Sound deadener/ insulation

partsflyin

Adventurer
I am looking to quiet down , as well as cool down the cockpit on the van.
Will these sound deadeners(Dynamat,ballistic) offer any help against heat?

i'm thinking I want to do the inside of the dogbox, floorboard and doors.
Possibly thr rear area also, but will that be neccessary?? As I plan to use some regular insulation behind the wall panels.

Any help or reccomendations will be appreciated.
 

Wiley

Adventurer
Wont help with sound, but Lowes sells reflectix a foil type insulation, and is fairly cheap and lightweight.
 

Sheep Shagger

Adventurer
Dynamat make a heat reflective version. (Dynashield maybe???). I have it on the doghouse, works very well to reduce noise and heat. Also have the floor covered in bedliner (underlay and carpet ontop) and insulation in the walls, all works very well. But the roof has nothing except headliner, that was a mistake. I really need to pull the headliner and put some sound deadening up there.
 

partsflyin

Adventurer
Dynamat make a heat reflective version. (Dynashield maybe???). I have it on the doghouse, works very well to reduce noise and heat. Also have the floor covered in bedliner (underlay and carpet ontop) and insulation in the walls, all works very well. But the roof has nothing except headliner, that was a mistake. I really need to pull the headliner and put some sound deadening up there.

Good info!! Thanks!
I love the idea of the bedliner + carpet but had heard stories of bedlined floorboards actually amplifying road noise???
 

Sheep Shagger

Adventurer
Good info!! Thanks!
I love the idea of the bedliner + carpet but had heard stories of bedlined floorboards actually amplifying road noise???

I can't see how it could amplify sound. But my van is the quietest diesel van I've been in if that helps. Whole inside was pulled (except dash / pedals etc) and bedliner sprayed in.
I've used bedliner to sound deaden the inside of skid-plates on dirtbikes, as the engine sound gets reflected off the skid-plate back at you. Works very well for that, and is also quite commonly used as it's about the only thing durable enough to stand up.
 

1sweetvan

Adventurer
I've read posts elsewhere that claimed some sound deading from Reflectix. Probably would not withstand dog house heat(engine side) however.
 
Last edited:

Gvan

Observer
I saw this a while back and thought it was very good information.

http://www.camperize.com/insulation.html

I personally have in the past used fiberglass insulation on the walls and carpet pad on the ceiling. On my current van projects I have been using that foil backed felt stuff that comes in rolls. It is thin enough to fit between the ribs and not make the headliner bulge. It also seems to heat much better than the carpet padding does. I have also used thin rubber mat on the floor and then put the wood on top of that. I find that small strips of wood between the ribbing helps the noise a bit more. I feel the rubber help seal the screw holes from moisture and give just a bit more sound deadening.

Something that I can tell you is that no matter what you should only use stainless steel screws on the floor and use a minimal amount of them.(you might try some adhesive on the floor instead of the rubber mat and screws thats what I am doing this time) Even out here in California the screws rust out on the floors. Sometimes the floors rust pretty bad as well near the screw holes. The moisture in the wood and anything you spill plus condensation that forms from the constant heating and cooling of using the van always cause problems in time.
 

cem17

New member
I've done a couple dampening projects, most recently, a ford diesel cutaway van. I am no expert but did some research before getting started. There is lots of info on the web.

The experts recommend a 3 layer/step processs.

1. adding mass to the interior panels by using dynamat, fatmat, raamat, stinger, etc. These product have an aluminium foil backing which reflects heat. In adding mass you change the resonate frequency of the panel.

2. a decoupling foam layer. I used ensolite from raamaudio.com.

3. a mass loaded vinyl

My van turned out pretty good, for a diesel that is. I used at least 2 layers of dampener in the floor. Less in the doors, pillars, roof, and doghouse. I added 2 layers of ensolite throughout. 2 layers of jute in the floor and the heaviest molded vinyl flooring I could find.

I have a dynamat hoodliner which should be more effective at reflecting heat and plan to use on the hood and doghouse.


Notes:
-Not all dampeners are created equally. Foil thickness, rubber thickness, and adhesion are important differences between products. The cheaper products cannot handle the high temps in a car and may lose adhesion. I used cheap stuff for the floor and better stuff for the doors and roof.

-you can spend a lot depending how you decide to go after it. Check out this link

http://www.sounddeadenershowdown.com/cgi-bin/index.cgi

-I used raaudio.com for inexpensive dampener (floor) and ensolite.
 

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