Yes another sound proofing post on a 2012 Base RAV4.
The other Sunday I pulled apart the interior to add second skin/dynamat to the car floor and add some CCF/MLV. I needed to do this all in one day as I had to use the car the next day.
Lesson 1: it would have been much easier to do over the course of a weekend
Background: what started as a simple improve-crappy-sound-system project morphed into a sound deadening obsession.
I swapped in a Pioneer AVH-X5500-BHS, Polk Speakers, Pioneer 400 w amp and a Kicker Hideaway sub in stages and came across the benefits of real insulation here and elsewhere on the web
I used Second Skin's Damplifier on the outter door skins with Overkill Pro on top of the water barrier plastic sheet. I also added O.K Pro behind each speaker.
Lesson 2: Good insulation makes great music
I did all 4 doors, the rear hatch door and the cargo area. I made the mistake of buying Second Skin's Luxury Liner and not the Pro (didnt know what I was going at the time) and put the LL on top of the Damplier in the cargo area. i.e no decoupler. Not good
Also I ran out of damplifier and bought some Dynamat to finish the cargo area. In my HO there is little difference in how they work, but the color may be an issue (see below)
Lesson 3: As far as the CLD's go, I didnt see any diff in Damplifier vs Damplifier Pro (I ordered this for the floor). Dynmat actualyl seems thicker and is softer - hence easier to cut and mold. BUT the blackish Damplifier is a good color match for my Pryrite paint so it hides mush better than blaring silver! So I used Dynamat where it could not be seen and the other is more obvious palces
Back to the main topic. I spent about 12 hours taking out the seats, trim and carpet and putting down Dynamat/Damplifier Pro, Luxury Liner Pro, Dynaliner. I was originally going to use Dynamat/Dynaliner (which I ordered) b/c of price, then figured I wasnt going to ever do this again and also ordered from Second Skin. I thought I would have double the product needed but its funny how you can keep finding places to add this stuff!
Lesson 4: You will need more than you think. Especially with the CCF/MLV. The CLD you dont need 100% coverage and actually 70% is probably fine
Lesson 5: Buy the Stock B of the Damplifier Pro. It was cheaper than Damplifier and supposedly the thickness is not uniform. I saw no difference.
Lesson 6: go cheaper on the CLD, but buy the better CCF. Luxury Liner Pro is awesome heavy stuff. But it would be really difficult to hang. Adds a lot of weight/thickness to the floor but luckily everything went back fine
The Dynaliner I bought was 1/8 thick. The thinnest that they sell. Not suitable for a car floor but really great for adding some padding to small areas. I lined the armrest cargo space with it, the small "holder" space to the left of the steering well, the glove box, back of glove box, etc etc. Its sticks well, is easy to apply
Rear seats. I didnt want to mess w that black cable thing. So I just flipped the seats into the cargo area to get them out of the way with the cable attached
Lesson 7: Pay attention to what side of LL Po you are facing up. It was so easy to mix it up and have the foam side up. You want the MLV side up
All the trim, carpet, seats went in with little problem. I had to do some additional cutting here and there to make it fit. A couple of holes I accidentally covered but clearing them was not an issue.
The result: Massive. I am glad I went with the LL Pro. You can actually feel the extra weight and how solid the vehicle seems. Not in a bad way or (how some people said) affecting steering etc. It feels solid. Since I did the sound deadening in stages, I didnt get the overall pow of the result. I need to get in a base RAV4 now to compare.
The sound quality of the stereo is fantastic. And with the radio off and all windows up - all I really hear is the exhaust a bit
Lesson 8: Second Skin's Sludge may ave been less labor intensive, but I didnt have days to let it dry. The Damplifier is not hard to put down, but unless youre under 40, its is brutal to the hands.
I went back and took out the cargo area again and installed the LL Pro in between the CLD and MLV. I hate doing things like this twice (or more times) but this was worth it.
Also over the past few weeks I put CLD inside the hood, the license pates, the gas cap door, even some of the larger plastic trim inside the car (foot well panels, etc) - anything that I could get to easily and could rattle. Remember I bought twice as much of the stuff as I needed (or so I thought)
My only untouched area is the front wheel wells. I am not sure how to handle those or even bother (I spent a ton $$ already) But I think I would try to see if the interior plastic comes off easily and use some liquid deadener here. Maybe ....
Lesson 9: its easy to get crazy doing this but at some point you get diminishing returns.
I want to figure out how much weight I added. My guess is around 60-70 lbs. Not a whole lot, but its getting up there. Like a child or my stomach
To give an idea of how much material I bought and used:
CLD: 120 sq ft, used about 90 (so far) I am sure I will find places to put the rest
OverKilll Pro: 36 sq ft (doors), used all
Dynaliner (1/8 "): 36 sq ft, used all
LL Pro: 36 sq ft, used: all
LL: 36 sq ft, used about 18
Dont even ask how much I spent. Luckily I no longer have a wife to yell at it for my dumbness
I was thinking about slipping some LL into the seat backs
FYI I tried to post pictures but they kept failing :-(
The other Sunday I pulled apart the interior to add second skin/dynamat to the car floor and add some CCF/MLV. I needed to do this all in one day as I had to use the car the next day.
Lesson 1: it would have been much easier to do over the course of a weekend
Background: what started as a simple improve-crappy-sound-system project morphed into a sound deadening obsession.
I swapped in a Pioneer AVH-X5500-BHS, Polk Speakers, Pioneer 400 w amp and a Kicker Hideaway sub in stages and came across the benefits of real insulation here and elsewhere on the web
I used Second Skin's Damplifier on the outter door skins with Overkill Pro on top of the water barrier plastic sheet. I also added O.K Pro behind each speaker.
Lesson 2: Good insulation makes great music
I did all 4 doors, the rear hatch door and the cargo area. I made the mistake of buying Second Skin's Luxury Liner and not the Pro (didnt know what I was going at the time) and put the LL on top of the Damplier in the cargo area. i.e no decoupler. Not good
Also I ran out of damplifier and bought some Dynamat to finish the cargo area. In my HO there is little difference in how they work, but the color may be an issue (see below)
Lesson 3: As far as the CLD's go, I didnt see any diff in Damplifier vs Damplifier Pro (I ordered this for the floor). Dynmat actualyl seems thicker and is softer - hence easier to cut and mold. BUT the blackish Damplifier is a good color match for my Pryrite paint so it hides mush better than blaring silver! So I used Dynamat where it could not be seen and the other is more obvious palces
Back to the main topic. I spent about 12 hours taking out the seats, trim and carpet and putting down Dynamat/Damplifier Pro, Luxury Liner Pro, Dynaliner. I was originally going to use Dynamat/Dynaliner (which I ordered) b/c of price, then figured I wasnt going to ever do this again and also ordered from Second Skin. I thought I would have double the product needed but its funny how you can keep finding places to add this stuff!
Lesson 4: You will need more than you think. Especially with the CCF/MLV. The CLD you dont need 100% coverage and actually 70% is probably fine
Lesson 5: Buy the Stock B of the Damplifier Pro. It was cheaper than Damplifier and supposedly the thickness is not uniform. I saw no difference.
Lesson 6: go cheaper on the CLD, but buy the better CCF. Luxury Liner Pro is awesome heavy stuff. But it would be really difficult to hang. Adds a lot of weight/thickness to the floor but luckily everything went back fine
The Dynaliner I bought was 1/8 thick. The thinnest that they sell. Not suitable for a car floor but really great for adding some padding to small areas. I lined the armrest cargo space with it, the small "holder" space to the left of the steering well, the glove box, back of glove box, etc etc. Its sticks well, is easy to apply
Rear seats. I didnt want to mess w that black cable thing. So I just flipped the seats into the cargo area to get them out of the way with the cable attached
Lesson 7: Pay attention to what side of LL Po you are facing up. It was so easy to mix it up and have the foam side up. You want the MLV side up
All the trim, carpet, seats went in with little problem. I had to do some additional cutting here and there to make it fit. A couple of holes I accidentally covered but clearing them was not an issue.
The result: Massive. I am glad I went with the LL Pro. You can actually feel the extra weight and how solid the vehicle seems. Not in a bad way or (how some people said) affecting steering etc. It feels solid. Since I did the sound deadening in stages, I didnt get the overall pow of the result. I need to get in a base RAV4 now to compare.
The sound quality of the stereo is fantastic. And with the radio off and all windows up - all I really hear is the exhaust a bit
Lesson 8: Second Skin's Sludge may ave been less labor intensive, but I didnt have days to let it dry. The Damplifier is not hard to put down, but unless youre under 40, its is brutal to the hands.
I went back and took out the cargo area again and installed the LL Pro in between the CLD and MLV. I hate doing things like this twice (or more times) but this was worth it.
Also over the past few weeks I put CLD inside the hood, the license pates, the gas cap door, even some of the larger plastic trim inside the car (foot well panels, etc) - anything that I could get to easily and could rattle. Remember I bought twice as much of the stuff as I needed (or so I thought)
My only untouched area is the front wheel wells. I am not sure how to handle those or even bother (I spent a ton $$ already) But I think I would try to see if the interior plastic comes off easily and use some liquid deadener here. Maybe ....
Lesson 9: its easy to get crazy doing this but at some point you get diminishing returns.
I want to figure out how much weight I added. My guess is around 60-70 lbs. Not a whole lot, but its getting up there. Like a child or my stomach
To give an idea of how much material I bought and used:
CLD: 120 sq ft, used about 90 (so far) I am sure I will find places to put the rest
OverKilll Pro: 36 sq ft (doors), used all
Dynaliner (1/8 "): 36 sq ft, used all
LL Pro: 36 sq ft, used: all
LL: 36 sq ft, used about 18
Dont even ask how much I spent. Luckily I no longer have a wife to yell at it for my dumbness
I was thinking about slipping some LL into the seat backs
FYI I tried to post pictures but they kept failing :-(