You must use a high quality automotive adhesive to clue down the MLV. You could skip the Ensolite step and just to a vibration dampener and do this and you will have a high end car like feel. It's heavy, stiff, and expensive, but it really stops sound. I put it over the wheel wells, walls, and eventually did the doors. I had not used this before but knew from other forums this really is the only way to stop sound really well.
So I decided to do some MLV with closed cell foam. I was happy with this but decided I even wanted to go further to really make the van quiet. This is the Ensolite foam (closed cell foam) This is to absorb the sound after you controlled vibration. Roof with RAAM Mat (this later is going to get covered so I did not get to crazy here)
You only need to cover 25-50% of the area to be effective, you can do more but you don't really need to.
#MASS LOADED VINYL HOME DEPOT WINDOWS#
This was enough to cover everything under the windows in my van and the doors. I used 38 square feet of RAAM Mat and 3 yards of Ensolite (closed cell foam). You have to though start with this as a foundation. Remember this reduced vibration, but really isn't a "sound barrier" per se. Next step was to use a good quality sound dampener. I could have taking a step further using MLV as a base, but that stuff isn't cheap and decided to skip it and just use foam layer, plywood, and the composite floor.ģ8 square feet of Sound Dampener (RAAM Mat)Ĥ0 square feet of closed cell foam (Ensolite)ģ0 square feet of MLV with closed cell foam (1/8 MLV w/ 1/4 inch foam)įinished Legend Composite Floor with Trim Loc covering edge This was more than enough to make a huge dent in the noise level. So I began with the floor, since I was going to use a super thick rubber based floor over plywood to level it off for sprinter seat mounts I used a closed cell foam base and put 3/4 inch of material on top of the floor. Use a barrier to trap sound (MLV-mass loaded vinyl) Use an sound adsorbing foam (closed cell)ģ. Reduce vibration - using a asphalt or butyl (butyl superior)Ģ. Good sound proofing is basically a three step process:ġ. I am doing a van conversion to a camper van, so unlike a business use, having the inside quiet is important for the long drives ahead. The PM is horrible in regards to noise, it's a big tin can, what you can you say? So the plan was to reduce it as much as possible and at the same time to be practical about it. To truly sound proof your car you are going to need to decide how far and to what level you are tying to achieve. Going cheap helps, but it's still not nearly as good as buying the right stuff, and for the most part you only save 25% and you get 50% less effectiveness.
I know this because I have done the whole gambit from Dynamat Extreme to Home Depot special roofing material. There have been some threads here on sound proofing, but they have been somewhat general so I thought I would post what I did that greatly reduced the noise level in the PM.įirst-proper sound proofing isn't cheap, you can go to home depot and purchase roofing material, however this really isn't the same as purchasing a high quality dampener specifically made for automotive use like "Dynamat".