Poorly insulated interior, bad stereo sound quality FIX

[Logan Klein]

I noticed after replacing the factory stereo in my truck that the quality of the sound is not very good regardless of the quality of the parts I would use. I tried switching speakers several times, going from Alpine to Kicker, then to Memphis Audio products. I was very disappointed with the quality of sound, especially since I had paid a pretty penny for the nice Memphis Audio stuff. I began to investigate why the quality of sound would be so poor, and I noticed that there was almost no insulation inside the doors. The only insulative material is the plastic film that's glued onto the inner door panel. I considered many products to insulate my doors, from Soundskins to Dynamat to a very cheap alternative, called Frost King air duct insulation. I settled on the Frost King stuff, since it's a similar product at a fraction of the price. I bought 4 15x2' rolls of the stuff, and began to apply. I started with the outer sheet metal, being sure to cover at least 40% of the surface with the insulation. Then I moved to the outer door skin, and covered every square inch of metal, being sure to cut around bolt holes and the holes the door panel mounts into. One door took me about 45 minutes, but I took my time and made sure to check the fitment of the door panel after each piece of insulation was applied and cut across the door. After doing the front two doors, I turned on the power and listened to the stereo, and immediately I was floored by how much of a difference just doing the front two doors made. I decided to go further, and did the back doors in the same fashion I did the front ones. I then decided to remove the back seats and do the back wall of the cab. Applying this insulation drastically changed the interior acoustics of the truck. The door panels no longer shake going over rough roads, wind noise on the highway was reduced, and ambient noise while driving was greatly reduced. I have a black truck, so during the summer it gets very hot inside, and I am anxious to see if the temperature lowers at all when the summer months come around. Overall, doing this mod to your truck is absolutely worth every penny of the fifty dollars I spent on material. It's a low cost modification that makes an enormous difference, and I recommend this to any third gen owner who is having a problem with poor acoustics within the interior.

 

[Brando_SLT]

Awesome. Do you have links to the material you used? Pics you can share? I am disappointed with the sound inside the cab as well. Another item for the "to do" list.

 

[Logan Klein]

Awesome. Do you have links to the material you used? Pics you can share? I am disappointed with the sound inside the cab as well. Another item for the "to do" list.

Yes. Here's a link to the product I used:
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Frost-K...e_oJAfBRDb6WBml-rNBoCT1AQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

I could take some pics but I'm currently on a family vacation 7 hours away from my truck. Will do so when I get back home though. You can find many install guides on YouTube that show the process, and once you get the hang of it it's very easy to do.

 

[acolic]

What should I search for on YouTube?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WhiteExpress]

You can use the Home Depot product, but I'll tell ya, it's been tested by people with tooo much time on their hands (DIYMA forum) and it is no where near as effective as a product designed specifically as sound deadener.

I've never owned a 3G, but I know a good dose of deadner made a world of difference on my 2G and my 4G. Can't see that it would be any different on a 3G.

 

[S0CAL]

Something is better than nothing, that is for sure. That R4 insulation wrap will help insulate the cab too. I have a full Dynamat install with pics and vids in the 4th Gen DIY section if interested.