I changed to winter tires (studded) and realized that I'll have to do something about the increased road and tire noise, at least if I still want to enjoy the Rockford sound system. After checking the internet for some instructions and experiences about soundproofing cars, I decided to let Dynamat show what it goes for.

I think that most of the noise comes from the back of the car, so I'll start there. My opinion is also that the car is pretty well soundproofed against high frequency noise (a lot of soft carpets and other soft insulation materials at least in my model), but less good at low frequencies (large untreated bare metal areasunder thecarpetsand behind the panels in the wheel house areas).

I started today by removing panels and carpets in the trunk area. Took about two hours. The pictures show what I have been doing so far. Tomorrow I should get some Dynamat Extreme from the local store. I'll post more pictures when I have got it installed.



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Mitsun,

Great work! I have been looking at sound proofing my outlander as well. I posted this in another thread. I was going to do this exploratory work to see what is exposed metal. Your pics are great! Thanks

Do you have any advice regarding the removal of the panels in the back? Is it mostly clips, screws, or a combination of both?

Did you also have to remove a 3rd row of seating? I am not sure your model has it or not.

Are you able to estimate the number of square feet/metres of material you are going to use?

I am also going to do the doors.

 

is that will help to stop rattle from the subwoofer ?

 

Hi Dekodan

The panels are attached by some screws and a lot of clips. There are a couple of screws visible (one near the back end and one where the trunk curtain fits in). Then there are screws where the "handles" are (guess it may vary with car model). You have to remove the plastic caps to get to them. There are also some screws at the bottom of the panels. There are small slits in the carpet at those places so you can fold it up and see the screws. Finally you'll have to pull off the section of the back door seal that is keeping the panel in place. The upper part of the panel is fastened with clips.

Yes, I had to remove the 3rd row, but that is fairly easy.First with the seat folded down I removed the 4 front screws (again there are slits in the carpet that help you get to the screws), and then with the seat in upright position I loosened the 6 (if I remember the number right) screws that keep the seat bolted to the car floor.

I have not made a precise estimate of the amount of material I'm going to use, but today I'll purchase one bulk package of Dynamat extreme (that's 3,3 m2 or 36 sqare feet). I will not cover the entire area with mat, but instead try to locate the most critical places.

I haven't recognised rattle from the subwoofer (guess I haven't been playing loud enough :-), but covering bare metal areas should definitely be good for the bass sound also.

 

Mitsun,

Thanks for your excellent reply. I look forward to your further comments on your install such as where you strategically placed your dynamat and if you could post more pictures of those locations, that would be most appreciated.

Also, an appreciation for the road-noise reduction/improvement in sound system response would be greatly appreciated as well.

I will likely start my project in the new year.

Thanks!

Dan

 

Dan,

It took a while before I got to work, as they didn't have the Dynamat in store. But now I have finished the first part of my project. My strategy for finding the places where to put the mat was by tapping on the metal surfaces. If the tapping resulted in a loud hollow sound, then I put mat there. Mostly this meant that I covered larger even metal surfaces. I covered most of the floor area behind the second seat row (appr. 80%). I also tried to cover as much as possible of the wheel house areas, and as much as I could reach of the side areas. The trunk door seemed very badly insulated, so I put special attention on it. I didn't bother much for the look as it all get covered by carpets and panels, so I cut the mat in smaller pieces that were easier to apply. I also put some mat on the subwoofer compartment. As you can see in some pictures I also bought two square meter of dynaliner that I covered some areas with. All in all I used appr. 3 square meter of Dynamat and 2 sqare meter of Dynaliner.

The result is great! The whole car and especially the back of the car seems a lot more silent now. The only place in the back where I notice some tire sound still getting in, is through the back seat doors, but earlier the back seat was so noisy that you couldn't localize any specific sounds.Its hard to tell the difference in music sound quality, but I certainly can play the stereo at a lower volume.

I think I will add some Dynamat/liner to the engine compartment also later on. Especially to the hood. Does anyone know how to remove the standard insulation under the hood? It is fastened with plastic clips, but they seem very hard to remove.



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Very nice work Mitsun! I really want to try this, maybe I will look into it. If I read it right, you used about 36 sq ft for this project? Thanks!

 

Mitsun,

Thanks for the reply and the information! I will be looking into this in the new year...

Dan