Noise damping of inner wheel wells

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I've taken measurements with a dB meter at various locations inside my truck and the loudest point in space in right above the front wheel wells at highway speed. Sure enough the wheel wells have just a thin plastic cover attached directly to the sheetmetal, not much is terms of sound dampening. It makes sense that most road noise comes from there, that's where the tires contact the pavement and where friction occurs.

I've looked at some luxury cars (which my car is not) and all have some sort of carpeting or thick heavy padding bolted to the wheel wells.

It sounds like the way to go. What would you use in there considering the swings in humidity, temperature and gravel projection?
 
I would look at placing sound deadening material on the inside(topside) of the wheel well liner. EBay has quite a variety of sound deadening adhesive butyl mats that would work.
 
Harbor Freight sells a Ruberized undercoating that works exceptionally well. They have a standard and professional grade in a can I can't think of the name off hand but I used it on my 2012 Nissan Pathfinder wheel wells and it works great. Stinks like [censored] for a few days but it works better then several other brands I have used over the years and it cost less.

The big thing in doing this is the prep get a few shop rags and two cans of Brake parts cleaner. First wash the wheel well good with soap and water then when dry spray down with brake clean and use the shop rags to wipe down the wheel wells real good. After dry spray the Ruberized undercoating on you should do at leased two coats and prob take two cans per side.
 
Originally Posted By: HangFire
Rubberized undercoating. Make sure there's no rust underneath, I wouldn't spray the removable plastic liners, spray the inner fender.

https://www.amazon.com/3M-03584-Professional-Rubberized-Undercoating/dp/B002H9CMCQ


This! But keep your expectations Low. I tried many different types of soundproofing/ deadening on some of my vehicles in the past. They do help a little, but not even close to my stock Cadillacs.
 
Damping NOT dampening.... were not making things moist.

As mentioned... it takes a bit to tone down the noise. I wouldn't expect a drastic change. It requires many "levels" of treatment.
 
Yes, I noticed that synthetic padding of sorts on the new-ish 2015 Infiniti on the inner wheel wells. On my older Infiniti, it doesn't have any and is like most cars, just metal. I ended up using underlay carpet padding above the rear wheel wells in the trunk and for the front wheels, neoprene just under the dash and above the pedals. Of course, do it safely since that's where the pedals are. I also did the door. Newer cars instead of a vapor wrap now seem to do a pretty good job of sealing, often a screwed in metal on the door, then a cardboard material like sound padding on the door plastic itself instead of a wrap. Ended up using thinner neoprene sheet cut out to the same shape on two of my early 2000's cars that still use a wrap.

I highly recommend it. It's not a tomb like seal, but it's still better. If I were to do it again, instead of the older underlay open foam carpet padding, I'd just the newer super compressed recycled jean/cloth underlay. Seems to have better sound adsorption.
 
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Originally Posted By: razel
Yes, I noticed that synthetic padding of sorts on the new-ish 2015 Infiniti on the inner wheel wells. On my older Infiniti, it doesn't have any and is like most cars, just metal. I ended up using underlay carpet padding above the rear wheel wells in the trunk and for the front wheels, neoprene just under the dash and above the pedals. Of course, do it safely since that's where the pedals are. I also did the door. Newer cars instead of a vapor wrap now seem to do a pretty good job of sealing, often a screwed in metal on the door, then a cardboard material like sound padding on the door plastic itself instead of a wrap. Ended up using thinner neoprene sheet cut out to the same shape on two of my early 2000's cars that still use a wrap.

I highly recommend it. It's not a tomb like seal, but it's still better. If I were to do it again, instead of the older underlay open foam carpet padding, I'd just the newer super compressed recycled jean/cloth underlay. Seems to have better sound adsorption.

Thanks for the tip. I'm looking for something to apply on the outside though.
 
Have you guys used OSI's soundproofing caulk in automotive applications?
 
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When purchasing any Rubberized Undercoating product, look for "Paintable" on the product label.

There are two types ... one is Asphalt based ... you don't want that one.

The other type has an oil-based paint carrier ... that's the one you want. It's paintable, the other usually* isn't, so thats the keyword you look for when shopping.

* I've seen asphalt-based rubberized undercoating that claims to be paintable. If you see the word "asphalt" anywhere on the product label, put it down and find another.

I've personally used Dominion Sure Seal Rubberized Rockerguard Undercoating, with excellent results. The usual suspects (Dupli-Color, etc) usually have a product, while the "Gold Standard" is 3M®'s Dynatron® Dyna-Pro® Paintable Rubberized Undercoating PN 544, 6546.
 
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck
Have you guys used OSI's soundproofing caulk in automotive applications?
Acoustical caulk is designed to remain flexible when cured. It's also rather expensive for the brand name products. In a pinch, you could use Big-Stretch or Sonneborn's NP1.
 
Originally Posted By: DrRoughneck
It sounds like the way to go. What would you use in there considering the swings in humidity, temperature and gravel projection?
MLV (mass-loaded-vinyl) + vinyl adhesive would work. However, I'd remove the plastic fender liner first and install the MLV on the metal itself.
 
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