Wheel well sound dampening project, unorthodox but effective. (1 Viewer)

[PhillipJFrye]

My troopy wheel wells would clang like bells going on gravel roads, so I set about doing something about it. The initial step was standard, throwing on sound dampening sheets (used Noico purchased through Amazon). Easy enough. But then I wanted to both protect that material and have some kind of finish on it. A mechanic buddy suggested rubberized undercarriage spray coating. I said, "Hell yeah."

Came out nicely, here were the steps:

As you can see, it's pretty rustic, but it works great. The smell from the undercarriage coating went away after about 3 days leaving all the windows open and running a fan into the rear. No more pinging from rocks striking the underside of the wheel wells. Hope this info helps someone looking into this kind of project.

Next up, more sound deadening and throwing in powder coated aluminum interior panels, fastened with rubber well nuts to isolate metal from metal. Wish me luck...

 

[Honger]

Nicely done.

And I really like that tongue-in-groove flooring. Very practical. Does it keep noise down coming through the floor?

 

[SNLC]

Toyota sprayed wheel wheels, the outside not inside, with seam sealer. You could also clean up the wheel wells and spray another layer. Seam sealer can be applied via calking gun, spread on by hand or sprayed on. Toyota did a lot of spraying of seam sealer all over the trucks.


Nothing really seems to last for this besides actual seam sealer. Undercoating and the like lasts maybe a year if applied correctly.


Cheers

 

[PhillipJFrye]

Nicely done.

And I really like that tongue-in-groove flooring. Very practical. Does it keep noise down coming through the floor?

thanks! the floor is great for cargo, in my case loading in beer kegs and jockey boxes and such. unfortunately i don't think the floor keeps much sound out. my brother did it ages ago and i don't think he knew about sound deadening options. that would've been great to install before laying down the floor. i'm happy with the sound level now, in any case. the head liner work i did improved things hugely.

 

[PhillipJFrye]

Toyota sprayed wheel wheels, the outside not inside, with seam sealer. You could also clean up the wheel wells and spray another layer. Seam sealer can be applied via calking gun, spread on by hand or sprayed on. Toyota did a lot of spraying of seam sealer all over the trucks.


Nothing really seems to last for this besides actual seam sealer. Undercoating and the like lasts maybe a year if applied correctly.


Cheers

great info, thanks. at some point in the future i know i'll have to tackle the outsides.

 

[PhillipJFrye]

ADDENDUM!

Well, the other day i noticed that my daughter's bike pedal chewed right through the rubberized undercoating. The reason i'd used that specific undercoating was because of a friend's recommendation. It had cured rock hard on his car, but for some reason in my car is remained a bit soft. Mine came from a rattle can, his was gunned on, maybe some kind of difference there, i don't know. Doing it over again, i would use truck bed liner, which is what i'm going to roll on top of the stuff i already put on there. Not the end of the world, repairable, lesson learned. A good project with good results, just use bed liner, not undercarriage coating.

 

[Dprio34]

Price, @PhillipJFrye , I’m not trying to talk you out of using aluminum for the rear interior panels / Trim Boards, because I almost went down that road. If you can source ABS in Chiriqui, I believe it will be easier to cut and be less prone to rattling. In the end I used ABS, and was able to use Toyota plastic fasteners. Zero rattling, and strong enough to support rear speakers. Just spitballing ideas for you.

 

[PhillipJFrye]

Price, @PhillipJFrye , I’m not trying to talk you out of using aluminum for the rear interior panels / Trim Boards, because I almost went down that road. If you can source ABS in Chiriqui, I believe it will be easier to cut and be less prone to rattling. In the end I used ABS, and was able to use Toyota plastic fasteners. Zero rattling, and strong enough to support rear speakers. Just spitballing ideas for you.

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oh man i wish! i searched high and low, called around panama city, couldn't find anyone who knew what abs was much less selling it. that was my first choice and i kind of gave up after a while. the reason i went down the aluminum route was that i have a mechanic buddy who built a powder coat oven, so i figured, what the hell. maybe i'll try again to find abs.

btw, great looking panel!

 

[Dprio34]

@PhillipJFrye , Ok, understood. I’m sure yours will turn out great as well. Look forward to seeing the pics.

 

[Cascadia]

Price, @PhillipJFrye , I’m not trying to talk you out of using aluminum for the rear interior panels / Trim Boards, because I almost went down that road. If you can source ABS in Chiriqui, I believe it will be easier to cut and be less prone to rattling. In the end I used ABS, and was able to use Toyota plastic fasteners. Zero rattling, and strong enough to support rear speakers. Just spitballing ideas for you.

View attachment 2612253

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Those look great. I was planning on going the aluminum route also but may look into this. Thanks for sharing.

 

[PhillipJFrye]

ADDENDUM!

Well, the other day i noticed that my daughter's bike pedal chewed right through the rubberized undercoating. The reason i'd used that specific undercoating was because of a friend's recommendation. It had cured rock hard on his car, but for some reason in my car is remained a bit soft. Mine came from a rattle can, his was gunned on, maybe some kind of difference there, i don't know. Doing it over again, i would use truck bed liner, which is what i'm going to roll on top of the stuff i already put on there. Not the end of the world, repairable, lesson learned. A good project with good results, just use bed liner, not undercarriage coating.

ADDENDUM TO THE ADDENDUM!

Last one, i promise... i threw a few coats of rustoleum truck bed liner over the soft undercarriage coating and i think the problem is fixed. to anyone considering this type of sound deadening project, just go with the bed liner from the get go. cures nice and tough.

over and out.

 

[c2dfj45]

You can use Second Skin Audio Spectrum as undercoating......dries very hard and it does a great job with noise and sound. You can roll it on too....easy stuff to work with and cleans up really well.