Help wanted: Soundproofing and installing small upgrades (Lynnwood, WA)

[Ashikabi]

Originally Posted by DAEMANO

Road noise comes mostly through the floor panels and transmission tunnel. So make sure you use all 3 deadening materials in those places. With your MLV leave no gaps whatsoever.

Keep in mind that if you're sensitive to road noise or just don't like a loud car, then don't delete your rear seat without putting some form of barrier or seat delete kit back there (like this). Reason being that the shape of the trunk area creates a sort of a corner load or spatial load situation that makes sound really boom from back there.

My original plan was a cargo net but I think I'll use a carpeted sheet of plastic with a hinge

[chezzy79]

@Ashikabi I think the cost of materials from the website I cited is about $900-1000 after shipping, and I don't think most reputable shops will prefer to use their own materials for sound deadening.

It's not that $1500-2000 isnt a lot of money, but I totally would not mind paying a professional shop $500-1000 in labor to get the job done right without messing anything up. Also I have absolutely no time or place to do this... maybe if I had a garage. I also have OEM Audio + and a backup camera that need to be installed as well.

Anyways, right now I'm considering just buying the melamine foam from the website, and having a shop install it on pillar and headliner on top of the standard sound-deadening.

[johan]

Not sure if you have made a decision on this yet, but I have been through this process before many many times, used a dizzingly wide array of different products and have some feedback.

Regarding the quote you got for the Stinger products.

Stinger's Expert Roadkill is a CLD tile, it is well priced and works fine. I've used it and it dampens well enough and stays in place. I have no issues with it and I think it's one of the better values out there for CLD tiles. In comparison tests it doesn't stack up as the best in the industry, but that doesn't really matter. It dampens vibration, doesn't smell and sticks in place - that's really all you need.

Their other products, especially their "carpet pad", I cannot recommend. It is flimsy, the foam they bond is not truly closed cell, and the vinyl backing doesn't block any sound (it's obviously not mass loaded). They market it like it's MLV, but it is absolutely not. Definitely do not pay for that crap - it will do nothing for you.

Most of @DAEMANO's advice is sound, save one detail. You will need to do the classic approach of deadening the trunk. Doing the seat backs will ruin your experience with the OEM Audio+ system since the sub is in the trunk.

Doing an install like this is a _lot_ of work when done correctly, so I don't blame you for wanting to pay someone to do it. It has taken me weeks before to get something like this done (working evenings/weekends after work - lots of beer breaks). So the labor part is huge and I don't blame shops for giving you big quotes. I would just be careful to find someone that has actually worked with these specific materials.

Also, I would note that while sounddeadenershowdown has been an awesome resource for many years (used to be better, he's deleted a lot of content), imo his products are overpriced for what they are. If you do your research you can find a lot of comparable stuff for quite a bit cheaper. He uses a lot of language on that site to sell you on his products being one of a kind, too much fear mongering to be legitimate - don't be fooled. You can find good stuff out there for less, you just have to be patient.

Good luck!

[chezzy79]

Originally Posted by johan

Their other products, especially their "carpet pad", I cannot recommend. It is flimsy, the foam they bond is not truly closed cell, and the vinyl backing doesn't block any sound (it's obviously not mass loaded). They market it like it's MLV, but it is absolutely not. Definitely do not pay for that crap - it will do nothing for you.

Thanks for your insight, didnt know that about the carpet pad... it looked fine when I saw it in the shop, but I dont have too much knowledge about MLV's haha.

It's a little concerning that pretty much all of the shops around me uses Stinger carpet pad. Now I'm considering getting my own MLV's to give to the shop, but hopefully it wont make too much of a difference.

[johan]

Originally Posted by chezzy79

Thanks for your insight, didnt know that about the carpet pad... it looked fine when I saw it in the shop, but I dont have too much knowledge about MLV's haha.

It's a little concerning that pretty much all of the shops around me uses Stinger carpet pad. Now I'm considering getting my own MLV's to give to the shop, but hopefully it wont make too much of a difference.

I have both the stinger carpet pad and real 1lb per sq ft MLV in my garage right now. There is a dramatic difference between the two. Additionally, I just replaced a sheet of that carpet pad that was cut to the exact shape of my trunk tray with a sheet of MLV. The MLV made my exhaust sound disappear. My exhaust was getting quite loud, even with the carpet pad in place... the MLV made it whisper quiet. Huge difference.

[slyphen]

if you decide to do it yourself, i'd gladly help out if you need an extra hand. im in everett