JohnEd

iTrader: (1)

I took out my rear seat and rear interior side panels. The sheet metal around this area had a distinctly "loud" tinny ring to it when I tapped it with my finger on the outside of the body panel. I was amazed at the horrific road noise that emanated from the rear seat area. Definately NOT Lezus!

Where there was a bracing sheet metal frame I sprayed expanding foam between the member and the exterior panel. That welded them together and that portion of the panel gave only a dull thud when tapped. Where ther was no panel I stuck that speaker dampining sheet stuff to the panel. Same result....thud and no ping. Actually, I cut the stuff into 2 inch squares and stuck one patch in the center of the tinny spot and added squares around that point until it was quieted. The speaker stuff is spendy but works. Also, rolled the squares qith a small wallpaper roller to assure max adhesion and quieting.

I uncovered the trunk side area next. I filled the hollow space above the fenders with foam. I got some tubing the size of the spout in the foam spray can and taped it on with great care. The foam disolves the tape glue and squirts out after only a little use. In the future I will use shrink tobing to splice in the extending hose. I fished the hose up into the cavity and squirted the entire can in there. 10 minutes later the foam was oozing out the front and back of the cavity. That part of the sheet metal was now quiet when struck. The rear of the panel on the inside of of the rear render was really loud and I figured that noise in the trunk would migrate to the passenger compartment. I used a lot of the speaker sheet on this area and it is now quiet also.

I also put speaker sheeting on the metal panel that is beneath the rear seat back. It was just noisy enough to be worth doing.

The improvement, in total, is really impressive. I think I am still getting noise from the door panels and I will do those next. That should be the end of sound proofing and a LS 400 like cabin environment. I had fun.

I discovered reclaimed rubber sheets at our local Home Depot like shop named Jerry's. I feel "iffy" working with this stuff as any adheasive might "give up" over time. 3M is giving me a recommendation and any who wants that data can email me. It would be a superb material to glue to all body panels and it is cheap. It would out perform the foam or speaker stuff IF I can find a way to get it to stick. Stay tuned.

The floor pan in my car is as solid as a rock and absolutely no road noise was getting through that panel. Don't waste your time there.

Are the later model SC's quieter? The local Lex dealer said both of his SC's were very loud at speed but I didn't hear what year they were.

I love this car.

Play safe and hard.

John

PS: For those of you that are not literary giants, "Moby ****" is not a book about a social desease.

JohnEd

iTrader: (1)

Guys,

I can't imagine any of you that is driving any model except an SC having even a remote idea of what I am talking about. A noisy Lexus seems an oxymoron. I can't figure it out either. The review I read on the GS said it was as quiet as a bank vault.

3M got back to me. Scotch Grip 1357 is a "high performance" contact sement that will hold up. Spendy at $36 a quart. The rubber mat I got for a buck is 5X5 for 25 square feet. Speaker mounting material is $146 for 5 square feet. Decisions, decisions.

Hope someone else finds this useful. I am certainly benifiting.

Play safe and hard

John

hemogoblin

Soudns like a good idea and I may be interested in trying one day. But how much does the stuff weigh?

I was looking at doing something similar when I installed my sound system. I was planning on dynamatting the entire car, but instead I only did the rear half.

I have some rattling/noise in my car that I would like to get rid of, but I think most of my issues are from worn plastic pieces that just arent holding up anymore.

JohnEd

iTrader: (1)

hemo,

The rule is that the more the stuff weighs, the better it works. Rubber has a performance characteristic that is that it will bend or compact but it resists doing so "quickly". Sound vibrations are quick so it tends to not pass them. Neat.

A stategy is as I said: cut the stuff into 2 inch squares. Glue one square in the middle of the panel that is noisy when you rap on it. Keep adding squares outward from the center point untill the panel sounds "dead" when you strike it with you finger. Keep moving around and rapping the panel and sticking up pads wherever you get sound.

The metal frame behind the rear seat back is only a little noisy but while you are there...

There is a pocket formed by the upper fender well, the sheet metal beside the rear window and a vertical brace. I filled that entire area with expanding foam. Weighs nothing and worked well.

The fuel tank is a giant drum when empty. I put a pound of squares on that.

I guess I added 5 pounds total to the weight back there and I will add 2 pounds each to the doors before I'm done. You could compromise and use less material than I and sill make a significant improvement.


The glue is Scotch Grip 1357. It is a high performance contact cement made by 3M and sells for $36/quart. The rubber mating is available at your local home builders suppy for cheap.

John