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Dynamat the Doors........any suggestions?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Audio and Electronics' started by davidiiiii, Oct 29, 2009.

  1. davidiiiii

    davidiiiii New Member

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    I think I must be the only gen 3 owner that has doors that rattle with the bass of their music. I haven't heard anyone really mention it before. Of course the rest of the car rattles like crazy, but that is a different story.

    Has anyone used Dynamat on their Gen 3 yet? I haven't done one thing to the stereo to improve sound, however I want to be able to listen to the JBL system without the annoyance of any base rattling the passenger door, and the rear drivers side door. I can't imagine much would need to be used, but then again I've never had experience with it before.

    Is it easy to take apart the doors? I got quoted $50 an hr just to look at it and to do any work with an estimated 4 hrs from a local audio shop. I'd rather just grab the stuff off E-bay and do it myself, however I'm scared to do something to my new car that I don't know how to do. Should I just do inside the plastic panel around where the speakers are? Or the whole door? Will it even improve the sound?
     
    EdyJun likes this.
  2. snijd

    snijd DIY or die

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    I installed Dynamat in my Gen II, but haven't done the Gen III yet. I probably installed more than I needed--really way too much. Since the goal is to prevent panel reverberation, less than complete coverage of the door skin is probably fine.

    The one thing I'd do on my next job is make use of a door panel removal tool, to prevent breaking any of the plastic attachment pieces. It really wasn't that hard to do, even in the doors, and I did considerably more than that. I'd say the most noticeable improvement was indeed from the doors, and not the trunk, under the rear seat, under the floor mats, etc.
     
  3. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    To even make it worth your time I would do the entire door skin (the inside of the metal that faces outside if that makes sense) and do the door frame (the part that is exposed when you remove the door panel).

    Your best bet is to isolate the door rattle first and make sure it is not something silly like plastic parts rattling. Those can be isolated eaisly and do not require sound deadening material which will save you big bucks.

    You can play a bass CD with test tones and just have the specific notes that cause rattle play on repeat while you search the car for vibration. I'm sure you can download such tones for free somewhere.
     
  4. ursle

    ursle Gas miser

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    I had my 06 oil undercoated a few weeks ago
    the other day I was installing q-mats and as I was opening the passenger door
    up I found the interior panels of the door all oily:
    My experience with door interiors is you have to use heat and pressure to get a good bond or it won't take long before the window starts getting interfered with by the sound deadening mats bouncing around in the door cavity
    So now my question
    Does anyone know of something I can spray on the interior panels of the door(oil smeared) that will stick and deaden the door panel ?
    Not to much of a threadjack:)
     
  5. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    Can you clean the panel surface with acetone or your degreaser of choice?
     
  6. davidiiiii

    davidiiiii New Member

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    The vibration behind me in the back door is pretty random, and almost not existent. The main rattle comes from the passanger front door. When it is vibrating, if I pull slightly on the cup holder/storage cup on the passenger side, the rattles go away completely. I'm sure it's an easy fit, but regardless it's going to take getting inside the door. I figured I would use the dynamat to improve the sound experience along with adding mass to the weightless plastic on the doors...assuming it even will help the sound.
     
  7. F8L

    F8L Protecting Habitat & AG Lands

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    I don't know I would even bother putting on the plastics. Since you can eliminate the noise by pulling the door panel away from the door you lucked out and it is indeed an easy fix. Just add some material (silicone comes to mind) between the panels and you're golden. :)

    I have yet to take apart a 2010 so I apologize for not being able to help further.
     
  8. davidiiiii

    davidiiiii New Member

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    Probably a good idea. I have really no interest in quieting the car down, so dynamat could just be wasteful. Now if only I knew how to pull those doors apart. I'm not the adventurous kind when it comes to expensive things:rolleyes:
     
  9. mgb4tim

    mgb4tim Noob

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    2 screws - one behind the opening handle, and one use the rubber "mat" in the closing handle. Start popping the clips around the bottom of the panel. it's easy.
     
  10. davidiiiii

    davidiiiii New Member

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    Thank You, It'll make more sense of where you are referring to when I try and attempt the door removal. Same for the rear doors as well?
     
  11. rrolff

    rrolff Prius Surgeon

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  12. davidiiiii

    davidiiiii New Member

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  13. banshee08

    banshee08 Member

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    I used b-quiet extreme on my Gen III. I did all the doors, the entire floor and back seat, and the trunk. I chose the b-quiet extreme due to its weight of .30lb per sq. ft.. Keep in mind that sound deadening material such as hush matt and dynomat is to reduce vibrations and the Soundproofing material suggested by rrolff is to control sound. Soundproofing should be applied on top of sound deadening material.

    When I get the time, I will be finishing off the rest of the 35 sq. ft I have on the roof of my gen III. The prius is now quiet enough to be compared to my NAH.
     
  14. davidiiiii

    davidiiiii New Member

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    when you did the doors, did you do the inside of the plastic? Or did you do the inside of the metal on the door?
     
  15. banshee08

    banshee08 Member

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    I have seen others dynmat the back of the door panel but I did not. I guess you could to help stop the rattling but it does very little to ward off noise. I applied to the bare metal of back of the outer panel and the metal you see when you take the door panel off.
     
  16. davidiiiii

    davidiiiii New Member

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    Thank you for all of the suggestions everyone.:decision: I decided to go with B-quiet Extreme 50 sq/ft roll. This is going way above and beyond what I originally intended, but if I'm taking the doors apart I might as well go all out and take steps to improve speaker sound quality, and reduce outside noise slightly.
     
  17. EdyJun

    EdyJun Junior Member

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    Let us know how you did? I am thinking of doing the doors. But sure about the floor or the trunk, what do you guys think?