Sound deadening results measured

I installed Dynamat Xtreme and Dynapad throughout the interior of my 2008 Double Cab with the 5.7L and moderately worn AT tires. Floors, doors, hood and back wall. I have not yet done the roof and I probably won't because the headliner seems like a PITA to remove.

My goal was to reduce noise levels at highway speeds (typically 75 MPH) because it was loud enough to be uncomfortable on longer trips and made it hard to talk. It gave my wife headaches, so I gradually worked on this project over about six months.

Measured noise levels on my Apple Watch on the same stretch of highway in similar conditions before and after.

Before: 65 db at 65 MPH. 75 db at 75 MPH.
After: 62 db at 65 MPH. 65 db at 75 MPH.

For reference, 3db is like, "yeah I noticed you turned the volume down." And 10db is, "That seems about half as loud."

Those numbers don't tell the whole story because the sound deadening impacts higher frequencies more than lower frequencies, for the same reason you can hear your neighbor blasting the bass but not hear the cymbals. High frequency noise is basically gone. Everything sounds "muffled". All the rattles and pings are gone. The only high frequency noise I can hear is wind through the windshield.

Overall the cab is a more pleasant place to be, and the faster I drive, the more of a difference it makes.

There's too much info about this. Some people claim to get 30db results, others claim to get nothing. 30db doesn't seem realistic. The people who got nothing probably didn't use Dynapad or another MLV (mass-loaded vinyl) which does the biggest part of stopping sound.

The doors each took about 2 hours, including upgrading the speakers. I used double-sided carpet tape to stick DynaPad inside the doors (Dynamat Xtreme is self-adhesive).

The floor took about 9 hours, including replacing the carpet (switched to black).

The biggest bang-for-the-buck was adding Dynamat Xtreme and Dynamat Hoodliner to the hood. 30 minutes work and a noticable reduction in unpleasant engine noise.

I'll attach some pictures of the process. Please do share your own experiences making the cab quieter and I am happy to answer questions. If anyone has switched from AT to HT tires I'd love to hear your thoughts because that'll be my next step.

 

Great job! Don’t the doors feel more solid when you close them too?

I did my full cab, headliner included, and noticed a big difference too. Except I used the cheaper stuff and not Dynamat. I can’t tell if you pulled the center console or not, but I even sound proofed under that thing and inside the door cavities.

As someone that just switched to a different brand of AT tires, these are quite a bit louder. I had Nitto G2 before, they got a little louder the more worn they got, but after switching to Toyo AT2, these are quite a bit louder and they are at 75% tread. I got the set as used tires for $100 so I can’t complain but just wanted to point out that if you do want to keep AT tires, do a little digging in road noise. Nitros had road noise when they were at 75% too, just not as bad as Toyo. Discount Tire reviews are a great start to researching road noise.

 

I couldn't remove the center console because the bolts were completely rusted out! They were like mush. Can't imagine why because nothing else inside or outside the cab was so bad. So I put Dynapad on the bottom of the center console as liner and under the cupholder area.

The doors do feel more solid to me but my wife didn't mention it so maybe it's placebo lol.

 

You did a great job! I know this type of a project is not easy and very time consuming, so you should be proud. I’m sure it made a world of a difference.

 

Very nice! How much did the sound deadening part of the project cost?

 

I did similar treatments to my doors with Raam products (they seem to be out of business now). I should have taken measurements since I have a decent USB RTA mic. It is quite noticeable, and the thunk I get now closing the doors is pleasant.

I should do my hood, the bare bottom of the hood is a bit bothersome in appearance.