Fighting the noise

[jayro88]

So I have finally gotten around to trying to quite the van down some and make it a little more passenger friendly. Van is an '88 e250 7.3 IDI with a c6/DNE2 trans.

First step was to add a muffler to the exhaust I had built last summer. It had been straight piped for the last year and the drone was pretty annoying on road trips. Towing anything made it get real loud real quick.

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Then I pulled up the carpet on the interior. I added 2-3 layers of commercial grade rubber roofing against the bare metal floor and another layer of carpet pad.

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Today I removed the stock doghouse insulation to add another layer behind it.

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I purchased this at Summit. It is reflective with an adhesive tar like backing. The box said door kit, but it said it was also to be used on hoods and firewalls.

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Coated the inside of the doghouse and then put the stock insulation back on. Once I cleaned the inside of the doghouse it seemed to adhere well. I am about halfway done in the pic. One box was enough to completely cover the inside of the doghouse.

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The van is definitely quieter. The muffler tamed the exhaust noise and drone. I no longer hear it while I am cruising at highway speed. I will have to wait to see how it sounds with a load attached to it. The interior insulation seems to have reduced the engine/road noise. At highway speeds (65-75mph) it is still there, but it has definitely dulled it. The radio volume is about half of what it was before in order to enjoy the music and the biggest interference with talking is the blower when the AC is on MAX.

Next step will be pulling the interior panels and ceiling covering to add wall/ceiling insulation.

Interesting observation though....the van was designed back when the national speed limit was 55mph. At 55-60mph it is extremely quite. IT would appear that at about 63-64mph the rpms get high enough to raise the engine noise considerably.

 

[Black dawg]

As much difference as adding sound deadener to door skins make, I would imagine doing something similar in those quarter panels would be pretty dramatic also.

 

[freebird01]

i did peel and stick on the floor and back wall and door pillars in my dually along with 2 layers of the bubble type insulation on the floor. it made a difference. im hoping when i get to repainting the roof the bedliner on there will quiet it down a bit more.

 

[RedTruck]

That's pretty interesting. Do you have a premium sound package in your van? Mine came with a premium sound system, and I've often wondered if that included the sound deadening materials around the van. There is a foam mat in many places behind the interior trim. It's different than that insulation that normally comes behind those panels. Could be that the previous owner added these items as well.

Is your side door a barn door? If so does it rattle?

Neat job. I'll be watching this one.

Paul

 

[jayro88]

That's pretty interesting. Do you have a premium sound package in your van? Mine came with a premium sound system, and I've often wondered if that included the sound deadening materials around the van. There is a foam mat in many places behind the interior trim. It's different than that insulation that normally comes behind those panels. Could be that the previous owner added these items as well.

Is your side door a barn door? If so does it rattle?

Neat job. I'll be watching this one.

Paul

Yes, mine has the premium sound system from '88. I have pad attached to the carpet from the factory. There are also some areas where there is a tar sound deadening material attached to the floor from the factory. The walls have some insulation material that was stuck to the exterior metal with some sort of adhesive, but most of it has fallen down. I haven't checked the ceiling, but there is probably something in the headliner. Not sure if the insulation is due to the sound system package or simply because it is a passenger model instead of a cargo van.

Yes, I have barn doors and yes they rattle when I go over bigger bumps. Small bumps on the road don't cause it to rattle. I am hoping the insulation that I am adding to the door cavities will subdue the noise some. I am thinking of cutting out part of the door covers and fabbing up some kind of cubby to use for some extra storage.

I need to replace the door seals as well.....hoping that it will seal out some of the wind noise.

I got as far up the firewall as I could on the inside of the cab. I need to see if I can figure out a way to add some insulation to the engine side of the firewall, though in a van it could be challenging.

 

[snicklas]

On the barn doors, don't know if you know this truck, but on the 91 down (we had an 85) the chrome handle on the rear of the 2 barn doors, the one that you open that door with, once it is closed, if you push the handle toward the top of the door, it extends the bolts out at the top and bottom of the doors. This pulls that door in tighter to the body. If we had the handle pushed up, the barn doors never rattled....... we had 200,000 mile of county roads on that van too.........

The 92+ have a different latch mechanism and does not have this feature.

 

[jayro88]

On the barn doors, don't know if you know this truck, but on the 91 down (we had an 85) the chrome handle on the rear of the 2 barn doors, the one that you open that door with, once it is closed, if you push the handle toward the top of the door, it extends the bolts out at the top and bottom of the doors. This pulls that door in tighter to the body. If we had the handle pushed up, the barn doors never rattled....... we had 200,000 mile of county roads on that van too.........

The 92+ have a different latch mechanism and does not have this feature.

Thanks. Gonna have to try this.

 

[BDCarrillo]

You can also use quick seal, peel and seal, or any asphalt based roof flashing/repair material. Most sound deadening materials on the market rely on mass to reduce vibrations in panels.

Dirt cheap compared to dynomat, and it works!!