Recipe for a quiet(er) cruiser

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One consideration you may have is if you plan on doing any river crossings etc. where you will get water in the vehicle. After much consideration- i chose to start with a basecoat of waterproof bedliner to seal the floor---- I then applied the second skin/ spectrum sludge layers---then sealed the top with another bedlinerlayer.

Having done a few cars in the past with dynamat and second skin- it occurred to me that you will never be able to eliminate air pockets in the second skin layer......these pockets will hold water---and if that pocket is held next to the body--it will eventually lead to rusting from the inside out. By using your top and bottom layers of a waterproof material--you can vastly eliminate water intrusion and subsequent holding of moisture.

I also chose to eliminate the replacement carpet padding layer as it too will hold water. At present im planning on testing a Rhino Liner layer- over the top of the bedliner layer i used which turned out firmer than i had hoped. At present- the bedliner layer had very firm adhesion to the Second Skin Layer as well as the spectrum layers.

I did this only to the floor throughout the vehicle- and simply did the secondskin and sludge to the sidewalls and rear door.

I was surprised to find that up to this point- there is a fairly high pitched harmonic resonance even with the sludge which is supposed to work with higher frequencies. If i had to do it over again- i would likely eliminate the sludge layer on the side panels and choose to do an insulation/heavy foam type layer in the rear 1/4panel voids behind the panels. I also chose to double up on the wheelwells with the second skin as well as some of the more offending bed areas.

I just switched to 255/MT's and am happily surprised at the noticable reduction in low MT lug growl which has been reduced to an "on par" with the drivetrain sounds level of wrrrrrrrrr if that makes sense.

Like anything else---you are only as good as your weakest link....which in a Sub 1995 cruiser is the roof. Unfortunately for us 93-94s we cant remove the headliner in a snap--and thus far i think the next weakest link would be the roof resonances generated. With that being said-- if you do have a 95 up- i would imagine attention to the roof would yield some fairly nice results-especially in the higher frequency whirring generated by the drivetrain which seems to "ring" thru all the panels once you attend to the lower frequencies with the Second Skin/Sludge.

I ended up using just shy of 80feet on the floor/wheelwells and quarter panels with two layers on rear upper bed and wheelwells. Single layer on quarter panels. single layer inside whole rear door(inside) and single inside upper door(a byotch). Heavy waterproof foam padding in quarter panel voids.

At this stage of the game you will notice that things quiet down a lot and what becomes noticable is all the rattles your 10+year old twisty frame is inducing on the plastic panels in these rigs. To eliminate these you can take 1/8" adhesive backed soft cell foam and add it to any and every piece of plastic that comes in contact with other plastic or metal surfaces that can cause a rattle. The worst offenders are in the dash area. Especially the steering column/dashboard intersections which can be "padded" with adhesive foams. If you have a 95+ id say definitely do the roof as it should pay off given the amount of work required to easily snap in and out the headliner.
 
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Good info Sully

Thanks
Sam
 
Gotta second Bugsnbikes. I'm really noticing the little noises now. Were I to do it again, I might consider luxury liner everywhere I have the heatwave (assuming price is no object- it was for me). I still haven't done the doors, so I'm still reserving final judgement on the project til that's done. I will be putting the rattle pad product everywhere I can this summer and, while I'd love to do the roof, I don't see it happening with my 94. As to the 10 day dash project, it's a definate maybe. If you have 10 full days, you may be able to do it. If you have someone to help, your chances improve. If that someone has experience with dash removal, your chances are good. I could do it in 10 days now, but experience is a great teacher. If you do decide to try it, make sure you have plenty of the trim panel and carpet fasteners on hand because you will break them and/or need to replace some of them. Also, take lots of pictures to remind yourself where each screw goes. There are many that are similar in appearance but slightly different in size...
 
Damn, that's an incredible acomplishment but I think I'd set mine of fire first before taking that on. It would be easier for me to just "start over".
 
Gotta second Bugsnbikes. I'm really noticing the little noises now. Were I to do it again, I might consider luxury liner everywhere I have the heatwave (assuming price is no object- it was for me).
Word. I'm keeping both of ya'lls advice in mind.
I still haven't done the doors, so I'm still reserving final judgement on the project til that's done. I will be putting the rattle pad product everywhere I can this summer and, while I'd love to do the roof, I don't see it happening with my 94.
I look forward to the results :D
As to the 10 day dash project, it's a definate maybe. If you have 10 full days, you may be able to do it. If you have someone to help, your chances improve. If that someone has experience with dash removal, your chances are good. I could do it in 10 days now, but experience is a great teacher. If you do decide to try it, make sure you have plenty of the trim panel and carpet fasteners on hand because you will break them and/or need to replace some of them. Also, take lots of pictures to remind yourself where each screw goes. There are many that are similar in appearance but slightly different in size...
Hmm... really? I can generally disassemble a dash pretty well, I've installed stereos on everything from BMWs to Mercedes to Nissan to Toyotas, but I've never fully removed the dash. It's doesn't seem like it would take 10 full days... but I guess the complications get exponentially worse. What was the hardest part? The heater/AC system? I'll probably end up luxury linering as much as I can, I'm willing to spend ~$1500 give or take depending on what the end result will be.

One area that really annoys me is the leather boot for the 4H/L shifter. That thing pulls relatively tight and vibrates like a mofo, it acts like a freaking diaphragm to transmit driveline noise into the cabin. I think I may end up putting strips of some product on the back of it to cut down on that effect...

Anyways, thanks for the advice :cheers:
 
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One area that really annoys me is the leather boot for the 4H/L shifter. That thing pulls relatively tight and vibrates like a mofo, it acts like a freaking diaphragm to transmit driveline noise into the cabin. I think I may end up putting strips of some product on the back of it to cut down on that effect... ]

I didnt do it to the cruiser- but on my bug i took strips of dynamat and wrapped the entire stick. Those sticks are like tuning forks and emit a resonant frequency which can be quelled somewhat by adding mass to it. The stick on my Bug now has to be a good 1" thick in diamater which is fairly massive and gives adds a visual 20hp to the bug! eheh.

Getting under your rig and looking at all the connection points of body to frame would be the idea spots to focus on doubling up on the Second Skin since those will be the primary vibration sources. Adding mass to those areas will start to tame the frequencies before they can spread around to the larger unsupported panels and worse---the roof (which acts like a huge drum). Toyota did a great job in the Landcruiser with the "barrier" spots like wheelwells, firewall---so two layers of secondskin in the well areas did quite a nice job which prevents alot of the intial vibration entry.

Throwing more cash and more Second Skin down does not necessarily result in more quiet. In fact you could put down 20 layers and end up with different frequencies teaming up that will be just as noisy as your stocker.......as well as a significantly reduced interior space. The name of the game in noise reduction is addressing the weakest links---> after one full layer-- panel rattles quickly creep in as the worst offender. $500 is more than plenty and the real investment will be in your patience and persistance in hunting down rattles. This will never be a Lexus LS400--so accepting that things like WIND passing over a brick (which willl always be present) will get you quicker to the realization that throwing a ton of money at it isnt going to do audibly much more than about a $300-$500 well thought out job.

For me hearing the MTs at slightly under the level of the drivetrain is what i was shooting for as i like to have audible knowledge of whats going on with the drivetrains various noises......the hum of the beefy bearings-the thump of the shifts- the buzz of the valves all provide a nice little symphony of sturdiness which often leaves my stereo on the off position.
 
This will never be a Lexus LS400--so accepting that things like WIND passing over a brick (which willl always be present) will get you quicker to the realization that throwing a ton of money at it isnt going to do audibly much more than about a $300-$500 well thought out job.

For me hearing the MTs at slightly under the level of the drivetrain is what i was shooting for as i like to have audible knowledge of whats going on with the drivetrains various noises......the hum of the beefy bearings-the thump of the shifts- the buzz of the valves all provide a nice little symphony of sturdiness which often leaves my stereo on the off position.
Oh I know it's never going to be a LS400, but we're nowhere near that point yet :eek:

I just totaled up an order on secondskin to get an idea for costs and this is what I came up with:
5 Gals of spectrum
160sqft of Damplifier
20sqft of Damplifier Pro
4 sheets of Luxury Liner
1 Sheet of heat wave
Totals: $916.77 (I have a local distributor)

Not breaking the $1k mark yet, and that should be enough spectrum and damplifier to get the roof, although I think I would probably benefit from some heatwave, and if there was room Over Kill Pro on the headliner.


We'll see... I'm not looking for a silent cruiser, but I get really fatigued on long highway trips and a large part of it is all the noise.
 
Also of note- my cruiser has no second row or third row seats in. If you have those installed- you will end up with much less noise in the bed area due to the weight and control those provide of the rear bed area. This is probably why in my case i used a second layer on the majority of the rear bed as i knew no seats were going back in there.

Id say that if you end up keeping your second and third row seating- that you would be better suited to doubling up on the roof with the Damplifier first thing. Definintely plan on doing 1 layer under the hood.
 
This is nuckin' futs! I had a panic attack simply reading the damn thing. Nice work! Glad to know that there is someone out there with patience and ability to do this. I am far far away from either.

Smit
 

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