Eh, give me a break, okay?! C'mon don't keep telling yourself its a waste of time! This thread is a worthy one and so is your truck being dynamatted!
Don't end up like me thinking everything will be okay in the beginning, becuase it WON'T! When you introduce big time bass into your truck, things like to rattle and your truck is trying to tell you its bloating! Lol...Okay enough joking around!
The truth is, if you want thermal insulation, reduced road noise, CLEAN bass, and increased SPL, sound deadening is a great alternative to peventing and increasing these factors!
It is said that even a 1/4 of a panel covered by dynamat will significantly reduce noise! I call BS, but if the experts state it, you can't prove them wrong! I will tell you first hand, that I feel, wait, I STRONGLY feel that when you pay outrageous prices for this sticky stuff, its not because of how sticky it is! It is the name! So if I were you and your not me, don't go to a retail store and buy it! E-BAY IT!
You'll find yourself buying 100sq. ft. of this stuff for 1/2 of what I paid! I was ignorant enough to go to Car Toys and buy their 36 sq. ft. package for $300! Sigh. What a dumb move by me!
Alright, so now you've got your sound deadening material! Your ready to start matting! WAIT! You forgot! You have to remove ALL of your interior! I do not want to get into that! Removing the interior is not an easy job for you avg. joes. If you have no reason to remove the interior other than to mat it, and want to get into it, go ahead! I would recommend that as you have everything out of your truck, kill two birds with a stone and do all of your things you fantasize about doing to your truck at night! Lol, sounds so dirty...
Its true, I hate removing, and reinstalling the interior six bazillion times! Sure, you may get it down by heart, but consider if its worth it to you!
Fast forward! So you have all of your interior removed! How much do you want to dynamat? Why? What is your purpose for doing it? In my case, everything rattles! Too much bass for my panels to handle and I need them to shut up! If you end up buying 100 square feet of it, you are definitely going to be able to do the WHOLE cabe of the truck and probably can layer it in places! I have an extended cab, and I did everything but the floor and firewall with 36 sq. feet!
If you want to call yourself a big timer, do the whole interiore! Take the time to do the firewall as well! Heck, remove your fenders and stick some on the back! Hey, while your at it, put some under the hood! You could also do your license plates! If you still have some left over, and have x-cab do the outer skin of the cab as well!
Alright, so now everything is removed! You've got an idea of where you want to dynamat. Now is the time to start CLEANING EVERYTHING! It does'nt require you to have it spit shined, but you need it to be clean enough to eat off of! Nothing can never be too clean!
I recommend soapy water, and something to scrub it with. Then, you need to grab some towels and dry it all out! Me, I took a spray bottle and wiped everyting clean with a towel. You really need to get as much dirt off as you can! This is a very prime time to call your over compulsive buddy over to clean your truck!
Alright! So everything is cleaned! No more dirt, etc. on any of your metal you plan on matting! Very important! Alright, so now you are going to need some tools to get the job done! Dynamat kits usually include a roller! Well, not those cheapos where I got mine! They sold it seperately from my kit! LAME!
Tools of the trade:
1. Sound deadening material
2. Utility knife
3. Marker
4. Tape measurer
5. Screwdriver
6. Roller
- The roller does'nt have to be some official dynamat roller! I used a paint roller! It just has to be some sort of roller that will apply even pressure onto the surface.
ALRIGHTY! LETS BEGIN!
If your like me, you have pinpointed many points that like to rattle and cause you despair! You need to establish a priority of what needs to be matted first, if your on a limited amount of matting! So I established that I first would mat the roof! At 40 hz, my roof would make a superb, "Waaawaa" noise when the beat hit its right resonant freq. Making for an acoustical symphony!
Roof:
If you decide to do the roof, you will have to remove the headliner! Tear off as much foam as you can. Then, you will need 80 grit sandpaper. Start sanding away at that padding! Once you have feathered the the roof, run your hand over it to knock off the loose foam. Make sure you feel nothing but smoothness!
I recommend covering as much metal as you can! Have a buddy help you apply the mat. Or if you think your so cool, D.I.Y.! Place the mat onto the roof on one side! Do a blind fit first! As in, do not take off the paper backing to the mat until you are absolutely ready to apply it! Once you apply the mat, IT WILL NOT come off! It is some super sticky stuff!
Cover the roof as much as you like, take the roller and work from one side to the other! As you go, roll fairly hard to apply it and forcing the mat on smoothly. This will prevent the mat of having any air pockets. Air pockets will lead to bad adhesion and your purpose of matting will be no more!
Your end result of matting the roof should look like this:
Doors:
Now, to start off doing the doors! Doors are probably the most crucial aspect of matting! Take off your door panels. On the inner skin of the door, I did not cover the whole side completely. Although, if you have that 100 square feet that I told you about on E-bay, I think you can afford to do it! Know where your bolts and holes are for your panels and as well as other parts like your window rails, etc.
Applying the mat on an area like this calls for using the screwdriver! I applied the mat using the end of the screwdriver! LOL! It will work! My end was spherical. So once you get to contours it works nicely! If you choose to go my budgeted route, apply the mat on the perimeter of the door where the panel contacts. I basically matted this side wherever the panel will contact the door! This prevents your rattle!
Okay, so now, we are going to do the outer skin of the door! YES! Like I said, you must make sure EVERYTHING IS CLEAN! ESPECIALLY the doors! When you have the piece of mat you want to use to mat the door with, remove the paper backing on the mat. Roll down your window. Then, shimmy the mat in between the window and trim until it goes through. Catch it on the bottom through the door and roll the window back up. Get in there and look at where it is being applied! Apply the mat with the roller!
Your end result:
Cab:
WAHOO! The Cab! How exciting... There is not much to the cab, no little trick that your truck has to play on you! Eveything is exposed. Just make sure everything is cleaned! I highly doubt you will be able to apply a whole mat at once. The mat is going to have to be applied in strips! Every single inch that the panels touch, should be matted! One thing to make sure of is the brackets on the back of the cab! Mat those, because your rear panel will be screwed to these!
Your end result:
If you find its important, you can do the outer skin of the cab as well! Although, from memory, I believe there is OEM sound deadener, but its crappy! I did not do the skin because I feel it is too short and rigid to make a difference in SPL. Like your door skin on the other hand. I myself can see my door balloon out when the bass hits!
I only covered what matting I DID! You on the other hand should choose to do the floor, firewall, fender, hood, and if you have left over and feel it should be done, the A pillars.
All of these will use the same process of application as above! I hope I have served someone some good information that is potentially useful in their matting-job-to-be! ENJOY! Cause my fingers are tired now! Lol!
Created By: hex0rz