The wife and I are heading out on a summer's travel soon, and while we love the Dodge, we do get tired of shouting at each other. It seemed time to quiet things down.

A couple weeks ago as new hinge pins were being installed, I noticed there was an unobstructed view of the engine compartment from the door. After installing the hinge pins a quick look showed that there is a baffle on each side of the engine compartment just ahead of the door. Neither one was where it was supposed to be. And when put where the were supposed to be they 1) didn't make much difference and 2) didn't stay put.

Today a strip of three-inch thick foam was cut into two 3" x 3" X just long enough and a strip was pushed down between the fender and body on driver and passenger side just ahead of the stock baffles. I left about five inches sticking above the stock baffles so when the hood is closed the foam completely blocks the engine compartment off.

Holy quiet Batman! Well, maybe Holy much less noise would be more accurate. One can still tell there's a Cummings under the hood. However it's quiet enough that on a test run I could hear wind noise from around the door. And furthermore, when setting the radio at a comfortable level before leaving it could be easily heard at 70 mph.

The wind noise. Somewhere way back when I had read that Ford people attacked that problem by threading 3/8" vinyl tubing through the door gaskets. It works on Dodges too. At least it did on mine. It was necessary to make two slits in the gasket - the tubing wouldn't go more than a few inches past any sharp curve no matter how much soapy water was used. Not to worry, a little contact cement sealed them up.

Now the missus and I can converse in normal tones, listen to music, and just in general have a more enjoyable ride.

Who'd have thought two bucks worth of foam and eight dollars worth of vinyl tubing could make such a difference?

 

Sounds like a great idea. That's my wifes biggest dislike about our truck ,especially when the Scotty Air II is in (lots of turbo whistle).

Do you have any pictures of what you did?

 

Pictures: here you go. I'm not sure how long the foam will last or even if it will stay put. Time will tell how effective this is over the long term.

As for the vinyl tube, that was inserted in the soft rubber gasket attached to the door frame. 3/8" tube was used, and it makes a very tight fit when the door is closed. I haven't played around with adjusting the latch yet, but probably will over the next few weeks.


Pictures:

Here's the foam showing how much is left above when it is stuffed down as far as it will go.





This shows it bent over with the top end stuck into the door. When the hood is closed it is held in place when the door is opened.

 

This is very interesting and maybe something worth letting others know about who complain about their truck being too loud in the cab.

I say this because I've never really understood what anyone is talking about when they complain about the Cummins being too loud since my truck has no silencer ring, an aFe air filter, and no muffler.....and I have zero trouble talking with anyone or listening to soft music while driving. Matter of fact I went through the trouble to confirm the actual noise levels of my truck with a dB reader just to assure others that I wasn't hard of hearing. So to hear that you may have found a reason why some people have excessive noise in the cab is good to know.

 

My wife and i haven't had any issues with cab noise....

I don't understand the problem!!!!

nEVER MIND, i TYPED THAT IN ALL CAPS BUT it wouldn't take.....

 

DRam, Thanks for posting that up, I can't believe how effective that little trick is at deadening the engine noise in the cab of my truck!

It's the simple things, eh?!

 

Thanks for the feedback. It's good to hear someone else got the same results.

 

Man.....now I have to try it.

 

Looking at that my problem the foam will suck and hold water just thinking what about using a vacuum food packer to seal up the foam?

 

Pull it up and wring it out....

I'm amazed at how much it deadened the clatter and interesting, I used a piece of my kids old floaty tube. I think acquiring the stuff you used would be even more efficient....

I know it works well because when I get in my truck in the morning and turn the key now the radio isn't blaring.

 

I thought about the water issue and figured on checking it out the first rainstorm we go through. If it does get soaked and holds moisture against the metal work rust would eventually be a problem.

Vacuum packing would provide water proofing, but would compress the foam and provide a hard surface that might not stop sound as well. The float tube might be better as far as water goes. I've never used one, so don't know if they absorb water but they most likely don't.

 

The second item: cutting sound coming through fresh air vents.





Two strips of 3/4 by 1/2 inch foam weather stripping stacked.

It sounded like we were hearing engine noise coming from the dash air vents. There is a rubber seal across the cab under the hood, but mine looks like it's pretty worn.

A 10' roll of 3/4" wide x 1/2" thick weather strip was enough to put two layers across the cab. A quick listen at idle, then a test drive on the highway shows another drop in sound inside the cab. At least, it does to my ears.

Could someone out there could give this a try and report back? As said, my measurement is subjective. Second (and third and so on) opinions are welcome.

Next: the plate providing entrance for throttle, brake, clutch, etc. Not only is it a fairly large metal sounding board, it also has several openings that provide easy entry for unwanted sound waves.

 

You could just put it in a trash bag and tape it up...

I like the cowl idea too. I'll try it.

 

interesting info, I would like to get my in cab noise down as well. I may just have to get some foam/pool noodle to try it.