Loud wheel wells? Rain / water noise (1 Viewer)

[jonnyd42]

My 96 FZJ80 is completely stock. Previous owner never took it off road, and owned it since day 1. My other vehicle is a 3rd gen 4runner, and in the rain or snow the sound of water in the rear wheel wells isn't super loud. In my 80, it's like overpowering...to the point where I thought there was something wrong with the vehicle or a door seal missing. It honestly sounds as loud as if it were just a truckbed and I was sitting in the bed.

There are no leaks at all, and there's no water sound in dry weather so it's not something sloshing around as far as I can tell.

I'm curious - are all the 80s like this, or does it sound like something is off?

 

[BILT4ME]

My 96 FZJ80 is completely stock. Previous owner never took it off road, and owned it since day 1. My other vehicle is a 3rd gen 4runner, and in the rain or snow the sound of water in the rear wheel wells isn't super loud. In my 80, it's like overpowering...to the point where I thought there was something wrong with the vehicle or a door seal missing. It honestly sounds as loud as if it were just a truckbed and I was sitting in the bed.

There are no leaks at all, and there's no water sound in dry weather so it's not something sloshing around as far as I can tell.

I'm curious - are all the 80s like this, or does it sound like something is off?

What tires are you running?

 

[Kernal]

"in the rain or snow the sound of water in the rear wheel wells"
Can you describe better what you're hearing, roaring, sloshing,
or??


If the rear cargo panels don't fit tightly that could account for some extra road noise being transmitted into the cabin and/or if there're holes (rust, missing plugs) in the quarter panel cavities that also would allow more noise into that area. If the rear body seal/weatherstrip around the hatch and lift gate is missing or torn, ditto, more noise.

And if the rear tail lights are missing the butyl sealant, more noise (and water and dust) will get into the quarter panel cavities.

You could remove the cargo panels and inspect them and the quarter panel cavities.

Pull up the carpet a bit and check under the carpet section that's on the wheel well humps, is the carpet pad still there?

To do all that you need to remove the chrome piece on the rear floor of the cargo area.

 

[jonnyd42]

What tires are you running?

Had the exact same noise with Michelin LTXs M/S as well as my current k02s. Sound is the exact same

 

[jonnyd42]

"in the rain or snow the sound of water in the rear wheel wells"
Can you describe better what you're hearing, roaring, sloshing,
or??


If the rear cargo panels don't fit tightly that could account for some extra road noise being transmitted into the cabin and/or if there're holes (rust, missing plugs) in the quarter panel cavities that also would allow more noise into that area. If the rear body seal/weatherstrip around the hatch and lift gate is missing or torn, ditto, more noise.

And if the rear tail lights are missing the butyl sealant, more noise (and water and dust) will get into the quarter panel cavities.

You could remove the cargo panels and inspect them and the quarter panel cavities.

Pull up the carpet a bit and check under the carpet section that's on the wheel well humps, is the carpet pad still there?

To do all that you need to remove the chrome piece on the rear floor of the cargo area.

The best way to describe it is that when water hits the wheel well, it simply sounds like it's almost inside of the car...it's that noticeable. It's not sloshing, just the sound of water in the wheel well. But damn it's loud!! It's not leaking in, but it sounds like it's hitting the wheel well and 100% of the sound is coming into the cabin.

No rust.

I recently removed the entire rear carpet area to redo the main (front) carpet anyway, so I'm planning to put some CLD + CCF + MLV over the floor and the wheel wells. The carpet is in tact and nothing looks out of the ordinary. Note that the noise was present BEFORE removing anything.

 

[Outsane]

I lined the inside if my wheel wells with a dei spray from amazon and covered the tops with roofing aluminum butyl ( poor man's lightweight sound deadening ) . That with the factory carpet and insulation seems to work well.

Amazon.com

At this point windnoise is the loudest thing in my cab, unless I run mud tires.

 

[ZetheGSD]

The best way to describe it is that when water hits the wheel well, it simply sounds like it's almost inside of the car...it's that noticeable. It's not sloshing, just the sound of water in the wheel well. But damn it's loud!! It's not leaking in, but it sounds like it's hitting the wheel well and 100% of the sound is coming into the cabin.

No rust.

I removed the entire rear carpet area to redo the main (front) carpet anyway, so I'm planning to put some CLD + CCF + MLV over the floor and the wheel wells. The carpet is in tact and nothing looks out of the ordinary.

Well you answered your own question here. If you have removed the side plastic panels and rear carpet that explains your noise.

I know this because I am rolling around right now with all of my rear interior stripped. I finished restoring all of my doors and now it's time for the floors. Yes every rain drop can be heard with these pieces missing. Do us a favor and let forum members know obvious things are missing before you post.

 

[jonnyd42]

Well you answered your own question here. If you have removed the side plastic panels and rear carpet that explains your noise.

I know this because I am rolling around right now with all of my rear interior stripped. I finished restoring all of my doors and now it's time for the floors. Yes every rain drop can be heard with these pieces missing. Do us a favor and let forum members know obvious things are missing before you post.

I think we're talking past each other a bit - the noise was very present BEFORE anything was removed. Updated to make that clearer..

 

[jonnyd42]

I lined the inside if my wheel wells with a dei spray from amazon and covered the tops with roofing aluminum butyl ( poor man's lightweight sound deadening ) . That with the factory carpet and insulation seems to work well.

Amazon.com

At this point windnoise is the loudest thing in my cab, unless I run mud tires.

Hm - did you notice a lot of water noise in the wheel wells before doing that spray?

 

[mudgudgeon]

I recently removed the entire rear carpet area to redo the main (front) carpet anyway, so I'm planning to put some CLD + CCF + MLV over the floor and the wheel wells. The carpet is in tact and nothing looks out of the ordinary. Note that the noise was present BEFORE removing anything.

Deadener on a much sheet metal as you can get to.
Wheel well inside the quarter panel, and the quarter panel too.
MLV on the back of rear plastic trim panels would also help
The more sheet metal you can add deadener to the quieter your cruiser will be.

I had a station wagon for work recently, and road noise from the rear quarters was noticeable every time i got in it after driving another car.
The noise when it was raining was very loud. I know exactly what you mean.

I've insulated two previous cruisers. The last one i did, I did the floor, quarter panels, and roof.
Doing the roof made a huge difference after the floors were done.
Another thing that made a huge difference to noise and heat was sealing around the gear shifter effectively

 

[Marvelicious]

I lined the inside if my wheel wells with a dei spray from amazon and covered the tops with roofing aluminum butyl ( poor man's lightweight sound deadening ) . That with the factory carpet and insulation seems to work well.

Amazon.com

At this point windnoise is the loudest thing in my cab, unless I run mud tires.

I didn't know that spray existed. By the inside of your wheel wells, you mean the tire side or the cab side? Does it hold up like an undercoat? If so that seems like a great option for certain areas on the body.

 

[deltapine1]

My 96 is the same. In the rain the road spray is bad loud inside the 80. I pulled the whole interior and completely lined the floor, fender wells, and quarter panels with Dynamat and then placed closed cell neoprene down with mass loaded vinyl over it prior to reinstalling the interior.

None of the above made a huge difference in road spray noise. My source of frightful and annoying rain/road spray was coming from the flares attached to the doors. When I finally got around to putting Dynamat in the doors and lining the surface the door card sits against prior to putting the plastic and door cards back on the doors it made a noticeable difference in road/rain spray noise driving in the rain.

I DD mine 20k to 30k a year.

 

[Broski]

Or you can just drive the 4Runner
See easy fix

 

[baldilocks]

For sensitive ears: Ten cans fill both rear quarters and two average ear canals.

Great Stuff Gaps & Cracks Ivory Polyurethane Insulating Foam Sealant 12 oz - Ace Hardware

Great Stuff Gaps & Cracks Insulating Foam Sealant is a ready to use minimal expansion polyurethane insulating foam sealant that fills, seals and insulates gaps up to 1 inch. The average home has a half mile of gaps and cracks where air and moisture can enter. Air sealing and insulating projects...

www.acehardware.com

 

[Outsane]

I didn't know that spray existed. By the inside of your wheel wells, you mean the tire side or the cab side? Does it hold up like an undercoat? If so that seems like a great option for certain areas on the body.

Tire side, easy application

 

[mudgudgeon]

For sensitive ears: Ten cans fill both rear quarters and two average ear canals.

Great Stuff Gaps & Cracks Ivory Polyurethane Insulating Foam Sealant 12 oz - Ace Hardware

Great Stuff Gaps & Cracks Insulating Foam Sealant is a ready to use minimal expansion polyurethane insulating foam sealant that fills, seals and insulates gaps up to 1 inch. The average home has a half mile of gaps and cracks where air and moisture can enter. Air sealing and insulating projects...

www.acehardware.com

Makes it hard to get the jack out later though . . .

 

[baldilocks]

Makes it hard to get the jack out later though . . .

Dang! I didn’t think of that….

 

[Kernal]

IME the coating (it's like a hard chip resistant coating) applied to the wheel wells at the factory is wearing/flaking off after 25+ years on all these trucks. So IMO most of us probably need to do something about it before spraying anything else in the wheel wells.

Point is IMO you'll first want to remove any loose flaking material then remove/kill any rust, and then at least prime (like with a 2k epoxy primer) any bare metal before you put anything else over the wheel well surfaces.

You could also glue closed cell foam sheeting to the backside of the cargo area panels. Will need to cut around the plastic rivets some so they will snap back into place.

Couple of options:

https://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1399673O/3m-spray-anti-chip-coating-08888.pdf

If you have a compressor:

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40071586/

 

[Marvelicious]

Makes it hard to get the jack out later though . . .

Wait, you keep your jack in your ear canal?

 

[deltapine1]

@Kernal is on target with the above post. The factory wheel well coating on mine is flaking off and was never very thick. There has to be a 2024 product that is a more durable rubberized product for undercoating. I have tried the 3M, Duplicolor, and the HKS products on other projects. The HKS is a two part epoxy and you have to rupture the hardener prior to spraying it. Some people say undercoatings ruin a vehicle. Since the wheel wells were coated from the factory I don't think I am going to ruin anything reapplying something. Has anyone tried the POR 15 undercoating?