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Road noise... a $5 life hack

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61K views 38 replies 24 participants last post by  farmer17  
M
#1 · (Edited)
I've had the Rav4 for 4 days. Great car for sure. But, I'll admit, compared to the other cars in the fleet - MDX, Land Cruiser - it's got some road noise. Sitting in the front, the noise seems loudest coming from the back wheels/tires. Makes sense - they're essentially in the car, separated by a bit of sheet metal and thin plastic panels. The front have the fire wall in addition to the sheet metal and plastic.

20 years ago, I had an Integra. It was a great car too... but had the same type of road noise. I fixed it then... So, why not try it on the Rav.

Off to Home Depot. My daughter was stumped why I wanted three rolls of closed-cell foam - sill plate insulation. Once home, I pulled the small access panels in the cargo area, removed the jack and tools... and started feeding strip after strip of the insulation in the voids around the wheel arch/well - even using a ruler to push it forward. We buttoned it all up and went for a ride. My daughter looked at me with that "how'd you do that" look. I just smiled.

I didn't turn it into a Lexus LX570. Not by any means. But it is substantially quieter. All in, $5.00 and 10 minutes... well, and a trip to Home Depot.

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#2 ·
Brilliant! I never would have thought of that. When I first read the subject line I pictured a set of earplugs! But your method seems a lot more practical!
 
M
#8 ·
Couple reasons not to use expanding foam, i.e. Great Stuff.
- It is VERY difficult to gauge how much to use - it's like the Terminator: It will NOT stop. It will find a way to expand - either coming out where you don't want it, or bulging panels. And, once it touches something... it's not coming off
- It would make any repairs, electrical diagnosing (chasing wires), removing interior panels, etc. impossible in that area.

Don't get me wrong - I love the stuff for the right application. I used it on this old Grand Wagoneer. I cut 1.25" of sheet metal from the rear wheel opening to make room for larger tires. that eliminated the pinch weld. So, I filed the void with Great Stuff, let it expand out, cut the remainder with a razor saw and then painted it black. The mod' was almost invisible.

The way the quarter panels were welded, the 'stuff didn't go up/into the rest of the body.

 
#10 ·
I simply used a thick carpet remnant in the rear, covers the floor and extends up the sides and wheel wells about 10 inches and is thick and stiff enough so that the upward extensions do not fold back down. That cuts down the noise considerably.
 
C
#11 ·
You just gave me something to do this weekend! I'll have to report back later on the sound levels. If I was brave enough I'd pull down the headliner and dynamat the roof. I have a feeling that would make things better and then move onto the doors. However, let's start with the $5 fix first/
 
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M
#12 ·
I told my daughter about dynamat - that if we were "really going it all out" we'd pull the carpets, headliner... and insulate the whole car. She asked why they just don't come like that - "if it's so easy and cheap". Great question... Because then when prospective buyers test drive an Avalon, they wouldn't say "Wow, this is so quiet".

My Land Cruiser has a bit more road noise than my buddies LX470 - same truck, just the Lexus version. The Lexus versions gets a bit more sound deadening, and wood grain, and...

But for $5 and a few minutes, it's a step in the right direction.
 
#16 ·
Using a Dynamat or same kind of products works the best in my opinion. I follows the car's lines, is easy to cut in size, and sticks well.

The reason why this is not always done during the factory building process with all cars, is most probably a financial issue. The interior noise of a moving car is most of the time acceptable, even in a RAV4. If you want the 100% comfort, buy the 100% comfort with a Far more expencive car. Or in this case, do it your self. And it is so easy and fast to do with a RAV4, as it is build mean and lean.
 
C
#20 ·
Just finished completing this insulation. Used that grey/black 2x36x64 foam you get at the camping store. Cost me $26 CAN. I used up the entire sheet for the most part and stuck the last piece in that compartment above the glove box (Useless anyways IMO).

Went on a 5 minute drive down a fairly smooth road and 90km/hr. I do think it made a difference. $26 and 15 mins of my time worth? Yeah I'd say so. It seems to cut out that droning noise from the back a decent about. I also have that rear cargo pull cover in the back as well. Not a bad little idea OP
 
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#21 ·
Today I used nearly two rolls (150 feet) of this: 12" wide bubble wrap (with the big bubbles) from Home Depot. Who knew there was that much free space to wedge it into the rear tail light areas. Haven't done a test drive yet but I'm expecting significant difference as there's so much airy bubble wrap back there that it's lifting up the rear end of the RAV. Maybe I should stuff a few rolls in the front and save myself a couple thousand on a lift kit ;)

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R
#22 ·
I placed a 16'x1' strip of laminate flooring foam (cut into 4 pieces) and a couple of small sheets of bubble packing insulation on top of the rear wheel wells. It worked like a charm and made a noticeable difference in the road noise.

Thanks to OP for the concept.:smile
 
#23 ·
Although the bubble wrap seems to kill a little the sound, I must confess it was pretty quietly to begin with as I already have two side to side rugs both with thick rubber backing in the back, and they are same size so that when the seats fold down, I can move one up and the whole back of the RAV is carpeted. So normally, they're doubled up. Also the under compartment well is fully lined with carpeting and filled with fluffy, sound dampening microsoft towels and detailing supplies, so I already had some significant sound reduction to begin with. But then again, with RAV shocks being what they are, you hit a crack in the road or pothole, you'd need a pair of mattresses strapped to the side of your head to block that thud out. LOL.

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C
#25 ·
Just be careful that you're not trapping rain water, or more importantly in that area, condensation.
Closed-cell foam won't hold moisture internally so it won't mold, but in more humid climates there could be condensation issues in the wheel wells.
I'd check them every now and then to make sure everything is dry in there.
 
#30 ·
Rav450 said:
Results may vary.
Click to expand...
They certainly do. Results are somewhat noticeable but certainly not worth any more work than what is required to achieve them with this quick fix. The fact remains though that even with padded up wells you're still going to get road noise, and that sense of decreased road noise lasts maybe a week before your ears adjust to the new level and start calling it road noise again. LOL. In short, this fix is to road noise what turning a volume knob from 10 down to 8.. 7 at best, is. Next week.... that 7 is still going sound like 10 once your ears adjust. THis is only true if you're one who was especially bothered by the road noise in the rear to begin with. I did the fix cuz I could and wanted to see if it worked. But I've never been significantly bothered by the RAV noise anyway. Keeps me awake on long hauls. :wink
 
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