Dynamat. Is it worth it?

[HRTKD]

I love hearing cars that have subs that make everything rattle. It gives me something to laugh at. Given the economy I need all the laughs I can get! I'll have to look into the Quick Roof stuff and consider using it on the floor and the Dynamat everywhere else.

 

[Jay FX4]

I would love to do my whole truck but could never justify the cost.

I only use the 10x10 (or whatever it is) sheets of Dynamat that go around the speaker holes, but I think it's very effective.

 

[HRTKD]

I was unable to find Quick Roof at Home Depot. Based on the picture in the link posted in this thread it looks like Quick Roof is just sticky aluminum. Is that right?

What I did find at my local Home Depot was a product by GAF-ELK called StormGuard. According to the MSDS there isn't anything in the product that would lead you to believe that it is toxic. At $107 for 200 square feet its cheap (compared to Dynamat) so I might give it a try on the floor of the cab. I'm short of Dynamat (2 bulk packs = 72 square feet) after doing everything but the floor. Since it's the floor and it will be covered by carpet I'm not too concerned about how sticky it will be and since I'll have 200 square feet I might put on two layers.

 

[Froggmann]

One of these days I plan on doing my Mustang and Ranger. I'll be using this stuff: http://www.raamaudio.com/ I've heard nothing but great things about Rick (the owner) and the product is top notch.

 

[HRTKD]

Bought the StormGuard from Home Depot today. Little to no odor and what odor there might be will probably be hidden by the carpet. I'm rather sensitive to chemical smells at this time so if it passes my smell test I think it's OK. The StormGuard is 1.3mm thick while the Dynamat Extreme is 1.8mm thick. Both measurements are with the backing paper on and the paper on the Dynamat is thicker. I have plenty of StormGuard (200 sq ft) so I'll be laying down two layers and maybe a third. My neighbor has spoken for what I don't use. At three layers I think it is still less expensive than Dynamat.

 

[Jason]

Dynamat is worth every penny, if you have the pennies to spare. Rattling parts are ghetto, and letting all the sound escape the car will just get your shit stolen anyhow.

 

[Jay FX4]

Rattling parts are ghetto

Allow me to provide an emphatic "+1" here.

Some may recall my rear door speaker thread, where the rattling with the bass turned up nearly drove me insane.

The rattling wasn't bad inside the truck, but sounded like ghetto garbage on the outside - and that's unacceptable.

I was never able to resolve the problem, and my "solution" was to turn the speaker bass down and the Basslink up.

 

[triumphrider-1]

Allow me to provide an emphatic "+1" here.

Some may recall my rear door speaker thread, where the rattling with the bass turned up nearly drove me insane.

The rattling wasn't bad inside the truck, but sounded like ghetto garbage on the outside - and that's unacceptable.

I was never able to resolve the problem, and my "solution" was to turn the speaker bass down and the Basslink up.

Did you put new panel clips on when you were trying to solve the issue? I don't remember.

Does anyone have before and after decibel measurements to get an idea of what different areas of the vehicle get for sound reduction?

 

[HRTKD]

I installed the StormGuard this weekend. It is definitely NOT like Dynamat. It does not like to conform around bumps (convex or concave) but gentle curves are OK. I first tries to install a full sheet that was 36" wide and the width of the floor of the cab. Bad idea as there were a lot of bumps to work it into. I ended up cutting it into smaller pieces and that worked a lot better. I ended up with three layers on the back floor. The StormGuard does not stretch like Dynamat, even when using a heat gun.

The StormGuard is very sticky. I think it is even sticker than the Dynamat. Enough so that I considered adding it to the existing layer of Dynamat in the roof. However, the aluminum backed tape that I use to seal the edges and joints will not stick to the non-sticky side of the StormGuard.

Moral of the story: you get what you pay for. There is a reason Dynamat is expensive. For flat areas the StormGuard worked good enough.

I have plenty left over if anyone in the Denver area would like a few square yards to play with.

 

[rjppunk]

parts express has decent dampening material that comes in i beleive 2' sheets. Molds easy enough, works the same as dyno, and doesn't have the dyno price tag.