Automotive Sound Dampening

One of the most satisfying achievements for any car or truck owner is the act of finding and silencing the rattles, squeaks, drones and clunks that seem to emanate from the auto around you. They permeate the entirety of your motoring experience. We have a simple trick for you, one that requires minimal time and is capable of not only killing those annoyances (and handing you a satisfying accomplishment), but also deadening road noise, exhaust drone and that general state of in-cabin buzz that can send a driver off the proverbial cliff. What we're talking about is the installation of sound-deadening dampening matting, and it's just one step beyond kindergarten-simple.

What You'll Need
This material is not rocket science, and can be bought at nearly every stereo supply store (automotive or home). Some brand names experiment with varying thicknesses, backing material, foil overlay (heat resistance), expensive composite materials and dampening matrixes (less weight and easier installation), but in the end most of what you're dealing with is a heavy vibration/resonation-stopping sticky mat. Many of the vendors on the market distributing self-adhesive sound dampening material use a tar or butyl-based heavy polymer material as the primary deadening substance, backed with a strong adhesive that keeps the malleable sections of cut material well attached to your interior's base metal surfaces. Total adhesion is key to proper sound cancellation, as much of what you're trying to lose is resonation. This heavy material essentially smothers that high-hertz movement, something like ringing a piece of crystal, then shoving it into a bowl of pudding.


Buying your matting is not complicated: go to a local sound shop; and don't be afraid to invest in a little extra square-footage. They'll likely have small, prepackaged kits in the showroom, for which they'll nick you a pretty penny. Ask for a manager or the shop chief and tell them you'd like to buy several installer-grade sheets, usually stacked up in the installation area in 3x5-foot sections. Installers buy this stuff in bulk. If you offer to take four or five sheets off their hands for the right price, who'd refuse? Just make sure your dollar-per-square-foot ticket is less than what it would have been to buy the sales-floor packages. As for what to use, there's not a lot of technology here. The tin-backed sheets go on more easily and offer some heat shielding, but can cost up to double the non-foil, standard butyl-based sheets. The old-fashioned heavy stuff works fine, in 99 percent of all applications, and costs less (if not a bit of a load to haul).


Tools you'll need for this action are limited: a decent roller, preferably with a rubber/soft plastic wheel; heavy scissors; a sharp knife (X-Acto or box cutters work well); a heat gun (hair dryers usually don't get hot enough or last long enough); the presence of Mother Nature's mother of all heaters, the sun. Prior to engaging the sticky side of your deadening material, degrease the uncovered interior metal and hard surfaces with a light alcohol-based cleaner, strong enough to remove slick stuff and factory-based installation mung, but not so potent it'll damage the surface to which you'll be sticking the sound mat. A pop-fastener puller will make removing factory interior panels a painless, scratch-free affair.

What You'll Do
It's possible that the hardest part of this project is the disassembly and reassembly of your interior in preparation for and following your work. Everything not bare body metal comes out, though in our case we left the factory's [paltry attempt at] sound dampening in place, pasting ours right over it. When using a high-quality dampening material, you're likely to find the adhesive backing more than effective enough to achieve this, sticking to just about anything that's been properly cleaned.