How to make van quieter from road noise

glasseye

Well-known member
Very similar setup. Guess I'll try some horse mats. How about these? "Utility Rubber Mat, Black, 4 ft. x 3 ft x 1/2 in."

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/p...t-black-4-ft-x-3-ft-x--frac12-in?cm_vc=-10005

Those look good. Half as thick as mine, but they may work well.

Plywood is a poor sound blocker. Hit a sheet of plywood with a hammer and it rings like a bell. It's resonant. Hit a sheet of rubber matting and you'll be hard pressed to hear the hit. Non-resonant. Plywood is also reflective of high frequencies.

Another place to install good noise blocking is in the B-pillars. They're right next to your ears.
 
covering in the cabin? or outside in the wheel well?
Outside in the well above the wheels. It cut down road noise so much im now concentrating on engine noise, and a whistle thats coming from somwehere on the A pillar.
I think its air leaking in through the Plastic cover on the mirror mount.
 
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Deleted member 50714

Guest
I place pipe foam (cheaper) or other foam between mating surfaces to minimize sound/vibrations.
 

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fisjon

Active member
Take a look at my build website to see how I insulated my van, www.campervanconversionbuild.com
The only problem is that as you decrease the sound coming from the road, floor, side panels and the roof, the engine suddenly becomes louder and then you have to try to reduce that by fitting soundproofing to the bonnet and inner panels of the engine compartment.
I have also ripped out the dashboard and fitted sound insulation there too but, I can still hear the cooling fan. That is annoying!
 

glasseye

Well-known member
Yup. By far the most noise now in Frito comes from the engine and the glass areas.

By far the best sound insulation I've come across so far was a floor-to-ceiling, end to end load of bats of household fiberglass insulation. Now THAT was quiet! :rad:
 
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billintomahawk

Guest
Glasseye if you going to compare plywood to a bell; .. like the plywood, fasten the Bell to the floor with 13mm bolts and d-rings and covered it with carpet. Dead sound, like my van, quiet!
Well, CJPJ really got to me, I couldn't believe my ears.
I was forced to do some research and what I found completely changed my long held ideas about how to soundproof/sound deaden a room or vehicle.

As it turns out sound waves like heat waves are complected. So to stop them(and convert them to heat waves which are silent), you need to employ several strategies.

It's all here:

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/amse/2015/274913/

Go figure, you need a combination of natural fibers(plywood) and polyester(a synthetic backed rug) to do a complete job....

Just like CJPJ discovered.

He is a wizard and the Chinese will soon rule the world.
Comrade.


bill in tomahawk
 

owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
Its diminishing returns for sure.

Start with the floor. Ive got 10mm rubber mat 10kg/m2 100% coverage (over the top of the stock cab MLV). Huge difference in sound.

Next I did doors, driver/passenger, then sliders (i have dual sliders). Used sound deadeber butyl mat. Huge difference in sound.

Next i did footwells driver/passenger and side steps. Used the butyl mat again. Not huge but still significant reduction in noise.

Next I plan to do some foam pipe insullation along the gap between windscreen and dash. Then maybe something for the front door rubbers. I find its the wind noise now that is the most significant source, followed by the engine.

PS after I did the doors I was convinced I had a boost leak I could suddenly hear the turbo spooling all the time. Turns out that soubd was just being masked by the sound through the doors.
 
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autostaretx

Erratic Member
Boxing in the rear wheel wells (and filling the box with insulating foam) can also remove a lot of noise.

--dick
 

bcman

Active member
Adding a second bulb type weather stripping, in addition to the OEM door seals, to the two cabin door frames has significantly cut the cabin noise on both of the Sprinters that I've owned.
I'd love to hear more about this strategy. Do you have a link to the product you used?
 

Zoomyn

Member
Apologies that I don't have a Sprinter in the backyard to confirm any model years design - but a few years back the boys with Ford Super Duty trucks were combating highway wind noise and it became a thing to purchase a roll of thin round backer rod foam and thread it through, inside, the passenger doors OEM weatherstrip large hollow chamber to provide a snugger fit & more density...

Don't try and make it around the entire circumference in one pull, they'd razor slit perhaps two places and pull in three pieces to keep from stretching or deforming the existing weatherstrip. It's just filling the cavities of the hollows, the Ford design has the door contact a tube extruded in the foam, on latched closed it compresses and that is the part easily fortified...
 
Here's the product that I used and below is a picture of it on my previous Sprinter ... it's the black bulb weather stripping adhered to the van, not to the door. Properly positioned, when you close the door it perfectly seals the forward edge of the door, which absent this additional bulb catches the wind. I will try to take and post some pictures of it later today on my current Sprinter that better show the installation.

I'd love to hear more about this strategy. Do you have a link to the product you used?
 
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Nautamaran

2004 140” HRC 2500 (Crewed)
I did the same as Robert, using this stripping around my doors with the shorter leg up/forward.
The wind noise has dropped drastically (esp. at top of the A-pillar), and powdered snow no longer collects above the window frame over night, waiting to drop onto the driver’s seat when the door is opened.

https://www.napacanada.com/en/p/BKB7701617

-dave
 

JoeyB

Active member
Here's the product that I used and below is a picture of it on my previous Sprinter ... it's the black bulb weather stripping adhered to the van, not to the door. Properly positioned, when you close the door it perfectly seals the forward edge of the door, which absent this additional bulb catches the wind. I will try to take and post some pictures of it later today on my current Sprinter that better show the installation.

Thanks a ton for the link. Any idea how many feet to do both sides? I'm figuring around 20
 

glasseye

Well-known member
Glasseye if you going to compare plywood to a bell; .. like the plywood, fasten the Bell to the floor with 13mm bolts and d-rings and covered it with carpet. Dead sound, like my van, quiet!
An interesting video, but irrelevant in the road noise abatement use case, IMO.

Road noise predominantly consists of high intensity low frequencies which are notoriously difficult to manage. Phone-generated EDM isn’t a valid metric.

It’s entirely possible that plywood could be a noise blocker, I’ve never tried it. I do know that the factory plywood was ineffective, even when covered with carpet. That’s why I changed it.

I also know that 3/4” thick, dense rubber matting isolated with foam underlay from the metal flooring is very, very effective at this task. :idunno:
 
JoeyB...I just measured mine and it took about 8 feet per door.

Nautamaran brings up a good point that I don't think I appreciated, with this installed no water or snow falls on you when you open the door.

Here are some pictures of my install.







 
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owner

Oz '03 316CDI LWB ex-Ambo Patient Transport
How long has that rubber lasted? Any issues with UV deteriorating it on that exposed edge?
 

fisjon

Active member
I have noticed that there is a little more engine noise in the cab when I open the air intake in the centre of the dash. No ac or clever stuff in my van, 1999 model.
 

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