Sound Deadening the Fender Liners

[Stanley]

I've got a decent amount of sound deadening on my car right now, but I was thinking of adding some to the inside of the fender liners, over the wheel wells. I've never pulled my liners off though: is there much room behind them? Some cars have a decent amount of airspace behind those, while others can be quite tight: I was looking at sticking about 1.15 inches in layered material to the back of them, if at all possible, but could reduce that with thinner deadening if need be. Thanks.

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

I had mine out several times. There's definitely plenty of open space behind them. Toward the top, they attach directly to sheet metal, so there's zero room.

I love a quiet car. So far, I've shied away from sound deadening because I think it really requires a multi-point approach to be effective. It's a huge project made up of countless small adjustments, each of which provides an incremental improvement. Just not something I want to tackle personally, but worthwhile nonetheless.

 

[Stanley]

I've spent so much money on my stereo setup (something I'm going to make a big post on shortly) that quiet is a big part of what I'm after. I like the nice sound from the exhaust when I'm walking around it, but inside I want to hear my music, even the subtle bits.

 

[Irv]

So, following several current electrical/lighting projects in my house and maybe even after an air-conditioned garage, I'm planning on doing this with the front fender liners in my other car where road noise is the biggest ambient noise issue.

For the Thunderbird, I need to add to the doors and trunk first because there are way more sources of NVH in this car and I'd rather tackle the more obvious areas before worrying about its fender liners. So far, I've only put sound deadening in the rear quarter panels and that was many years ago.

Anyway, for the fender liners, I'll be using a sound absorbing fiber mat rather than regular butyl sound deadener. In theory, you could do both if you had sufficient depth between the liner and sheetmetal as well as longer fasteners, but I am slightly concerned about fitting everything back in with the added thickness to the reinforced liners.

Butyl deadeners are good for stopping rattles and reducing resonance and tinniness, but the fiber mat will absorb and disperse the sound waves rather than just attenuate them.

This will be my first experience with using fiber mat. It can also do a lot of good in combination with butyl deadener on the doors, but I have a feeling it will be more impactful on the fender liners because it's such a neglected area of treatment despite being an obvious source of road noise.

 

[Grog6]

I just added more wattage to the amp; nature and old age took care of the 'quiet' end.

 

[Zep5.0]

I've got a decent amount of sound deadening on my car right now, but I was thinking of adding some to the inside of the fender liners, over the wheel wells. I've never pulled my liners off though: is there much room behind them? Some cars have a decent amount of airspace behind those, while others can be quite tight: I was looking at sticking about 1.15 inches in layered material to the back of them, if at all possible, but could reduce that with thinner deadening if need be. Thanks.

There is a substantial area back there. I would advise spraying a rubberized undercoating on the sheet metal. Reverberation of the metal caused a lot of the sound to transfer. You could also do the back side of the wheel well liner for the best somewhat light weight approach. I'd avoid anything thick that can absorb moisture.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Here's how I did mine. Complete with pictures. See the full thread for all the details and more pictures.

This is inside the rear quarters Sound treatment on the OD, Sound treatment on the backside of the ID and I ran a 4" wide strip over the top of the rear wheel wells in this location. (Both sides). I did it in three pieces to make application easier. I don't remember the exact lengths I want to say 12" to 14" long x 2 pieces and at the very top like 5" or 6" long.

Thread 'Looking for Car Audio Suggestions - Best of 2020'

Oct 2, 2023

Originally Posted: May 24, 2020

I'm going to tackle upgrading the stereo in the car finally. If you guys were to upgrade your stereo what would be your choice for a head unit in 2020?

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• Trunk Monkey
• Replies: 25
• Forum: Audio / Electronics

I've spent so much money on my stereo setup (something I'm going to make a big post on shortly) that quiet is a big part of what I'm after. I like the nice sound from the exhaust when I'm walking around it, but inside I want to hear my music, even the subtle bits.

Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to. The only downside is that sound treatments add a LOT of weight to the car. I added like 30 LBS to my car with it.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I just added more wattage to the amp; nature and old age took care of the 'quiet' end.

Did you turn it up to 11 ?

 

[Trunk Monkey]

I've got a decent amount of sound deadening on my car right now, but I was thinking of adding some to the inside of the fender liners, over the wheel wells. I've never pulled my liners off though: is there much room behind them? Some cars have a decent amount of airspace behind those, while others can be quite tight: I was looking at sticking about 1.15 inches in layered material to the back of them, if at all possible, but could reduce that with thinner deadening if need be. Thanks.

1.15" of what? What material are you using? That sounds pretty thick to me. I used Soundskins PRO. You can buy it in various sizes.

SoundSkins Pro Plus Workshop Kit | By SoundSkins Global

The SoundSkins Pro Plus Workshop Kit is an extra large roll of our SoundSkins Pro designed to improve your cars stereo performance and reduce outside road noise in a single material. A SoundSkins Pro Plus roll covers 64.5 sq ft and spans 29.5" x 315" in overall sheet size.

soundskinsglobal.com

 

[Stanley]

Thanks guys: great stuff.

1.15" of what? What material are you using? That sounds pretty thick to me.

I was going to use Resonix. They have a 3.35 mm CLD square for reverberations, and then a 0.5" or 1" fibre mat for sound deadening you slap over that. It's the stuff I wished I had used when I did my car's interior, but I had no idea about anything at the time and just took it to a local place and they threw whatever they used at the shop in. What they used does the job, but there's better.

Here's how I did mine. Complete with pictures. See the full thread for all the details and more pictures.

Looking forward to seeing what you've been up to. The only downside is that sound treatments add a LOT of weight to the car. I added like 30 LBS to my car with it.

The pictures are great, thanks. And yeah, the extra weight is too bad, but in the end this is no race car (at least, not yet. ), and audio is probably the most important aspect of driving for me. I'll take the small hit to performance.

 

[Trunk Monkey]

Thanks guys: great stuff.



I was going to use Resonix. They have a 3.35 mm CLD square for reverberations, and then a 0.5" or 1" fibre mat for sound deadening you slap over that. It's the stuff I wished I had used when I did my car's interior, but I had no idea about anything at the time and just took it to a local place and they threw whatever they used at the shop in. What they used does the job, but there's better.



The pictures are great, thanks. And yeah, the extra weight is too bad, but in the end this is no race car (at least, not yet. ), and audio is probably the most important aspect of driving for me. I'll take the small hit to performance.

YW. Glad the pics helped. I'm an audiophile too. Got to have my tunes!