Has anyone use other Dynamat substitute material that's just as good or cheaper to use, someone suggested using the spray on truck bedliner or roof stuff that could be bought at a Home Depot or is this just a waste of time and money?

 

I had very good results with Fatmat on my classic Mini and it's about 1/4 the cost of Dynamat. Just replace the cheap roller and knife. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/100-F...spagenameZWDVW

 

Good job Rick - that's a LOT of mat to put down - bet it took you a while eh?

The Dynamat Xtreme bulk packs are much cheaper than the smaller kits.....that is, if you can find them on eBay. Cascade is another good alternative that sells for less than the Dynamat brand. In fact, if you have a major project in mind (like Rick's) I'd start with some of their roll/brush/spray on stuff - comes in gallon and larger buckets - be careful to get the right stuff - some is for heat, some is for vibration. These guys are a pretty good source for both brands <click it>.

 

Visit Home Depot and pick up several rolls of their RV Roof sealing material... Its about 8" wide and not as thick as Dynamat. Works great, cheap, and if you double up in choice areas, will really make a difference. Being only 8" wide sure made it much easier to work with than a sheet of Dynamat.

I used 6 rolls doing the entire floor, doors, rear quarters and hatch. Doubled up the floor and hatch to reduce road noise.

Absolutely NO odor either.

 

I've used a few different kinds of mat on various vehicles, the home construction stuff is what all of them are based off of anyways. The only real differences in all the kinds of mat are smell, weight (which is what you need to deaden vibrations), and how easily they bend and mold to the surface, including how much heat you need to get the mat to become more workable. I think you can't really go wrong with any kind of mat, some are just a bit nicer to install.

 

I used Fatmat's door kit when I added 6 1/2" Pioneer component speakers to the front doors. Cheaper than Dynamat and I have a lot left over. I think it cost about $45

 

other folks up here have used this http://www.b-quiet.com/

and this one http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=268-030

No experience with them personally.

 

I have a question for some of you to comment on. Do the stiffer, more difficult to install sheets work any better than the easier ones? I am likely to cover more area if it is easier to install. Is it more productive to cover the greatest amount of area or to use a more effective product and cover less?

 

I don't really have a precise answer to your question, but I can report that the Fatmat works almost exactly like the premium grade Dynamat. Same to cut, install, roll down. Not difficult at all, but try to keep the black goo-adhesive off stuff.

 

All sound deadening mats work by adding weight to the panel it's attached to, changing its resonance frequency.

Panels rattle when the music is playing at its resonance frequency, or the speakers are causing vibrations at this frequency.

So as long as the mats do their job by weight, the majority of rattles are "deadened".

In my actual experience, a lot of other rattles occur from forceful vibration from subs and such, and a lot of mat weight is required to stop some of this vibration. Also lots of things like door lock bars, loose wiring harnesses, and other stuff vibrate, so getting these things down with mat or other stuff helps a lot.

Using a lot of heat helps the stiffer mats in conforming, I've used heat guns that basically make the mats too hard to apply with bare hands. This is very effective in getting the mats to shape well to the door.

I recommend buying the mats sold through the internet for sound deadening, they usually are home matting picked out as the easiest to install or closest to actual dynamat products. I will state again that I don't really find much difference in the results between brands, just the install and smell. Well, maybe the highest line of Dynamat is a little different, that stuff is really nice.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions, I will go to HD and get the roof material and I will also check on the Fatmats. To Muggy if you speak of weight and most of us don't want to add much for performance how much actual weight is added when trying to deadened the sound.

 

It all depends on how much you apply, most cars will take a 1 foot wide roll of mat to cover the trunk and doors, probably around 10 pounds I would guess. How much or how little deadening you use is up to you of course, when I had a competition audio car before I had layers of the stuff in my doors, giving the doors that nice closing sound like a lexus or mercedes. But then again, I had 8" subs in my doors then too.

 

The 5.5 rolls of RV roof sealer I used weighed about 25lbs. I got coverage on the floor, doors (interior and out), rear quarters up to the windows, and the rear hatch. I doubled up on the rear hatch and floor.

 

we put 50 sq ft of B-Quiet Ultimate in our Subaru. Well worth the $125 it cost. Dynamat is ALOT more expensive and it's the same stuff.

 

I used these Lightweight Vinyl Sound Dampening sheets which are similar to dynamat extreme but very cheap. They are thin and lightweight so they don't slow your car down as much as the asphault-based sound deadener and supposedly perform better too. I added it to my doors as detailed here:
http://www.jwardell.com/mini/hkdoor.html#dynamat