Sound deadening the RAV boot

[Yugguy1970]

Saturday I decided to go ahead and do the sound deadening.

There's lots of vids on YT about how to remove the trim panels and as long as you are gentle when pulling out the poppers you should be fine, although I did buy a pack of spares off eBay, and needed one of them.

Here's the boot with all the panels removed:

I removed the silver struts you can see in the first pic before I carried on.

I then went round and covered with sheets of this:  https://www.dodomat.com/collections/sound-deadening/products/dodo-dead-mat-hex-50-sheets

I got as far into the wheel arches as I could reach with my arm.  

It's a little easier than wallpaper or tiling as you don't have to pattern match and you don't have to cover every piece of metal.

Also I didn't cover any electrical components or vent holes.

I cut holes into the sheets where bolt holes needed to be.

I used 30 of the dodomat sheets.

I don't have photos of the foam as I was getting tired and forgot to take any.

I put cut areas of this https://www.wickes.co.uk/Knauf-Insulation-Earthwool-50mm-Acoustic-Roll---15-6m²/p/143388 right into the wheel arches, and on the wheel arch sides and the boot floor.  Again I took care not to cover or get contact glue on components or vents.  

The roll on the sides is covered by the panels.  The roll on the boot floor I covered by cutting a piece of paint dust sheet to size and securing it under the panels.

With the boot floor taken up with the spare and jack and other bits an bobs you can barely see it and of course when the cover is over you can't see any of the work.  I think as the glass wool is covered it won't get disturbed and won't shed bits.

I haven't actually gone for a drive on a fast noisy DC but I will be tomorrow and will see how it goes.

It took me 6 hours all told, as I didn't want to rush and had to plan and cut as I went along.

I also have 20 of the deadn sheets left so I might have a go at the back doors too at some point.

Total cost, £80 for the deadn sheets although I could have got the 30 pack for £50.  I already had the insulation from when I did the loft but to buy is £63.

Glue, scissors, £10.

So it cost me under £100 but even with having to buy the roll, it would have been £160.

30 sheets of deadn is 7.5kg and I didn't use much roll really so I've only added less than 10kg I reckon.

It will be interesting to see if it was worth it.

 

[ernieb]

Good to see how you feel after a decent drive. It’s always difficult to be objective but if there is a difference I’m sure it will be obvious the moment you get to cruising speed especially if you choose a route well trodden.

[Yugguy1970]

What was interesting is that the side trim panels do have a thin sheet of sound deadening or insulation on them already, but it is quite pitiful.

The boot floor and wheel arches have nothing, so I think there is where the most benefit will be seen.

[PMW]

Well done! Will be interested to hear what difference it makes to motorway driving. Keep us posted! 

[Yugguy1970]

It is definitely quieter in the rain, it has muted the sound considerably, so much that I can now notice how much noise comes from the front.

I am pondering doing the front part of the rear wheel arches, depending on how easy that trim piece is to remove.

I could do the doors but the front bulkhead and engine could be difficult and not worth the effort.

I also don't want to add too much more extra weight, I've only added 10kg right now which is ok.

[Tommy X]

Me thinks Toyota should have done this job in the build process, probably a small increase in price but well worth paying, noticed in my Yaris Cross soundproofing virtually non existent 😒   

[Yugguy1970]

I agree but then who would bother buying a Lexus?

[TonyHSD]

Guys, well done for all that effort and ambition and thanks for sharing pictures. 👍

Me think , if you open an Lexus or Mercedes’ cars you will find nothing similar to this but more like was the rav4 and any other Toyota coming out of factory.
The quieter and more refined cabin comes as a result of different sound proofing methods, and the reason why they haven’t used this method is because  there is no need of it. 
Yes, rain and knocking from stones noises or touching the panels will be reduced and general feel when closing the doors but road noise and vibration barely any improvement imo.
This type of sound proofing only dampen the noise but does not cancel it or stop it getting inside the cabin and this is what is different between Toyota and Lexus. , Mercedes’, BMW’s, Audi. 
The key is extra door seals and padding, different materials on the windows seals, roof insulation, double firewall, double floor carpeting. Use of soft touch materials in the interior build. 

[Yugguy1970]

Aye.  I knew it would only mute it, never stop it, but altho it took a while I'm glad I did it.

The only annoying thing is it now highlights where all the other noise is coming from. It's like a rabbit hole of sound proofing 🤣

[corradovr6]

Good job there, well done on completing that. If i can offer a few suggestions:

You only really need to cover about 25% of a panel to reduce vibration

Open cell foams reduce airborne noise, but also absorb moisture. So they're good to use as long as there is no exposure to water

Mass loaded vinyl (mlv) blocks noise but needs to be decoupled from any panel that you're looking to soundproof. The best thing to use is some closed cell foam sheet (ccf) and when you apply it try and make sure you dont compress it too much

 

Hope that's of some help