How to sound deaden the interior of your TJ

[Mercury]

Curious what it looks like…
Got pics of the install and final layout??

I havent even used my hardtop yet
Winters a long way away but interested in a better cabin quality ride

The front panel is darn near perfect. The back one's fabric got ruffled because I had to keep pulling it out and putting it back in adjusting the spacers so I'll pull it and tighten the fabric again soon. Easy fix, but I'm waiting until I get my CLD so I don't have to pull it yet again.

I did this last month and I have to say it's a night and day difference. Going to the hard top alone made it quieter, but with these headliners it's now quieter than some cars I've ridden in. Once I CLD it it'll get even better.

A wonderful benefit is how much more bass my stereo has. The hard top added 10 dB (doubled) my bass, the headliners added another 10 dB, and now I can turn the volume way down and still enjoy it.

I was skeptical when I started but my car audio buddies insisted, and now I'm blown away.

 

[CreepinDeth]

Impressive sound results

Im trying to wrap my head around how you did this.
May I ask you some questions?

Is this 2 piece (front &rear)??

What thcikness??

How did you attach it to the hard top??

What is CLD??

 

[Mercury]

Impressive sound results

Im trying to wrap my head around how you did this.
May I ask you some questions?

Is this 2 piece (front &rear)??

What thcikness??

How did you attach it to the hard top??

What is CLD??

Lots of questions! Happy to answer.

The headliners are two separate panels. I used 1/2" plywood, though at some point I'll redo them with 1/2" MDF for rigidity. The insulation is Rockwool, 3" thick (pick up the sound treatment kind, it says it on the label, got mine at Lowes), and attic heat shield which is, I think, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch.

The Rockwool is wrapped in 1mm plastic drop cloth. I have the insulation spray glued to the board, then the plastic stapled down over it. The heat shield I have on top of the Rockwool and on the opposing side of the plywood. Cloth is stretched over the side opposite the Rockwool.

It's attached to the rollbars with these beefy bastards:

Rollbar accessory clamps for things like lights. They're solid, and would probably hold up my weight.

When mounted the headliners are thick enough to put pressure against the top but not so much that the insulation is smushed flat. Flattened insultation doesn't work, the more compressed the less temperature and sound resistant it is, but the more pressure against the top the more resonance is taken out. If you whack your hand against the hard top it sounds like a drum (resonance), with the headliners on it sounds like I'm thumping a table. They aren't attached at all to the top itself, I didn't want to drill holes or harm the structural integrity at all. With this setup all I have to do is remove the panels from the clamps.

I'm super tickled about how well this works out. The color almost exactly matches the original interior of the hard top which I at first disliked but now I like how "open" it makes the Jeep feel inside. The sound reduction is so drastic it actually feels like a car. It's incredible. I've always loved riding in my Jeep but now it's even more appealing, with the windows rolled up the world gets tuned out. Even the engine sound is reduced.

CLD is constrained layer dampener, a layer of butyl rubber over metal foil. The rubber bends when the surface it's attached to flexes and resists the motion, reducing the vibration/resonance of the surface, which is the source of a lot of noise in a vehicle. You can just use a little on the biggest, flattest panels you have (floorboards, cargo space floor, hard top) or you can cover every square inch. It's EXTREMELY popular in the car audio world because it both reduces noise which intrudes upon your listening experience and helps to stiffen the vehicle surfaces which improves bass. Part of the reason I wanted my headliners to be removable was so that I could put CLD on later. I'll eventually have the entire hard top and every metal surface of the Jeep (including inside the doors) covered with CLD.

I also put heat shield under the carpets to reduce the heat transfer from the transmission tunnel and help noise a little bit.

I have a few other noise-reduction projects that I'll do over the next few months, and you can get really crazy with it if you go down the rabbit hole, but the headliners and the CLD should be the biggest bang for the buck.

 

[Powers145]

I will be doing this while i have the dash out for the heater core! awesome post.

 

[Viking Jeeper]

I will be doing this while i have the dash out for the heater core! awesome post.

Thats what I told myself a couple years ago. Not sure I will ever fix that heater core.

 

[Powers145]

Thats what I told myself a couple years ago. Not sure I will ever fix that heater core.

mine is getting pulled in this weekend for the winter. just got it a few weeks ago so im probably more motivated as its new to me to start wrenching on it!

 

[Beachhead]

Has anyone used rubberized undercoating on the interior of the tub as a sound deadener? I saw one person used the Eastwood undercoating and said it helped, but curious if anyone else has had experience with it?

 

[macleanflood]

Yup. My PO sprayed down my entire original tub floor. It was terrible. Noisy. Hot.

-Mac

 

[Moab]

Has anyone used rubberized undercoating on the interior of the tub as a sound deadener? I saw one person used the Eastwood undercoating and said it helped, but curious if anyone else has had experience with it?

I have read several guys doing this. I don't think it does much. I think a better approach would be single sound deadening panels (the single sheets of sound deadener that are like 12x20 or whatever) on individual tub areas. Then add more if you aren't happy with the results.

Sound deadener like this does not block sound. It keeps the sheet metal panels in the tub from vibrating and amplifying sound. So you may get a majority of your results from stopping each section of the tub from vibrating by adding one sheet of sound deadener to each area. Like one under the driver and passenger foot well, one on each side of the firewall, one in back etc.

Undercoating is really to help prevent corrosion not sound.

Other options are rubber mats under the carpet. But again those block sound more than stop reverberation. Which I don't think is as effective.

Keep in mind your use situation. If you routinely get the tub wet on the inside. With your top off and rain or driving thru deep water. Each method has its pros and cons. Sound deadener can get water in the seams. And might require you to keep the carpet removed for a full hot day. To dry it out completely. In that situation undercoating might be your only option. But that can get water beneath it too.

Start with the least permenant method. The car insulation listed in this thread also blocks sound and is very cheap, very lightweight, very non permenant if out it with light coats of spray adhesive. That alone might give you personally enough sound deadening. Or try the rubber backed carpet. There is also the thick rubber, adhesive stuff by Noico too.

 

[DuckNut]

There is another option.

There is a spray called Lizard skin. There are two parts and you can choose one or the other or both. I had it done on my rat rod and my shoes no longer melt to the floor.

Most sound comes from vibration and a bed liner does not prevent that very well.

Google them and there is also a lot of videos on YT.

Highly recommend.

 

[Moab]

There is another option.

There is a spray called Lizard skin. There are two parts and you can choose one or the other or both. I had it done on my rat rod and my shoes no longer melt to the floor.

Most sound comes from vibration and a bed liner does not prevent that very well.

Google them and there is also a lot of videos on YT.

Highly recommend.

I don't doubt it reduced heat for you. But how much does it cost?

The car insulation is very cheap, kills 97 or 98% of heat, is extremely lightweight, and is not permenant. The spray you mention, once it hardens, can separate and create pockets where moisture can build up.

The moisture part is true of the Noico/dyno mat type sound deadener too. But the likelihood of removing your carpet and drying it out seems much more likely with the Noico/dyno mat type stuff. If moisture gets in its via where the panels meet. Not underneath in a pocket.

Both are also permenant. Your not getting either off the tub without a herculian effort. I did this with just the old tar type tub coating in a '49 Lincoln. I had to use an air hammer. And it did not come close to getting it all off. And the only reason it did was because it was super old and hard and brittle. Any modern coating is going to stay fresh for decades. And be not worth the effort.

This is why I suggest starting with the car insulation. A lot of hot rod guys use this for blocking heat from the firewall. And if you don't like the results you can tear it right up. As long as you don't use a large amount of spray adhesive.

I wish there was some way to use a lesser adhesive on the peel and stick type stuff. Just to see what your results are before committing to it. Because man, it's a commitment. I sold my TJ. But I really wondered how much effect it would have in resale value and long term. It deadened the hell out of the sound. Big time. It really does work. I could hear my stereo clearly in the highway with a soft top for the first time. But it added a lot of weight. And there was no removing it.

That's what no one mentions. The dyno/noico type peel and stick stuff is VERY heavy. One box of it is hard to lift. And it's not until you start adding all your dream stuff to a TJ that you quickly realize how much of an effect that has on the little V6 engine. I started with dreams of lift kits, and bumpers, and side rails, and winches. And quickly joined the "drive it stock" crowd.

Jerry has made the comment many times. "How many hundreds of engineers and millions of dollars was spent on designing the last real off-road vehicle that was manufactured - the Jeep TJ? They considered a thousand more times options than any of these aftermarket companies. Who sell all this crap that quickly turns your nimble off-road genius of a design into a slow moving turtle.

If I had it to do again I would start with only a few panels of sticky sound deadener and the car insulation using a light coat of spray adhesive. And see if your satisfied.

 

[DuckNut]

The Lizard skin is basically the same stuff. A sprayable form of butyl rubber and then the heat shield goes over it. Could it separate from the vehicle? I'm sure it could just like anything else if you fail to prep properly.

This is a continuous coat without any seams like the tiles. They are most certainly competitors and I would choose this process over the mats every single time. Total cost to coat the entire cab was around $400.

Having seen and used both, no question which way I would go.

If you had a less sticky form of attachment on the tiles you would be defeating the effectiveness of them. Putting tension and shear from the panels to the supports is what makes them work. The adhesion to the flat surfaces prevents the panels from becoming a giant vibrating subwoofer.

If you go to YT and search flat panel speakers you will see how they turn a sheet of pink insulation into a giant speaker - they get it to vibrate. This is what the rubber compounds are trying to diminish.

 

[Moab]

The Lizard skin is basically the same stuff. A sprayable form of butyl rubber and then the heat shield goes over it. Could it separate from the vehicle? I'm sure it could just like anything else if you fail to prep properly.

This is a continuous coat without any seams like the tiles. They are most certainly competitors and I would choose this process over the mats every single time. Total cost to coat the entire cab was around $400.

Having seen and used both, no question which way I would go.

If you had a less sticky form of attachment on the tiles you would be defeating the effectiveness of them. Putting tension and shear from the panels to the supports is what makes them work. The adhesion to the flat surfaces prevents the panels from becoming a giant vibrating subwoofer.

If you go to YT and search flat panel speakers you will see how they turn a sheet of pink insulation into a giant speaker - they get it to vibrate. This is what the rubber compounds are trying to diminish.

That's why I said I "wish". If there was a temp adhesive that held it down but that could be removed. You could test it. But there isn't.

The reason I suggest single panels of the sheet stuff is that a single panel can stop the vibrations in a single area. Like starting with the drivers and passengers footwell, then maybe the firewall on each side, and the back. It's possible to stop a majority of the sound. Simply by stopping the vibrations in each area of the tub. With possibly just single sheets.

After covering the entire inside of my tub. I'm not convinced that's necessary. I think if you did one sheet of sound deadener in each of those areas it would stop the vibrations enough to deaden the majority of sound.

 

[DuckNut]

That's why I said I "wish". If there was a temp adhesive that held it down but that could be removed. You could test it. But there isn't.

The reason I suggest single panels of the sheet stuff is that a single panel can stop the vibrations in a single area. Like starting with the drivers and passengers footwell, then maybe the firewall on each side, and the back. It's possible to stop a majority of the sound. Simply by stopping the vibrations in each area of the tub. With possibly just single sheets.

After covering the entire inside of my tub. I'm not convinced that's necessary. I think if you did one sheet of sound deadener in each of those areas it would stop the vibrations enough to deaden the majority of sound.

If you could squirt a liquid rubber or a product like Vulkem between the tub and supports it would stop a bunch. Then run a good bead several inches apart on all the flat panels. That would deadening even more. Somewhere there is going to be a diminishing return.

 

[Tob]

Seeing as Noico products are currently unavailable in the U.S. (assuming because of trade sanctions and whatnot), what is the next best option? I see Siless, Kilmat, Dynamat (), Amazon Basics, and other options on Amazon. Is this the kind of product that is the same exact thing with different names printed on it, or are there differences in quality among brands? If so, what’s the recommendation?

I am not only looking for sound deadening but also an equivalent product to Noico Red 150 mil closed cell foam heat and sound insulation that @Chris mentioned earlier in this thread.

 

[imahnu]

Seeing as Noico products are currently unavailable in the U.S. (assuming because of trade sanctions and whatnot), what is the next best option? I see Siless, Kilmat, Dynamat (), Amazon Basics, and other options on Amazon. Is this the kind of product that is the same exact thing with different names printed on it, or are there differences in quality among brands? If so, what’s the recommendation?

I am not only looking for sound deadening but also an equivalent product to Noico Red 150 mil closed cell foam heat and sound insulation that @Chris mentioned earlier in this thread.

I’ve also used Siless products and would say very similar to Noico, however I’m not sure on good companies for the closed cell foam aside from noico but I also recommend it as well. The combination works very well.

 

[Moab]

Check out my thread on sound deadening. There is a chart in my original post that shows specs for various sound deadeners.

https://wranglertjforum.com/threads/sound-deadening-101.17055/

I got Second Skin "B" grade sound deadener in 60 or 80mil for very cheap. It's basically a box of sheets that are smaller than the typical 2x1ft. But this is only available at certain times of year. It was cheap and the number 2 brand at the time. Not sure now. But it's a well respected brand.

Pay attention to thickness. 60mil is good. Thinner not so much. Think Noico was 60mil. Just don't use the cheap stuff from the hardware store. It's way to thin, melts and off gasses some bad orders and chemicals.

Consider laying down sheets of it. Not covering the entire tub. At least at first. The sound deadener stops vibrations in the tub metal. I would try a few sheets in the firewall, footwells, drive train and rear above the exhaust.

I say this because sound deadener is heavy. And if you have additions to your Jeep planned weight is a concern with even the 4.0 engine. Plus it's cheaper to use less. It is also very difficult to remove once in. So if your satisfied with less I would go that route.

If it's heat shielding you want go with www.carinsulation.com it's very cheap, very lightweight, can be taken out easily if you use light sprays of 3m adhesive spray and be used over the top of sound deadening. It blocks 97% of radiant heat. And does some sound insulating.

I put a full layer of sound deadener on my tub, a layer of the above car insulation and the thickest ACC Essex carpet. It cut a great deal of sound. And I could hear the radio with the softop at speed in the freeway for the first time. But it did add a bit of weight. And with all that stacked up I had a cut a piece of my Weathertech mats so that it would not interfere with my gas pedal. Minor issue. But just wanted to mention.

If I had it to do again I would lay it in stages like this and see how much sound reduction I got as I went. The carpet and car insulation can be taken out. Like to dry the tub. But that's only necessary if you get water in your Jeep.

The sound deadener also is permenantly stuck to the tub. And could be hard to dry out if you got water inside. It seals to the tub metal with adhesive and sort of foam rubber material. And you can overlap seams. But it is possible for it to hold water if you drive thru a stream that high or left the top off in the rain. Just concerns Thought you should know.

Don't waste money on dynomat. Besides thickness there is no great difference between products. Unless you tried using the cheap hardware store stuff. It's like roofing seal. But a piss poor alternative. Basically get something 60mil or better with good reviews.

Weird about Noico. I know of no trade sanctions between China and us.

My thread above and others have a ton of info.

 

[Tob]

Thanks for the detailed reply. This will be part of my efforts to make the TJ more roadtrip-worthy so that my wife will be more willing to take longer trips in it. Hopefully I can cut down noise significantly even with a soft top rather than a hard top. From what I’ve read in this thread, I’m optimistic.

Weird about Noico. I know of no trade sanctions between China and us.

It’s a Russian product. I assume the unavailability is war-related.

I’ve also used Siless products and would say very similar to Noico, however I’m not sure on good companies for the closed cell foam aside from noico but I also recommend it as well. The combination works very well.

I’m leaning towards Siless based on reviews and price. It looks like they also offer the PE closed cell stuff too. Thanks for the input.

 

[Mercury]

Arguably Resonix is the best currently on the market. If you want the scientific data, as well as the tests done on other products, check out "The Deadening" group on Facebook. All they do is test and discuss sound treatment.

 

[Mercury]

You can start with 25% coverage on the tub. Cover the large flat sections first, those are the ones that produce the most resonance. If you knock on it with your knuckles and it sounds like a drum, cover it. For heat resistance I just use attic flash insulation, the stuff that looks like puffy aluminum foil. A layer of that under my carpet and my feet aren't cooked in the summer.

Resonix sells just about everything for sound treatment. Closed cell foam, full sheets of sound deadener, CLD (which is what we're discussing, like Noico and Dynamat), butyl rope, cloth tape. Check out the website, there's a lot of information about what each product does and how to use it properly.

I'm steadily sound deadening mine. Making my own headliners made a HUGE change in the noise.