Sound deadening material - where did you put it?

I put Damplifier everywhere, so I don't know what areas would benefit most.

But if you're on a limited budget, I'd say do the doors first, and then the floor.

For the doors, do both outer and inner skins if possible since that's where the speakers are. They can cause a lot of vibrations, as I'm sure you know. The floor gets a lot of vibrations from the road, so damping it would also help.

 

would love to see a picture essay on what where and how. also on product choices and costs.

If anyone wants to of course!

 

If you look in the roofing section of Lowes and Home Depot you will find a flashing material that looks just like Dynamat. It's an adhesive roll about 10" wide with foil on one side. It's much cheaper than Dynamat. I used it on my Jeep Cherokee and loved it.

 

I did the doors of my Prius inside the door and the inner panel. I also did the full trunk area where the spare is. If I ever had a reason to pull the interior I would do the floor as well. IMO the car really needs the sound deadening help as stock it is a bit loud with road noise. I wish Toyota would address this issue.

 

No essays, but here's a pile of photos I took when I Damplified my Prius.

Picasa Web Albums - zenMachine

BTW, Secondskin is a very good product that costs much less than Dynamat, which IMO is a big marketing ripoff.

For a fairly good comparison of various SD materials, you might want to do a search for the "Sound Deadening Showdown" link that Bill Merchant posted on here a while back. The cheaper stuff one finds at Home Depot can be problematic in the long run, especially in warm climates.

 

Wow, great job! So what was the outcome? I assume it's night and day difference? Is it at a sound level of a high-end luxury car? Or is it quieter?

 

I did some before/after measurements using a Radio Shack meter. Depending on driving and road conditions, the meter could read a reduction of about 10dB. But that's not a really scientific method, and I have no need for that. As far as my subjective ears are concerned, the difference was extremely well worth the money and effort.

Keep in mind that SD materials can only reduce the vibrations of the various metal parts. It does not "soundproof" the car. There are other materials designed for that; however, I decided not to get them at the time because I was new at this SD business and didn't know if it'd be worthwhile. But the results so far have been satisfying enough that I've felt no need to take that extra step.

I don't even know how quiet a high-end luxury car is so I really can't compare my Prius to them. But recently I've ridden in a hybrid Lexus 450H and found that it's not that much quieter than my car.

Probably the next step for me is to get some quieter tires in order to reduce tire noise even further. That's the biggest nuisance right now.

 

Be careful! You may have read posts that mention water problems in their doors because of the drain hole in the bottom of the door getting clogged. I only mention this to establish that it is normal for water to get into the doors around the windows. They are not waterproof. Any water that seeps in around the windows needs to be able to flow freely down the inside of the door and out the drain. I assume that products, like Dynamat, are designed with this in mind. Products that are not designed for this use may absorb and retain water or inhibit the drainage. This could increase thr risk of rust and/or mildew developing inside of the door. While it may do a great job of dampening the sound. It was also dampen your door. Pun intended!
It may be fine, just be careful, and, be sure to allow a free flow of water, that may get into the door, to and out of the drain.