Sound Deadening Model 3

[jmarcos]

@aspec818 - thanks again for the materials list. Trying to order the materials, is there a reason to get MLV rather than Luxury Liner Pro for the curvy areas of the wheel well, or can I just use Luxury Liner Pro for everything?

 

[aspec818]

@aspec818 - thanks again for the materials list. Trying to order the materials, is there a reason to get MLV rather than Luxury Liner Pro for the curvy areas of the wheel well, or can I just use Luxury Liner Pro for everything?

You can, but luxury liner pro is heavier while MLV by itself is easier to work with for the curvy and vertical areas. The vertical panels are also more structurally sound so it has less chance of rattling and need for a decoupler. And it’s also a little more economical.

 

[aspec818]

Very interesting. The new Y has soundblocking material all around the wheel wells similar to my post a few posts back. It appears Tesla realized the rear wheel wells were responsible for a lot of road noise and decided to deaden the area. As far as I know this is the China produced Y. I’m not sure if the US ones have this. For those that didn’t want to custom install your own materials for the wells, this might be an option to explore to see if you can retrofit that piece in to your 3. Not sure if it will fit but the rear looks real similar to the 3 tear down.

 

[aspec818]

Very interesting. The new Y has soundblocking material all around the wheel wells similar to my post a few posts back. It appears Tesla realized the rear wheel wells were responsible for a lot of road noise and decided to deaden the area. As far as I know this is the China produced Y. I’m not sure if the US ones have this. For those that didn’t want to custom install your own materials for the wells, this might be an option to explore to see if you can retrofit that piece in to your 3. Not sure if it will fit but the rear looks real similar to the 3 tear down.

View attachment 630289

I have a hunch the newest 2021 3’s might have the wheel well piece deadened as well.

 

[Perscitus]

Interesting, but whether its a recent MIA or MIC build, its too little to late.

Hopefully they apply what they learned with these to the refreshed or next-gen S/X and even more so to the next models that come out in the next decade.

 

[Azgood]

Here's the material list for sound blocking.
Mass Loaded Vinyl in 1lb (per sqft variant). I used about 32 sqft of MLV.
Adhesive for the Mass Loaded Vinyl- either strong double sided tape or spray adhesive would work.
Foam Decoupler- recommended if you're going to run an aftermarket subwoofer in the trunk. The MLV by itself can rattle against your panels otherwise. At the very least, you can lay some under the MLV on the flat panels of the trunk. I used Luxury Liner Pro by Second Skins for the flat areas. Luxury Liner Pro is MLV that comes with the foam decoupler layered already, saving you a step.
HVAC tape- required to seal any open seams. Try to cover as much open seams as you can. Otherwise sound can pass through.
Butyl based sound deadener (dynamat, killmat, noico, etc)- great to quiet any vibrations. See my pics above where I placed them. I also applied some in the trunk lid and it now closes with a nice thump.
Optional:
Acoustic Foam- I stuffed cut up acoustic foam in the open crevice in the shock towers. Not sure how much this helps but anything to absorb as much sound waves as possible.
Tesa tape- stop wires from rattling against your panels. See if you have any wires that can potentially rattle when you're back there. You can wrap Tesa tape on the contact points.

I didn't see any actual tutorial in removing the panels in the trunk. I just pieced some videos together on youtube and did a few google searches. But it's not difficult at all. The panels are just held in by clips. In order to remove the trunk floor liner, you need to remove the back seats first (back rest and bench).

Thx to your posting I am encouraged to sound proof my trunk again based on your layout. I have some questions:

>How many sheets of Luxury Liner Pro did you use? Each sheet is 9 sqft. I would like to do exactly ur setup.
>I was looking into kilmat instead of noico for less weight or is it better to use Second Skins damplifier instead? Thinking of cost saving here and still achieve same effect of elimination vibration like you did.
>I have a 10mm socket wrench, is there any other sizes needed? I want to make sure I remove the subwoofer and amp carefully and put it back carefully too.
>What did you use to keep the Luxury Liner Pro down? Adhesive spray or double sided tape?

 

[Azgood]

Thx to your posting I am encouraged to sound proof my trunk again based on your layout. I have some questions:

>How many sheets of Luxury Liner Pro did you use? Each sheet is 9 sqft. I would like to do exactly ur setup.
>I was looking into kilmat instead of noico for less weight or is it better to use Second Skins damplifier instead? Thinking of cost saving here and still achieve same effect of elimination vibration like you did.
>I have a 10mm socket wrench, is there any other sizes needed? I want to make sure I remove the subwoofer and amp carefully and put it back carefully too.
>What did you use to keep the Luxury Liner Pro down? Adhesive spray or double sided tape?

I learned the answers to my questions. Before these forums close for good but thanks for everyone the inputs of sound proofing. Learned a lot because of these forums.

 

[TEG]

Before these forums close for good

Before these forums close? TMC isn't going anywhere. Maybe you confused us with the "official" forums on Tesla's site which are (apparently) closing down?

 

[Azgood]

Before these forums close? TMC isn't going anywhere. Maybe you confused us with the "official" forums on Tesla's site which are (apparently) closing down?

You are correct. My mistake lol.

 

[asian_xl]

doing it the whole weekend using 3M stuff...a lot more to go.

 

[PNWLeccy]

doing it the whole weekend using 3M stuff...a lot more to go.

View attachment 688287

Just a note that if you are only doing sound deadening and not adding MLV or CCF then you prob won't hear any real difference. I extensively deadened the rear, floor and doors and can't tell much if any difference. Fair warning, I did this during COVID so it's not like I had anything better to do but it was a lot of hours of work for little reward.

 

[Dayreg]

Just a note that if you are only doing sound deadening and not adding MLV or CCF then you prob won't hear any real difference. I extensively deadened the rear, floor and doors and can't tell much if any difference. Fair warning, I did this during COVID so it's not like I had anything better to do but it was a lot of hours of work for little reward.

Agreed. I've extensively sound deadened one of my Model 3s.

The dynamat material is to reduce vibration in larger pieces of metal and as I understand it, it doesn't need to cover an area 100% to be effective. As PNWLeccy notes, Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) and Closed Cell Foam (CCF) are applied after the dynamat to block noise.

As my car is a 2018, we only have the single pane windows, not the newer laminated windows that are thicker on the 2021 cars. As such, the difference wasn't huge.

The biggest improvements for getting my car quieter were:
1. Adding a sunscreen with 3M thinsulate between it and the glass above my head to block noise bouncing off the glass roof
2. Replacing the original Continental tires.

You can look at Tirerack's user reviews to see which tires are quietest and match your needs. (I have Michelin Pilot Sport Summer tires on the 3P and Pirelli Cinturado P7 on the AWD, though after some time, the P7s don't have the best wet traction for all season tires).

 

[ZapCarM3]

Agreed. I've extensively sound deadened one of my Model 3s.

The dynamat material is to reduce vibration in larger pieces of metal and as I understand it, it doesn't need to cover an area 100% to be effective. As PNWLeccy notes, Mass Loaded Vinyl (MLV) and Closed Cell Foam (CCF) are applied after the dynamat to block noise.

As my car is a 2018, we only have the single pane windows, not the newer laminated windows that are thicker on the 2021 cars. As such, the difference wasn't huge.

The biggest improvements for getting my car quieter were:
1. Adding a sunscreen with 3M thinsulate between it and the glass above my head to block noise bouncing off the glass roof
2. Replacing the original Continental tires.

You can look at Tirerack's user reviews to see which tires are quietest and match your needs. (I have Michelin Pilot Sport Summer tires on the 3P and Pirelli Cinturado P7 on the AWD, though after some time, the P7s don't have the best wet traction for all season tires).

Interesting the stock tires with the foam inside weren't as quiet?

 

[asian_xl]

I've added foam to the doors and linen to the point it can hardly put them back. Tires have been replaced with Falken FK510 with adequate grib and noise.

 

[aspec818]

Just a note that if you are only doing sound deadening and not adding MLV or CCF then you prob won't hear any real difference. I extensively deadened the rear, floor and doors and can't tell much if any difference. Fair warning, I did this during COVID so it's not like I had anything better to do but it was a lot of hours of work for little reward.

is that a photo of the rear deck removed and deadened? did it help with any rattling?

 

[PNWLeccy]

is that a photo of the rear deck removed and deadened? did it help with any rattling?

Yea, I wasn't able to fully remove the rear deck but did add some sound deadening below the speakers, added foam insulation on the sides where it meets the C pillar and around the seat belt tensioners, and filled the vent in the center with foam insulation (I believe only pre-2019 had this). I also added felt pads to the leading edge of the rear deck where it hits the rear seat backs, wrapped the seat latches w/ felt tape and taped down the plastic pieces behind the carpeted seat backs. Unfortunately, I'm still hearing some sort of rattle from the rear passenger side and cannot figure out where it's coming from.

I've also sound deadened and insulated all of wires inside the rear doors and secured everything behind the side bolsters, including the janky plastic clip it latches into at the top but still hear it.

 

[aspec818]

Yea, I wasn't able to fully remove the rear deck but did add some sound deadening below the speakers, added foam insulation on the sides where it meets the C pillar and around the seat belt tensioners, and filled the vent in the center with foam insulation (I believe only pre-2019 had this). I also added felt pads to the leading edge of the rear deck where it hits the rear seat backs, wrapped the seat latches w/ felt tape and taped down the plastic pieces behind the carpeted seat backs. Unfortunately, I'm still hearing some sort of rattle from the rear passenger side and cannot figure out where it's coming from.

I've also sound deadened and insulated all of wires inside the rear doors and secured everything behind the side bolsters, including the janky plastic clip it latches into at the top but still hear it.

that's crazy. i thought the rear deck would be the last culprit after deadening the trunk. have you tried having someone else drive your car while you sit in the back and feel for rattles?

 

[PNWLeccy]

that's crazy. i thought the rear deck would be the last culprit after deadening the trunk. have you tried having someone else drive your car while you sit in the back and feel for rattles?

Yea, it was pretty much my covid lockdown obsession. Lots of rides around with no music over bumps/rough roads, listening for rattles and trying to hunt them down. My wife only had so much patience for this and told me she would really like to talk about something else for a change.

I do think there is a bit of crunchy sound to the rear deck when pushed down, which I think is due to the weak adhesive. I've tried putting a few shims around the car seat latches on the rear deck to prevent the adhesive attaching and reattaching (my theory) from the metal rear deck.

Still, there is a rattle that i suspect is actually coming from the exterior. I've checked if the rear wheel well liners were loose/flapping but they were secure. I've also seen a few reports of rear clunking being fixed by having the subframe retorqued but Tesla refused to do this when I took it in a while ago so not sure if that could do it.

 

[mike123abc]

Well my Model 3 upper control arms started to squeak really bad. I have 100k miles on it. I had Tesla replace them and it made a huge difference in road noise. As described in previous posts in this and other threads, I pretty much sound treated the whole car (August 2018 AWD M3) and still had a lot of road noise coming through the suspension. They must have revised the arms to cut the noise, it is very noticeable over chip and seal roads that TX loves to have.

 

[silentride]

Well my Model 3 upper control arms started to squeak really bad. I have 100k miles on it. I had Tesla replace them and it made a huge difference in road noise. As described in previous posts in this and other threads, I pretty much sound treated the whole car (August 2018 AWD M3) and still had a lot of road noise coming through the suspension. They must have revised the arms to cut the noise, it is very noticeable over chip and seal roads that TX loves to have.

Can you share a picture of the new control arm? Would be interesting to see if there is a visual difference.