Help me reduce road noise (using dynamat possibly)

[IHateMyJob2004]

Symptom: My wife's Pontiac Vibe is to damn loud. Got out of car with ears buzzing on our last road trip. I've had it.

PSA: This is a make car quieter thread. I already could care less for the car for multiple reasons, but the wife loves it.

My only real thoughts are to buy dynamat or simlar product and install it overwheel wells and basically everywhere possible without totally gutting te interior. Thinking about doing it everywhere possible and doing two layers over wheel wells.

FYI:
Dynamat

Didn't know they made specific products for eliminating road noise. Go figure Just thought it was a car audio speciic product.

ANYAWAYS. Has anyone else done this (with dynamat or similar products)? Does it work? And how much is it going to cost me? I'm willing to spend $200 to make the car quieter.

THANKS!

 

[rahvin]

get it undercoated with a nice thick layer. The asphalt in the undercoat will deaden the sound, the only other option is to get the undercoat spray on the back of all the body panels.

 

[dullard]

Step 1) Sell Pontiac.
Step 2) Buy non Pontiac. Honda and Toyota are usually very quiet as well as other companies.
Step 3) ...
Step 4) Profit.

 

[MrChad]

What about replacing the weather stripping in the door seals?

 

[spidey07]

maybe new tires and or get the car checked out?

 

[Red]

You do realize a Vibe is basically Toyota, right?

 

[Zysoclaplem]

My bf bought some stuff from lowes, pulled up his carpet, and covered every inch of his floorboard with it. I will find out what it is called. It really helped with road noise. Frostking heater duct insulation.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: rahvin
get it undercoated with a nice thick layer. The asphalt in the undercoat will deaden the sound, the only other option is to get the undercoat spray on the back of all the body panels.

Cost? Does it work? Where do I get this done?

Is this what they do to "luxery cars" to keep them quiet?

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: spidey07
maybe new tires and or get the car checked out?

Tires would be my number one bet as to what is casuign the noise.

What kind of tires are on there and how much tread is left? The size of the tire too?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: spidey07
maybe new tires and or get the car checked out?

Tires blah. And this is a new car problem. It's a cheap POS.

To respond to others...
Yes, it's the same thing as a Toyota Matrix

 

[Drakkon]

where is the noise coming from? tires hitting pavement? engine? body? other traffic? what exactly are you trying to prevent?

dynamat is made more for keeping inside sound in then keeping outside sound out. Although it can help somewhat with rattles and reverb if you have a loud engine or tires that aren't too slick its goign to be loud no matter what. $200 worth of dynamat isn't going to get you anywhere frankly though. I'd check out the liquid products i.e. : http://www.fatmat.com/liquids/index.htm
and just everything else in the fatmat line to get an idea of whats out there.
Might consider getting some slicker tires (i.e. all weather touring) or some tuning to reduce noise too though.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: TechnoKid

Originally posted by: spidey07
maybe new tires and or get the car checked out?

Tires would be my number one bet as to what is casuign the noise.

What kind of tires are on there and how much tread is left? The size of the tire too?

Tires are still original. Almost time for new ones anyways. Noise is not a new problem.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Red
You do realize a Vibe is basically Toyota, right?

Yes, but not exactly and that isn't the best model Toyota makes. Pontiacs tend to be very noisy (unfortunate owner of several). Not all models of all brands will have the same noise. I just gave overall pictures of where to start looking when looking for a less noisy vehicle.

A= 10 +- 3.

B= 15 +- 3.

Guess what, there is some overlap. But that doesn't mean that A>B.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: Drakkon
where is the noise coming from? tires hitting pavement? engine? body? other traffic? what exactly are you trying to prevent?

dynamat is made more for keeping inside sound in then keeping outside sound out. Although it can help somewhat with rattles and reverb if you have a loud engine or tires that aren't too slick its goign to be loud no matter what. $200 worth of dynamat isn't going to get you anywhere frankly though. I'd check out the liquid products i.e. : http://www.fatmat.com/liquids/index.htm
and just everything else in the fatmat line to get an idea of whats out there.
Might consider getting some slicker tires (i.e. all weather touring) or some tuning to reduce noise too though.

Noise is from tire noise. Very obvous.

Off to meeting. I'll check this thread later. (30 kminutes)

 

[Nebor]

It's the tires.

 

[rahvin]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: rahvin
get it undercoated with a nice thick layer. The asphalt in the undercoat will deaden the sound, the only other option is to get the undercoat spray on the back of all the body panels.

Cost? Does it work? Where do I get this done?

Is this what they do to "luxery cars" to keep them quiet?

They try to sell you undercoat when you buy the car, call the dealer service center and ask how much to get the car undercoated. It will probably run you a couple hundered. The more exensive cars have it done in the factory. It will also protect the underbody from rust. The problem is they can't spray everywhere like they can in the factory when there isn't an engine in it so don't expect to get it as good as a non-pontiac. I would also try the trick mentioned above using frost king insulation under all the carpeting.

 

[radioouman]

Old tires get pretty noisy, especially old Firestones.

You need to tell us what kind of noise this is. I Could see wind noise being a problem in this tall wagon. Both hitting the windshield and coming around the tailgate.

Old tires are a likely culprit.

You need to inspect the seals around your doors too. If they are flat or not sealing correctly, they will let in a lot of noise.

 

[DurocShark]

Dynamat (or the copies that are much cheaper) works well. The undercoating idea is cheaper. You can buy cans of rubberized undercoating for a couple bucks each. Should take 2-3 cans for your car.

Make sure you don't spray anything that moves, and keep in mind that it is drippy and runny for the first day or so, so park on the street until it firms up.

 

[Drakkon]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: Drakkon
where is the noise coming from? tires hitting pavement? engine? body? other traffic? what exactly are you trying to prevent?

dynamat is made more for keeping inside sound in then keeping outside sound out. Although it can help somewhat with rattles and reverb if you have a loud engine or tires that aren't too slick its goign to be loud no matter what. $200 worth of dynamat isn't going to get you anywhere frankly though. I'd check out the liquid products i.e. : http://www.fatmat.com/liquids/index.htm
and just everything else in the fatmat line to get an idea of whats out there.
Might consider getting some slicker tires (i.e. all weather touring) or some tuning to reduce noise too though.

Noise is from tire noise. Very obvous.

Off to meeting. I'll check this thread later. (30 kminutes)

well if tire noise is the problem goto tirerack.com and find ya a set of tires that has a noise comfort level of 8.0+

 

[TechnoKid]

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: Drakkon
where is the noise coming from? tires hitting pavement? engine? body? other traffic? what exactly are you trying to prevent?

dynamat is made more for keeping inside sound in then keeping outside sound out. Although it can help somewhat with rattles and reverb if you have a loud engine or tires that aren't too slick its goign to be loud no matter what. $200 worth of dynamat isn't going to get you anywhere frankly though. I'd check out the liquid products i.e. : http://www.fatmat.com/liquids/index.htm
and just everything else in the fatmat line to get an idea of whats out there.
Might consider getting some slicker tires (i.e. all weather touring) or some tuning to reduce noise too though.

Noise is from tire noise. Very obvous.

Off to meeting. I'll check this thread later. (30 kminutes)

In that case, and since you've said that your tires are worn and need new ones, I can bet that if you were to get some decent tires, your noise would be drastically reduced. Almost any tire will increase in noise as they wear; some tires are just noisy from the get go.

Some good tire choices I'd reccomend are either the BFGoodrich Traction T/A (H or V), or the Bridgestone Potenza RE950. Also look at the Kumho Ecsta ASX and the Pirelli PZero Nero M&S. I have the RE950 in almost all the cars in the family and they are a pretty quiet tire.

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Originally posted by: Drakkon

Originally posted by: IHateMyJob2004

Originally posted by: Drakkon
where is the noise coming from? tires hitting pavement? engine? body? other traffic? what exactly are you trying to prevent?

dynamat is made more for keeping inside sound in then keeping outside sound out. Although it can help somewhat with rattles and reverb if you have a loud engine or tires that aren't too slick its goign to be loud no matter what. $200 worth of dynamat isn't going to get you anywhere frankly though. I'd check out the liquid products i.e. : http://www.fatmat.com/liquids/index.htm
and just everything else in the fatmat line to get an idea of whats out there.
Might consider getting some slicker tires (i.e. all weather touring) or some tuning to reduce noise too though.

Noise is from tire noise. Very obvous.

Off to meeting. I'll check this thread later. (30 kminutes)

well if tire noise is the problem goto tirerack.com and find ya a set of tires that has a noise comfort level of 8.0+

I can't find the noise comfort levels?

 

[IHateMyJob2004]

Found the noise ratings.

Goodyear assurance confortread and Goodyear assurance tripletread rated highly.

For sound, the comforttraed won with a 9.3. tripletread slightly worse at 8.9

Based on numbers, the comforttread is the winner if performance is ignored. I can get better performance out of hte tripletreads, but I really don't care for that. I think I have a winner!

 

[funboy6942]

Originally posted by: Red
You do realize a Vibe is basically Toyota, right?

The Vibe IS a Toyota Matrix

Tire tread is usually the cause of all road noise. Well that and how the road is made but mostly tires. Get a new set.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Red
You do realize a Vibe is basically Toyota, right?

Just with an ugly Pontiaked front end.

 

[0roo0roo]

sell car, buy a camry. sad how so many cars can't even do what even old camrys have been doing right.