Soundproofing: Got Rattles?

[festersays]

I saw a post about this, and I just finished getting rid of most of the nasty rattles in my car so I figured a writeup was only appropriate.

Dynamat is expensive, don't buy it. I picked up some Hella flashing tape at Lowes for about $20.00, and it's the same exact material that Dynamat uses as far as I'm concerned, which is butyl. The other material I used to help deaden the back hatch was polyfill. The easiest way to do this process is in steps, so let's get started!

The back hatch interior is held on by a series of push pins and screws. The easiest way to get them out is to push the middle part through, then remove the two screws in the handle of the hatch. This piece should slide right out. Stuff every hole you can find tight with polyfil, the more you use, the better. Be cautious of the moving locking mechanism, and stay away from using too much near those areas. Button your interior back up and enjoy the nice sound of your hatch as you close it!

Now for the doors! They are held to the doorframe by clips behind the door panel. Carefully pry from behind the door panel to release it partially. The next step is the silver handle, it can be gently removed with a small flathead screwdriver. The cup inside the door handle is the biggest annoyance, it's held on by clips all over. Best of luck.

Moving on! once you have the door off, it'll look like this.


Rip that flimsy white covering off, and clean the metal with water, rubbing alcohol, or whatever you prefer. Then use the "Dynamat" on the insides of the doors, and on any exposed metal. Make sure you really apply it, use a roller to make sure it's not going anywhere. Repeat this process on the other side, and button your doors back up.

MOST of your rattles should be gone now, but if you have serious bass, then lift up the floormat in your trunk, and apply more "Dynamat" there, as needed...



I have two Diamond D3 12's pounding in a ported box, pushed by around 1000 watts rms. Rattles can still be heard at some frequencies, but for the most part have been taken care of.

For people wondering what this really does, the added mass to the metal decreases it's "resonant frequency", or the frequency at which it rattles. Meaning, you'll hear cleaner, deeper bass!

Happy jamming!

[Aveowego]

Looks nice, I pulled the driver and passneger front pans at a body shop, we actually matted the doorskin also on my aveo. I have about 1 thousand or better into the roadkill I put in mine. I don't like the dynamat because it's about 2x the money and I don't like the metalic finish either. I've foam filled pillars, then wrapped them. The car is quieter than my charger is on the inside now. I managed to in my quest to kill stereo rattles made a pretty decent road going aveo. I just wish I could find a thicker windshield. I like the work you've done! What components etc are you running?

[festersays]

That's awesome! My car still hasn't got much quieter, I've done nothing in the massloaded vinyl area. I put around 80 into rattleproofing, tops. The components I have running now, are diamond audio m641's. They're oldschool, and I've never heard a better 4" driver. I may upgrade to something bigger to help keep up with my subs soon. I've got a kenwood double din touch screen GPS radio, I don't know the model offhand. One JBL 640 watt max amp for the components, a 1800 watt American Bass amp for the subs. Custom box, 0 to 4ga wiring.