Guide to Sound Damping your Vehicle

[Ryan from Ohio]

First lets list the various types of Sound Damping materials commonly used:

* Peel & Stick materials
* Liquid Sound Damping
* Aerosol Products
* Truck Bed Linings
* Carpet Padding


Now lets look at them in details:

Peel & Stick
There are a few different brands names of this style floating around out there. Cascade, Dynamat, RAAMat, B-Quiet, Fat Mat and eDead all come to mind. But what is this stuff and why is it so expensive?

What is it?
Well the properties can vary between brand names and such. But its pretty much the same beast.

Here are some of the names used:

[*] Elastomeric Butyl
[*] Mastic
[*] Styrene-Butyadine-Rubber
[*] Asphalt Based
[*] Viscoelastic
[*] Butyl


Almost all are rubber based. Stay clear of any Asphalt based products. They smell mighty good especially during the summer when your car has been closed up.

Why are they so expensive?
Simple. These products are readily available to the Industrial Market at a fraction of the price we see. Only a few of these companies make their own product or have it specially made. Most of them just buy the Industrial stuff and repackage it. This will hold true for the Liquid Dampers also. After all do you think small places like RAAMat/B-Quiet would employ a chemist?


Liquid Sound Damping
Again there are a few different brands of this stuff going around the Car Audio Industry. Lets find a few names: Fat Mat L-Damp, eDead V.3, Quiet-Kote, VB-1x, VB-1, TG-1 and probably many more....

What is it?
The materials specified on these varies from site to site. Despite all the mumbo jumbo most sites are spouting they all are the same darned thing. Water Based Polymer containing specific minerals and some have additives.

Why is it so expensive?
See above answer for Peel & Stick. Same story here...


Aerosol Products
You find the cans of wheel well coatings that claim to work as sound damping also. Some are Asphalt based and some are rubberized. Again stay clear of anything Asphalt based. I have personally used these and I can tell you it doesnt work good. One can of this spray will yield about a 2 foot section- at the thickness we need. It take some time to apply. You cant do it all at once.
Even the Rubberized stuff smells....

In ending I would avoid....


Truck Bed Lining Sprays
This has become a semi expensive yet very reliable approach to sound damping. With this process you basicly need to gut the car and trunk and cover all windows and moving components. Then you turn it over to the professionals.

This lining works really well. It adds a fair amount of mass and adheres extremely well. There is no worry about failure with these products. The downside is the cost involved.


Carpet Padding
Carpet Padding is not a real good way to dampen sound as in Audio use. But it is a good road noise damping solution.

It is cheap and easy to install. Just cut it as needed and lay it down. Top off your Liquid or Peel & Stick dampner with carpet padding for added noise reduction.

If you have anything you would like to add please e mail me:[email protected]