a close second. First off the stuff just plain sticks - I wiped most of the panels down with either alcohol or acetone and after sticking the rattletrap on there, it is not coming off! Also, you cannot beat the price! The improvement in sound quality is dramatic to say the least. I have the factory JBL system which sounded pretty good before the sound deadening, it sounded much better after.
Anywho - I took a few pics of the process which I plan on posting here in a couple weeks as I am nearing the end of my build.
Cheers and good luck with your project, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
SocalTrail
I used Fat Mat Rattle Trap Extreme for this project - purchased here:
100^ 80 Mil Rattle Trap FatMat Deadener+ Dynamat Roller | eBay
I have personally had a quite a bit of experience with car audio and sound deadening and have used the original Dynamat, Dynamat Extreme, Brown Bread, and eDead. The Rattle Trap extreme is by far my favorite so far with eDead coming in a close second. First off the stuff just plain sticks - I wiped most of the panels down with either alcohol or acetone and after sticking the rattletrap on there, it is not coming off! Also, you cannot beat the price! The improvement in sound quality is dramatic to say the least. I have the factory JBL system which sounded pretty good before the sound deadening, it sounded much better after.
Anywho - I took a few pics of the process which I plan on posting here in a couple weeks as I am nearing the end of my build.
Cheers and good luck with your project, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.
SocalTrail
Just to be clear I understand this, sound deadening material such as Dynamat is designed to improve acoustics for car audio and not so much reduce road noise, right?
Because it sounds like mtbnole wants to reduce road noise, and if that's the case, then better tires might be the way to go.
Because it sounds like mtbnole wants to reduce road noise, and if that's the case, then better tires might be the way to go.
gamerc
New member
I've been looking into this as well. My sr5 was a bit louder than my Limited thus far, so I am sure I can make it for a while while I finish up my research.
Options:
fatmat - seems to be the bottom of the barrel, and apparently it's roofing material. Adhesive seems to have issues, so supplemental adhesion may be necessary. Amazon sells this for about $100/roll
Edead - Jury is still out on this one. Some people claim problems, some claim it's great. I saw Harper did a great job with his, but the overall weight is a concern of mine. I wonder how many feet I would really use and how it would affect my mileage. Harper, thoughts?
Edead v3 or v5 - liquid, paint on material. Much lighter, and as a paint, seems like a good alternative. It could be messy though.
Second Skin - seems to be a high quality product, but expensive and ~1+lbs/sqft could be like putting another person in the car all the time. There are multiple product lines.
Second Skin spectrum - another paint on (or spray). This one is much lighter ~10lbs/gal, but looks like it could be messy. According to the maker, it works well as an exterior undercoating as well.
That's as far as I've researched thus far.
Options:
fatmat - seems to be the bottom of the barrel, and apparently it's roofing material. Adhesive seems to have issues, so supplemental adhesion may be necessary. Amazon sells this for about $100/roll
Edead - Jury is still out on this one. Some people claim problems, some claim it's great. I saw Harper did a great job with his, but the overall weight is a concern of mine. I wonder how many feet I would really use and how it would affect my mileage. Harper, thoughts?
Edead v3 or v5 - liquid, paint on material. Much lighter, and as a paint, seems like a good alternative. It could be messy though.
Second Skin - seems to be a high quality product, but expensive and ~1+lbs/sqft could be like putting another person in the car all the time. There are multiple product lines.
Second Skin spectrum - another paint on (or spray). This one is much lighter ~10lbs/gal, but looks like it could be messy. According to the maker, it works well as an exterior undercoating as well.
That's as far as I've researched thus far.
Options
Ive had great luck with Raamat having put it into my last 3 cars. The web site has great tutorials and the price is middle tier. Just dont put it where you may need to get at later. You will hate trying to remove it. The newest material comes in a box of 18" squares and I think its just under $100 and weighs 23lbs.
Ive had great luck with Raamat having put it into my last 3 cars. The web site has great tutorials and the price is middle tier. Just dont put it where you may need to get at later. You will hate trying to remove it. The newest material comes in a box of 18" squares and I think its just under $100 and weighs 23lbs.
SOcalTRAIL
New member
For the most part, these sound deadener products are all the same and there is no magic to them, only good marketing an hype. They are all ( most all ) mass loading materials that attempt to supress resonance through dampening vibrations. Vibrations and resonance = unwanted noise so yes, in addition to improving the sound quality of your stereo, you will eliminate some unwanted road noise. The differences in the products comes into play when you look at the adhesiveness, workability, quality of the foil "skin" and, in my opinion, the price. I went with RattleTrap after picking up a small amount to play with because I found it very easy to lay and conform to the contours of the vehicle, it is THICK at 80mils, and like I mentioned before, the stuff just sticks! It is also rated for engine compartment use!!!! Truth be told, I would not be surprised if all these products came out of one or two manufactruing facilities! It all looks the same and smells the same to me - butyl based mass loading material!
One thing that does matter is the thicker the material the better, its ability to dampen resonance is directly correlated to the thickness of the material. This is why some people double layer the thinner products.
I have messed with quite a few of these products first hand, and have had professional friends in the industry who have used the rest. They generally use Dynamat in the shops simply because it is what many car audio places carry, and the name is well known. It is a good product.
I layered the inside of the door skin with a nice layer of RattleTrap and went over this with a layer of half inch acoustic foam. The idea being that the RattleTrap adds mass to the door skin and supresses resonance and vibrations and the acoustic foam actually absorbs unwanted noise. So far, as I mentioned before, the difference is night and day.
Check out second skin and they recommend and offer a similar kit which has a mass loading material similar to dynamat, etc. and an acoustic foam which is layed over the first layer. In my opinion, this is the way to go if you have the means. YMMV
Cheers!
One thing that does matter is the thicker the material the better, its ability to dampen resonance is directly correlated to the thickness of the material. This is why some people double layer the thinner products.
I have messed with quite a few of these products first hand, and have had professional friends in the industry who have used the rest. They generally use Dynamat in the shops simply because it is what many car audio places carry, and the name is well known. It is a good product.
I layered the inside of the door skin with a nice layer of RattleTrap and went over this with a layer of half inch acoustic foam. The idea being that the RattleTrap adds mass to the door skin and supresses resonance and vibrations and the acoustic foam actually absorbs unwanted noise. So far, as I mentioned before, the difference is night and day.
Check out second skin and they recommend and offer a similar kit which has a mass loading material similar to dynamat, etc. and an acoustic foam which is layed over the first layer. In my opinion, this is the way to go if you have the means. YMMV
Cheers!
4ShoreRunner
New member
Just make sure you like what you start hearing bc I've heard dynamat is a pain to UNinstall 
I would like to reduce road noise (primary) and then improve car audio acoustics (secondary) once I upgrade the current stereo system and speakers. Would these various products be sufficient by themselves to reduce road noise?
1000MPH
Senior Member
I would say over the mouth but over the whole face is sometimes needed on really loud versions.
SOcalTRAIL
New member
Yup, it would make a nice difference and without going completely nuts on sound deadening and insulation, its the best place to start.
good luck!
mtbnole
New member
I would say over the mouth but over the whole face is sometimes needed on really loud versions.
ha!!!
I just got back from my local stereo shop, picking my truck up after having some work done. We were talking and somehow got to sound deadening.
He said that after doing his doors it sounded like he added an 8" sub in the door. The sound, speaker response and low end was unbelievable. He was shocked by the difference that it made. He also stated that in order to get these kind of results you have to do both the inside and outside of door. Meaning getting inside the door and deadening the whole inner skin and then sealing up with deadening on the entire top.
When I did my doors it was such a PITA to door the insides of the doors that I skipped it. I am going to get back in there and do the entire inner skin when I get some time.
Just food for thought
He said that after doing his doors it sounded like he added an 8" sub in the door. The sound, speaker response and low end was unbelievable. He was shocked by the difference that it made. He also stated that in order to get these kind of results you have to do both the inside and outside of door. Meaning getting inside the door and deadening the whole inner skin and then sealing up with deadening on the entire top.
When I did my doors it was such a PITA to door the insides of the doors that I skipped it. I am going to get back in there and do the entire inner skin when I get some time.
Just food for thought
