I'm interested in making the cab a little more quiet (for the long road trips between Colorado and Michigan.... 16 hours).

I assume the best way to get this is to install some sound deadening material.

So which one? Any tips on doing this or pics of this being done?

Thanks!

 

dynamat is expensive but effective.

 

The most cost effective option is by B-Quiet. 1/2 the cost of the Dynamat and was tested to be better.

I used it in my 97. I used the Ultimate on the floor and back wall with double layers on the floor by the transmission and the VComp mat stuck to the back wall over the Ultimate and on the floor under the back seats. It has made a huge difference.

For the price of a "trunk kit" from Dynamat I bought 2 Vcomp pads and 2 rolls of the Ultimate. Awesome stuff..

B-Quiet.com

 

Is the difference noticeable?

Would you do it again?

 

I am not quite finished sound proofing my cab, but I do have some preliminary results. I stripped the whole cab minus the dash, put 6 coats of sound proofing paint (silent running SR500, used 6 gallons). Then I added neoprene foam for additional insulation, 1/2" on the floor, 3/4" in the rear, 3/8" in the ceiling and I will be adding 3/4" in the doors this coming weekend. I did not do anything with the firewall at this point as I did not wish to remove the dash, nor did I mess with the hood or the wheel wells yet either.
I took the truck for a test drive this past weekend to check on the results, and I had a solid 10db in noise reduction inside the cab so far. I will post full details on a new thread on this topic as soon as I get everything completely finished, hopefully next weekend. Total cost for the project was right at $700, and I would do it again in a heartbeat for the results I have achieved (will be doing it on the '02 next summer as a matter of fact). Road noise in essentially non existent now. Engine noise is louder than I would have liked, but it is definitely muffled compared to before the sound proofing. I will be working on that project next summer....
Good luck in your choice of sound deadening, there are many options out there nowadays.

 

How much will I need to do the floor, back, and firewall (just below the dash)?

Thanks.... Any other tips?

 

I like the difference it made to the truck. The drone is hard to get rid of, but the road noise is definitely down. Especially on gravel roads. The only measure I have is that my stereo used to be around the 10-11 mark for volume for normal cruising tunes. Now I usually only have it around the 8-10 mark. Customers of mine also comment on the lower background noise on my hands free phone.

I called BQuiet to discuss my needs and I bought 2 rolls (50ft each) of the Ultimate and 2 Vcomp pads. I still have over 3/4 of the second roll left after just doing the floor up to the fire wall (as close as I could, its sticky stuff), rear wall and doubling up on the floor under the driver/pass seats and tranny hump. I was intending to do the doors and rear quarters (club cab) for more reduction but never got to it.

As it stands now, I will probably use the remaining roll for the MegaCab.

 

I went cheap.
I went to menards and bought the "peal-n-stick" window stuff. Its a butyl based self adhesive tape. It can be bought in either 2", 4" or 8" rolls. I did 3 layers through-out the truck. I then di one layer of the garage door insulation. It looks like buubble wrap but silver. I just got some 3m extra strength spray adhesive. I did everything including the roof. I also took some fireglaas house insulation and took some heavy 3mil. garbage bags and made pillows, using the 3m spray adhesive, making sure I got rid of all the air for the hollows in the rear seat body hollows.

Before I did this, my daughter would tell everyone, "we cant talk in daddys truck".

After all this, we can have a normal conversation.

It was well worth the less than $100 to do.

 

I have also used the bquiet stuff. I found a super deal on some dynomat extreme and even with that super deal the bquiet was a better deal. 50sf of bquiet vs 36sf of dynomat and it was still $50 cheaper than the super deal I got ont he dynomat.

I used 136sf total, 1 pack dynomat extreme 36sf and 2 50sf rolls of bquiet. I did 3 layers on the back wall, two layers on the floor with a third layer on the floor on the pass side due to the exhaust. I did as far up the firewall as I could get with out taking out the dash two layers. I also stuck some inside the cowl opening under the hood. That thing is a cave. You really cant reach much of it but I did what I could get too. I also did the doors front and rear. I did the inside of the outside door skin, the inside of the inside skin and the outside of the inside skin.

I did not have a db meter for a before and after. The difference is noticable for sure. However it is still far from lexus quiet. Would Ido it again probably so however I would probably spring for some of the bquiet vcomp mentioned above in addition to what I did for the floor and back wall.

http://www.b-quiet.com/compare.html

 

I would also go for more of the Vcomp on the front of the cab. If you sit in the rear seat its way less noise than the front. I was also told to to under the hood, but I wasn't too concerned about that. The roof is supposed to be a good reduction too, but seems like too much work..LOL..

For the Vcomp, I used aerosol Contact Cement to glue the foam to the Ultimate foil layer.