Sound Insulation Project... Project Begins... Seeking any advice as well!

[gcbroncosport]

Well, really just applying some Dynamat like material here and there. Using a brand called RattleTrap which is more cost effective.

For the first 1st step kept it simple:

• Applied as many pieces of RattleTrap to the outer skin of the doors (front and back)
• Used speaker cavity to get access to outer panel (didn't venture to remove black plastic panel, too many things holding on to it)
• This was enough to change tone of the door when you tap on it (less high pitched, tinny resonance)

Overall, does help give door a more solid thunk when closing. Will run car through db meter later tonight (had leftover pieces which threw on the black plastic cover but that's really unnecessary imho.... if get motivated later, may apply a more foam like material over that area).

Did notice in taking off door panels there was decent effort by Ford for sound insulation - at least compared to other cars that have done the same project on (i.e. '18 Acura RDX. '20 Toyota Corolla, Kia Sorento and others). In both Corolla and RDX for example area covered by the black solid plastic piece was just a thick 5 mil or so soft plastic sheet (molded in RDX, just a clear sheet in the Corolla). Granted these cars are in different categories... Overall, actually think BS is decently quiet on the road (sound insulation projects mostly done for fun).

Anyway, for anyone curious how doors look without the panels see below... Held by 1 - 8mm, 2 - 10mm, and 3 - 7mm bolts. Speaker held by 3 - 7mm bolts. Several YouTube videos available on removal tips.

Next step is applying RattleTrap under the hood before installing a hood insulator (waiting until those are in stock, way easier than the doors).

Certainly curious if anyone has additional tips (to reduce road noise in particular)! Will post follow up when the hood insulator is finally in stock.

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[WildFord]

I’d like to see how much of the material you can get thru the speaker opening onto the door sheet metal. Those are self stick material right?

maybe stick some under the floor carpet/mat as well? Maybe around the spare tire area as well?
Anyway, I hope you can show us more of your progress

 

[gcbroncosport]

Yes to self-stick... Used about 18"x18" square for the fronts and slightly smaller in the back. Basically cut em up to various sizes to work around side impact beams and other things in the way. Believe general aim is to apply just enough to get rid of the tinny sheet metal resonance - which seems 18x18 piece was enough... Did double layers behind the speaker in hopes of improving speaker sound. Admittedly, forgot pictures until was already buttoning things back together!

Actually already added a few pieces in spare wheel area. Some material from Ford in there too so just added around it. Thinking more impactful would be a foam like material to cover the entire area and "muffle" the road noise coming through there. Definitely material under the front and back carpets - but that'll require motivation. We'll see!

 

[gcbroncosport]

Ran db meter app and seems to be 1 db improvement. BS ran 73-74 db in this stretch of highway at 65mph before that is now 72-73 db. It's close! Aiming 2-3 db improvement so more to come...

 

[gcbroncosport]

Added seals to door gaps below A and B pillars... Also a bit of rattle trap inside front fenders and some foam material in rear doors. Overall, now getting a solid 2 - 3 db less noise at 65mph (run DB meter on same stretch of highway for consistency). BS does sound more hushed now.

Next step is some foam material in the front doors (will remember to take pictures!) and that dang hood insulator when it is finally back in stock (backordered til further notice according to the Dealer as of last week...)

 

[WildFord]

Added seals to door gaps below A and B pillars... Also a bit of rattle trap inside front fenders and some foam material in rear doors. Overall, now getting a solid 2 - 3 db less noise at 65mph (run DB meter on same stretch of highway for consistency). BS does sound more hushed now.

Next step is some foam material in the front doors (will remember to take pictures!) and that dang hood insulator when it is finally back in stock (backordered til further notice according to the Dealer as of last week...)

nice! 2-3 db is significant!. I can't tell what that first picture was?

also, what is this seal you put between the front/rear door gap?

thank you again for showing these

 

[gcbroncosport]

nice! 2-3 db is significant!. I can't tell what that first picture was?

also, what is this seal you put between the front/rear door gap?

thank you again for showing these

First pic is the front fender... Usually hard to get behind it as typically covered up, but just kinda exposed w the BS. Had extra RattleTrap pieces so just put a couple small ones in there...

 

[gcbroncosport]

Quick update, added foam material more for muffling sound... Placed wherever could place it in like a jigsaw puzzle. Guess one could just cut a huge piece tracing the white insulation material but didn't want to just blanket cover all the motors/wires/access holes and so on...

Overall, now looks likes a solid 3+ db improvement on the DB meter at this specific stretch of highway (at 65mph) am benchmarking at... Can confidently say BS quite serene on the highway now!

 

[gcbroncosport]

Owhhh... BUT one HUGE downside to this quiet the BS down effort... All those little squeaks and rattles become all the more obvious!! (here's looking at you sunroof and headliner... and yes, Ford Motor Co hope you are reading this!!)

 

[WildFord]

Owhhh... BUT one HUGE downside to this quiet the BS down effort... All those little squeaks and rattles become all the more obvious!! (here's looking at you sunroof and headliner... and yes, Ford Motor Co hope you are reading this!!)

that piece of white soft material is stock insulation? you added the black/greyish material?

where did you get this stuff anyway? what's it call? got a link??

2-3 db is awesome!

 

[gcbroncosport]

that piece of white soft material is stock insulation? you added the black/greyish material?

where did you get this stuff anyway? what's it call? got a link??

2-3 db is awesome!

Missed this, link to weather stripping. It's from eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/303924887703

 

[WildFord]

Missed this, link to weather stripping. It's from eBay:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/303924887703

Thank you!

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