B-Quiet Sound-deadning material installation

Hey, thanks for the answers. B-quiet seems to be a great option.

Another question btw, is it flammable?

Seeing the pictures reminds me of the insulation they use on current airplanes which are very flammable. (YES, just watch 60-Minutes or some other documentary out there).

 

I do not think this will make a whole lot of difference. It will depend on how flamable the stuff on top is (padding, carpet, seats, junk in car, etc). Then there is the issue that even concrete is flamable when you dump a gas tank on it and light it up.

It is like the first nuclear powered car they made in the early 80s had no seat belts. They said if you crash, being thrown about was the last thing you needed to worry about.

 

I got this response from Dynamat (and is prob the same as the B-quiet):

Thank you for your interest in Dynamat. Dynamat is designed to handle long
term exposure to high heat situations and has a rating up to 300 ºF.
Dynamat meets FMVSS-302 which is a federal motor safety standard for
flammability. If you were to apply a high heat torch, Dynamat can burn.
However, once the flame is removed Dynamat will self extinguish.

When Dynamat is properly installed, it is usually behind trim panels in the
vehicle. These trim panels usually have a lower burn temperature (catch
fire earlier) than Dynamat. Basically, Dynamat is difficult (not impossible)
to catch fire. Most likely, the interior of your vehicle will burn earlier
and easier than Dynamat. In the case of an accident, a Dynamat installed
vehicle will pose not additional threat over a vehicle without Dynamat
installed.

 

Kazu,

You said you did the inside and outside of the door frame. I don't see that you did the outside of the frame. However I do see that you did the inner.

If you did do the outside were there any clearance issues with getting the door panel back on? I want to completely cover my doors like the attached pic. Do you think I would have any problems getting the door panels back on with such coverage?

Also, do you think 50 ft will be enough for the kind of coverage I want to do or should I go ahead ang buy 100 ft?

Thanks,
Hai

 

My first impression is that the roll of material looks very much like gutter repair film which is made of an aluminum foil/neoprene/adhesive/removeable film lamination. What is the primary (thickest) part of the roll material made of?

 

This B Quiet Ultimate stuff sounds good. I used Dynamat Original on my last car and after ten years the adhesive was beginning to fail and it was bubbling in places. And it didn't conform so well to the surfaces. The aluminum on the B Quiet seems like it would help to keep the product formed in the right shape over time.

The main material of B Quiet seems to be bitumen, which is basically solid tar. It's the same material that Dynamat original is made of, which I find entertaining because Dynamat puts down Brown Bread (the old name for B Quiet) on that basis in their bogus comparison page:

http://www.dynamat.com/PDF/SounddBates/xxx...Sound_dBate.pdf

Funny also that they complain about the smell of B Quiet... in actual use nobody seems to complain about the smell of B Quiet, but I can sure tell you that Dynamat Original did make my car smell like tar for a few months after installation.

The one concern I have with products like this is that they prevent paintless dent removal if you have door dings (and perhaps prevent regular body work too). Not a big deal... you can always remove it and install more if you need dings removed, but it's something to consider. I'm not sure if the sticky residue left behind would make it harder for the paintless dent repair guys to do a good job.

I'm thinking I would primarily focus on the doors. I would cover all of the inside of the outer sheet metal, plus some extra in the middle of the panels. Then try to cover the whole interior side of the interior sheet metal, in a way that seals it up as much as possible, covering all the openings. That will probably require 1-2 layers. That sealing it up is what gives tight bass, by turning the door into a big subwoofer enclosure. I'm not sure how practical it is on the Prius to really get it sealed up though.

I won't bother with the exterior side of the interior sheet metal (facing out towards the glass). I remember that was hard to reach when I did it 10 years ago. Because it requires lots of small pieces it's more likely to fall off later on and jam up the windows. Covering the interior side of the interior sheet metal should be just as good.

I recently had the passenger seat removed while driving around. I was amazed at how much engine noise came up through that area without the seat to absorb it. It really shows that Toyota has clearly put a lot of thought into getting sound insulation into the right places (and not where it's not needed). I put the seat back and the noise was gone.

So I don't think it's necessary to do much more than the doors with B Quiet; it's really mostly effective on low frequency noise for bass control, not the higher frequency noises that I heard through the floor with the passenger seat removed. Toyota already has materials geared towards higher frequencies (the fiberous carpet padding) in appropriate spots. The floor/trunk panels are already heavier reinforced metal that doesn't need the stiffening effect of B Quiet like the door metal does.

And the roof in the Prius should have very low noise because of the highly aerodynamic shape, so I wouldn't bother putting any on there.

 

considering that most of the heat is aquired in your car thru the windows, i dont see how stuffing the door panels will make that much of a difference for keeping a car cool especailly considering that the Prius has one of the largest windshields around

 

Well looks like Kazu is MIA..

 

[font=Comic Sans MS:ad0c3f1416]Please let us know how the installation goes. Thanks![/font:ad0c3f1416]

 

If you want to test flammability, why not just hold a lighter up to it?..
Here is my result.. tried it on B-Quiet ultimate, it catches fire quite easily with the lighter, and it sustains flame(doesn't self-extinguish)

I also tried this test with the standard rubber already in the car coating the firewall, and the results are the same.. the stuff in the car actually burns even faster...

Also keep in mind b-quiet changes characteristics with temperature.. it becomes soft gooey stuff at high temps.. I doubt quietcoat does that.

 

kazu-
I still don't quite get what you mean. Did you install the B-Quiet on the outside of the door frame (between the plastic panel you remove to get at the door and the metal of the door), or did you only the internal part of the door frame (like the part completed in your picture).

 

Well I did the 2 front doors today.
*If you have the JBL tweeters, you may end up losing the metal clip on the top part of the tweeter that keeps it attached on top. This happened to my passenger side and I fished it out of the little hole and put it back in but it ended up falling off after I reinstalled the speaker. Looks like I will have to go the the dealer and get a clip.*

The door panel removal was pretty easy. The black sealant for the vapor barrier was a pain however. For some reason my door seemed more clutter with wires and some sort of a metal plate to cover the large opening in the door. I covered that piece too.

I completely covered the inside of the outermost door metal. I didn't bother with the inner portion closest to the door panel. I used big sheets rather than small ones. I found it to be more difficult to get in position but I managed to do it. I think the area I covered should be enough. I didn't want to overkill on the inside frame fearing it would prevent me from putting the door panel back on. I took some pictures but I don't think it will benefit anyone. If you guys want to see them just let me know and I will add them.

The door closes with a good thud now like my LS430 trade in rather than a hollow sound. I'll do the rear doors soon and that should be it. From what I have been reading the doing the doors will reap the max benefit. I may do the cargo area if I have left over B-Quiet.

 

LuckyP,

Yes please post your pictures. I plan on doing it to my car and would like to see how yours turned out.

Rowan

 

Rowan,

I did one of the rear doors today. Took about 3 hours for one door but I am meticulous and got about 99.5% coverage of the outer door skin (nearest outsided). Tight but I managed to get the good coverage with careful use of the only partially removing part of the adhesive paper.

There are two problems with this type of install:
1. Tight spacing between the outer and inner metal of the door.
2. B-Quiet adhesive sticking to the metal preventing you to get the material where you ideally want it.

I took more pictures this time and will post once I get the other door done.

FYI, If you plan on buying B-Quiet, only buy the 50ft roll. I will have plenty left over after (i guess half) after the last door and will be able to do the hatchback area. IF I do decide to do the hatchback area since the hatchback are will be easy to access. IF I go ahead and do this and will only take a final pic of it.

Kazu,

Did you do the firewall area? I am thinking it will help insulate some of the engine noise but am wondering what kind of a pain it would be to do?

 

I just got done doing my B-quiet Ultimate install... my overriding concern is sound quality from the aftermarket speakers I installed in the front and back.

I used 90 square feet total, for just the four doors. The reason I used much more than everyone else is that I did on average two layers on both the inside and outside skins (sheet metal). I did a bit more in the areas near the woofers, and a bit less towards the top where the it's hard to reach. I completely covered the inner skins, sealing up all the holes except the holes that the trim panel clips go into.

Doing the front doors made a big improvement in road noise, and the rear doors lowered noise too. In the past most of the noise I heard was tire noise, but now I hear engine noise more, meaning the tire noise is mostly gone.

My observations:

- Don't use scissors, use a utility knife and cut with cardboard underneath. Scissors get all gummed up with the butyl compound and end up not working well at all.

- I found that 91% rubbing alcohol worked well for cleaning up my tools and hands afterwards.

- I personally don't see the need to approach 100% coverage. Just getting the wide panels is most important. Adding mass to the middle of the wide panels is important. Putting it near the edges where the structure already keeps the metal from bending is not so important. Because I was kind of obsessive I got probably 90% coverage, but 75% would probably be just fine too.

- I made sure to have continuous coverage that spanned between the outer sheet metal and the side impact protection bars. I figure this helps reduce the unsupported sheet metal area, which raises the resonant frequency.

- It was interesting to find that each door already had a toyota-installed constrained layer damper, about 4-5 inches square, with B-quiet type butyl middle and a very stiff fibrous mat. Clearly Toyota has done their homework on this stuff... they probably just decided that they couldn't justify the cost/weight of adding more for the mass market vehicle.

- Working with these doors it was very clear that Toyota has put a lot of work into making them safe against side impacts. In addition to the heavy protection bars in the doors, there are foam blocks with metal sheet structural protection integrated into the interior trim panel. Airbags get all the marketing attention, but the hidden work they did in the doors is just as impressive to me.

- The first doors that I did took about 4 hours each, and by the time I did the last doors I was down to about 2 hours per door. Doing all the doors would be a long day.


BTW, I just found another competitor that is even cheaper:

http://www.fatmat.com/

charges $99 for 100 square feet. It doesn't look like it's quite as good as the B-quiet, but might be an option if you're looking to save money.