Rudeboy

Do the rear seat backs fold down? If so, is it worse with them down?

Stock exhaust?

Couldn't agree more. Even at 25% coverage with CLD we are just "slapping it on". That's the best we can do working on one vehicle at a time. It can't be said enough that for all of the attention paid to vibration dampers in the aftermarket, they are a small part of any noise reduction solution. Blocking airborne sound is where it's at and barriers are the key tool there. When I'm treating a vehicle, I look at applying vibration damper as a warm up for the real work to come. Absorbers are the icing on the cake and can make a very nice reduction in the high middle to high frequency range. All comes down to the right tool for the job.

Yes, I ripped it all out, added a little bit back to the bare sheet metal areas and covered the entire thing with CCF and MLV. Now that I think about it, Aaron helped me pull the vibration damper out It was all part of the process of learning how to treat a vehicle properly. Spare tire wells are probably the most over treated vehicle areas. People pull the spare out, tap on the sheet metal and hear how flimsy it is and start adding layers, not realizing that the spare itself is part of the NVH system.

How much vibration damper did you use? Did you cover the trunk vents? I had this happen once when I used way too much vibration damper during my first attempt at quieting a Civic. Put down multiple layers in the trunk. This changed the geometry and mass of the panels that make up trunk floor, moving its resonant frequency into a problematic range. I actually managed to create exhaust drone in a stock Honda Civic

You really need to identify the source of the rattle before you can eliminate it. If it is the trim panel rattling against the inner skin, the weather stripping you linked should be fine. You can be pretty sure that's the problem if you can stop the rattle by pressing your hand against the trim panel. More often than not, it's something inside the door rattling - actuator rods, window track, etc. The foam isn't likely to be useful in any of those scenarios. Key point is: identify the source of the rattle before you try to fix it.

Oh nice, you're about an hour up the road from me, I'm in 21122 (Pasadena). You're a lot closer to the water than I am. Make out alright in the storm?

There's a lot that is already sort of in place. Still working like mad. Here's what I've got for doors so far: http://sounddeadener...le-areas/doors/ I'm trying to get things flowing so that a person can come to the site knowing nothing about the topic and leave with an understanding of what needs to be done and how much material he or she will need to get it done. Don,What part of MD are you in? (Assuming you are still active here!) Thanks. - Dave Manchester, 21102

ED were trailblazers At least they were the first I ever saw exploiting the "everybody but us are idiots" teenage mindset. Distract from the low cost/poor quality problem by defining it as high quality priced for our friends. I'm not saying everything they sold was garbage, but I was often struck by how often they were the first system but not the second. I think it was more confusing a few years ago because most still expected the truth to out on the Internet. We all still had to learn how the message could be corrupted in an "open" medium by the ethically challenged. When I first started testing vibration dampers, ED supporters were outraged that I dared to point out that the basic specs the company presented for their products were way off. I actually got death threats

Sorry guys. I'm actaully in MD, not PA. If you'll PM me your e-mail addresses I can track down your message. Sorry for the delays.

The critical characteristic of the adhesive is that it be viscoelstic. If you make a ball out of adhesive, stretch it and let it go, it should return to pretty close to its original shape - it shouldn't just stretch out and stay like taffy. If it isn't viscoelastic it woun't work, whether it sticks or not. The waythe adhesive has stretched out in those photos makes it look like that batch of adhesive may be lacking the elastic part of the equation.

Part of the problem is that people love to believe that everybody in business is adding huge markups and that if only a decent person would come along, we'd all have great products for very little money. Several businesses in this sector (some listed above ) have thrived on the premise that everybody else is an idiot but because you are "in the know", they'll sell you the best products at "insider" prices. Ironically it's often the lowest priced goods that carry the highest markup. Definitely doesn't make them a good value.

It's actually worse (and funnier) than that. It started with the soda can tests which proclaimed SDS the winner! He actually left that video on Youtube for something like a year. I was still getting queries up until a few moths ago from people wh saw the video. While he was gathering samples for the soda can testing, he got hooked up wth AudioWrap someow and was spamming their product. Soon after that he decided to launch his own product and started spaming forums again. Somebody from one of these forums e-mailed me to ask if I knew who cthedinger was. He told me the forum members had backed him into a corner by asking him to explain how vibration dampers work. About two minutes later I get an e-mail that starts: "Hey Don. I was just thinking about things. Can you explain to me how vibration dampers work - strictly for my own education"? No joke.

While flattery is nice, it does not pay the bills. So if your are being copied and they are selling to what should be your customers, it starts to take a negative roll. Thus internet wars end up starting lol. It's especially negative when the imitator says the object of his imitation is ripping people off by overcharging for crap, while his product is "better than Dynamat" (hypothetically :

"Manufacturer" may be a stretch