Dampening road noise

[DenniSys]

2004 Cav:
Currently wearing ear plugs...
How exactly do I dampen road noise coming up from the pavement. Cement to tire noise is deafening. Driving 50 miles of interstate daily.

[94VL]

Line the floorpans and wheelwells (inside) with sticky back Dyna Mat type material,and spray undercoat under the entire car bottom.

[DenniSys]

Originally Posted by 94VL

Line the floorpans and wheelwells (inside) with sticky back Dyna Mat type material,and spray undercoat under the entire car bottom.

A quiet PC project used Dyna Mat to line the inside of the box. It added a significant weight to the box, but did very little to absorb noise. I understand the principle of adding mass, but it just did not work. The noise continued. I also tried using outdoor carpeting inside the box. That did not help either, and I really thought it would.

What worked was adding rubber and plastic grommits to the case mounting screws on those things making noise. That produced a significant noise dampening effect. No way for me to measure accurately. I don't have the equipment.

So I am not sold on Dyna Mat, but the undercoat might be a good idea.

[PsychoJJ]

Get some new rims/tires.

[DenniSys]

Originally Posted by PsychoJJ

Get some new rims/tires.

My tires are a Goodyear matched set, nearly new, and balanced. Anyway, the sound should not be transmitted into the cabin, and whatever sound there is should be absorbed. I am beginning to think that the car is just cheaply made, and that insulation is a cost the buyer is expected to deal with.

That was not the case with my previous Cav which I maintained for 14 years and 211k miles. Great investment that was.

This one though is another story. I'm going to be looking to get rid of it if I can't find some reasonable solutions fairly quickly.

[PsychoJJ]

Frankly you are over thinking the problem and just kinda being all whiny. Heres the best solution to the problem. Turn up the damn radio.

[Lances133]

Originally Posted by PsychoJJ

Frankly you are over thinking the problem and just kinda being all whiny. Heres the best solution to the problem. Turn up the damn radio.

I agree - Getting rid of a car because of road noise is absurd. And there's no way just road noise is completely deafening, no way.

[PsychoJJ]

Originally Posted by Lances133

I agree - Getting rid of a car because of road noise is absurd. And there's no way just road noise is completely deafening, no way.

And thus is my point. I as well have an 04. When I first got the car I thought the same thing when it came to road noise. That and that god damn stock hub cap clicking/squeaking noise that bugged the hell out of me. I still believe it is those stock spec tires. It did it since day one and then when I replaced the tires with stock spec tires it still did it but when I got my 17' and lower pro tires it all went away.

[DenniSys]

Originally Posted by PsychoJJ

And thus is my point. I as well have an 04. When I first got the car I thought the same thing when it came to road noise. That and that god damn stock hub cap clicking/squeaking noise that bugged the hell out of me. I still believe it is those stock spec tires. It did it since day one and then when I replaced the tires with stock spec tires it still did it but when I got my 17' and lower pro tires it all went away.

Been browsing the tire forums. Indeed some tires are quieter than others. So the remedy must be a combination of things. I will be looking at things that prevent the suspension from transmitting road noise through the tires, the tires themselves (next time I have to buy a set), backing for the cloth interior panels (roof, doors, rear deck), Dyna Mat for floorboards, sound dampening floormats, and of course a couple of Van Halen CD's. That should do it. It's also an opportunity to customize a little.

For the post that said no way to deafening noise: There are a large variety of road surfaces. Asfault is generally quiet and the sound quality depends on a number of factors including the thickness of the asfault on the road.

Cement is very loud. Sound barriers are placed next to roads tangent to residential areas because highway noise can be annoying up to a 1/2 mile away. If you add a commuter train and an airport to the environment people start melting from the vibration. Yeah, it's loud.

[Lances133]

Originally Posted by DenniSys

For the post that said no way to deafening noise: There are a large variety of road surfaces. Asfault is generally quiet and the sound quality depends on a number of factors including the thickness of the asfault on the road.

Fair enough, but that is going to effect ANY car you get so considering buying a new car is not only ridiculous but would NOT solve your problem.

Originally Posted by DenniSys

Cement is very loud. Sound barriers are placed next to roads tangent to residential areas because highway noise can be annoying up to a 1/2 mile away. If you add a commuter train and an airport to the environment people start melting from the vibration. Yeah, it's loud.

And uhhh, what does road barriers, a train, and an airport have to do with the inside of your car being loud? Sorry but, you can't do anything about those.

My suggestion is...MOVE....so no more trains, airplanes, and rough roads.

[PsychoJJ]

Ok, unless you have some kinda fuckin supped up hyper sonic hearing aide all that crap you listed above is just money down the pisser.

Im going to try this a little slower I...had...the....same...problem....all...I...did.. .was....change....rims...and....tires.....problem. ....solved....quiet....as....fuck....now.

A bit dickish? Perhaps. Need? Damn skippy.

[Young Chuck D]

Originally Posted by PsychoJJ

Ok, unless you have some kinda fuckin supped up hyper sonic hearing aide all that crap you listed above is just money down the pisser.

Im going to try this a little slower I...had...the....same...problem....all...I...did.. .was....change....rims...and....tires.....problem. ....solved....quiet....as....fuck....now.

A bit dickish? Perhaps. Need? Damn skippy.

u shouldn't use words like dickish....

[reinbeauchaser]

From my recent experience, tires play an important part in dampening road noise.

My daughter was in the market for a replacement car. A friend of ours had a 2008 Toyota Corolla LS that she was willing to sell to her. She listed its attributes, remarking about how she had ordered bigger than normal tires for the car when she bought the Corolla (new). Since she and her husband do a lot of snow skiing, they wanted the traction from a larger tire.

We thought nothing of it, until we did a test drive.

It had so much road noise, you had to practically yell to be heard. Playing the radio loud didn't help much, either. We researched Corollas and learned that 'road noise' was one of its drawbacks. My daughter was currenlty using a loaner Corolla (CE, 2000) from another friend, and it, too, had some noise, but not as much as the 2008 LE.

My daughter's finances were limited. Considering that the Corolla LE was otherwise a great find (the car was perfect, no dents or scratches, had just about every bell and whistle, including special-ordered seatcovers and floor mats, plus rims to make any car enthusiest drool), we decided to buy it. Before we bought it, we had it checked out by our mechanic.

We told him about the excessive road noise and it was then when I asked if larger tires would account for it.

Apparently it does!

In scoping out the car's condition (gave it an A+ after hooking it up to his diagnostic machine), my mechanic took it to a neighboring tire store that he does business with. The guy there confirmed that the tires originally installed would increase the amount of road noise and suggested tires that would greatly reduce the racket. Moreover, he discovered that the tires were 6 years old, based on their date of 'birth', so they had sat on the shelve for 4 years before the Toyota people installed it on the car. The tires had dry rot along the inside, too, and the tire itself was as hard as a rock. Had the hardest time getting it off the rim, in fact!

Anyway, we went ahead with his suggestion and - lo and behold - it diminished the audio abrasion by 70%! It was an amazing difference. Worth the extra $400! Before we changed the tires, my daughter wasn't so sure about buying the car, but with the new tires, it's a totally different ride. She LOVES her new car, now!

So, long story short, tires DO make a huge difference.