Subs and Trunk Rattle

[spyder_013]

So, I finally "finished" my sound system in my car. (I am never finished, I always keep changing and adding, lol). I put 2 12" Pioneer 150W RMS subs (with an oldschool Bandpass enclosure) in and a Kenwood KAC-8452 Amp in. The amp slightly overpowers the subs (I think its 180W per channel, RMS).

My problem is, my trunk rattles, even when the music is moderately quiet, it gets vibrations (I can live with those). But when I really crank the bass/music especially with Dr. Dre and some bassy Metallica stuff, my trunk rattles almost louder than my bass, lol.

I am thinking about putting Dynamat in, but just doing the trunk door vs. the whole trunk, to save money and I know the trunk door is the only thing making the annoying rattle. I found that that plate (the one that holds the license plate and license plate light on) is one of the main causes, I insulated it with some towels and electrical tape and it decreased the rattle a lot.

So, I suppose my question is, anyone have any experience with this? Anyone used Dynamat or a competitor?

[robalero]

first step to check. is the trunk latch rusted? I just noticed mine is today so that will be fixed in a couple days when I have some time with the welder again I noticed it from going over bumps more so then my sub running

[Brad Jahnke]

First things first make sure u have 4 licence plate screws...not just 2. Also adjust ur latch and make sure its nice and secure. If that doesn't fix things, dynamat is the way to go. The place I got all my stereo stuff from (Mickey Shorr) swears by the stuff.

[JLw7123]

get second skin. I had dynamat and second skin it a lot better quality and it is a lot more thicker than dynamat. Second skin is a little more expensive but worth it. i know a lot of people swear by dynamat but if you want it to last get second skin also second skin is black so you can not see it as much. but you can get what you want.
http://www.secondskinaudio.com/

[spyder_013]

first step to check. is the trunk latch rusted? I just noticed mine is today so that will be fixed in a couple days when I have some time with the welder again I noticed it from going over bumps more so then my sub running
Nope. Neither the latching mechanism nor the locking hook are rusted.

First things first make sure u have 4 licence plate screws...not just 2. Also adjust ur latch and make sure its nice and secure. If that doesn't fix things, dynamat is the way to go. The place I got all my stereo stuff from (Mickey Shorr) swears by the stuff.

I do only have two at the moment. A few days ago I added a sheet of foam to the back and some electrical tape to hold it on, and that got rid of some rattle (at least the one rattle I traced to the license plate). I have a Dynamat License Plate kit on the way, and have to get two new screws and nuts at Autozone tomorrow.

There is a local guy that sells Dynamat copy at 1/4 the price and claims it is identical to Dynamat. He has some in his Cavalier and is running a slightly more powerful system than mine and has no rattles. I may try some of that out.

My car also does have the wing, although, I haven't been able to trace any of the real loud rattle to it. The loudest rattle seems to be coming from the front center of the top of the hood (right where it meets the base of the rear window in the center).

[Brad Jahnke]

If u only have two licence plate screws, go get 2 more...and make sure they're tight, that should take care of the rattle. I have no dynamat and nothing behind my plate, just 4 screws and a tight latch....and 0 rattle.

[spyder_013]

get second skin. I had dynamat and second skin it a lot better quality and it is a lot more thicker than dynamat. Second skin is a little more expensive but worth it. i know a lot of people swear by dynamat but if you want it to last get second skin also second skin is black so you can not see it as much. but you can get what you want.
http://www.secondskinaudio.com/

That looks interesting, I may have to try some of his stuff. I like the foam on top of the dampening mat. Reasonably priced too, at least compared to dynamat.

[spyder_013]

If u only have two licence plate screws, go get 2 more...and make sure they're tight, that should take care of the rattle. I have no dynamat and nothing behind my plate, just 4 screws and a tight latch....and 0 rattle.

My goal today was to find the rattle, so I slowly removed suspect parts until I isolated it. Even with the license plate off I had a bad rattle, although it was better than with the license plate on, so either way I am getting two more screws ;)

[JLw7123]

ya they also have stuff for the floor of your car also. There is a lot to choose from. also remember it is better to by to much deadener than not enough. Ya you will not be disappointed with there product.

[Afugy]

Use that search! Already lots of stuff about rattles on here.

Allot of the rattle comes from where the metal and the plastic for the licence plate meet, Just get some of this in there http://www.uline.com/Grp_240/3M-VHB-Tapes .

[spyder_013]

I thought it looked quiet in here, needed a new thread.... jk, I usually do use the search, just for some odd reason I didn't.

Would somewhere more local carry that stuff, maybe in smaller rolls to save some coin? $22 at the lowest for a roll is pretty steep, and that wasn't very thick.

How about just regular Foam tape? Its maybe 1/8" thick and sticks really well, I could probably do that whole license plate holding piece for $5 using the stuff from Target. I also already have some Fatmat (Dynamat copy, local guy loves the stuff) on the way for my trunk, so maybe in combination with that it will cure it.

Thanks everyone!!

[Afugy]

You can go to auto zone and get a small roll of that tape from 3M for like 5 bucks.

[spyder_013]

Sweet, thank you, will be hitting up Autozone today!

[Ryan from Ohio]

Taping down foam wont help much.

If you are going to buy someone's "dynamat like" stuff locally you might as well get it where he does, Lowes/Home Depot. Called Ice Guard or something along those lines. Basically its an adhesive backed rubberized asphalt with a thin layer of aluminum on top. Its to thin for car applications but some people swear buy it...

In the Alero the best sound dampening you can do is under the rear seats and around the rear wheel wells. I did the entire car to the front and it made the car a LOT different. Took a long time to do also!

[robalero]

rocker guard your wheel wells and it stops a lot of the road noise coming in too

[spyder_013]

Taping down foam wont help much.

If you are going to buy someone's "dynamat like" stuff locally you might as well get it where he does, Lowes/Home Depot. Called Ice Guard or something along those lines. Basically its an adhesive backed rubberized asphalt with a thin layer of aluminum on top. Its to thin for car applications but some people swear buy it...

In the Alero the best sound dampening you can do is under the rear seats and around the rear wheel wells. I did the entire car to the front and it made the car a LOT different. Took a long time to do also!

rocker guard your wheel wells and it stops a lot of the road noise coming in too

I am not looking to stop road noise... Yet.

I am looking to prevent a few parts in my trunk from rattling loudly. I know they are going to rattle and vibrate reguardless, but this is a very loud annoying rattle, it makes the car rather embarrassing when they subs are pumping a lot of bass and you are on the outside of it.

[Afugy]

Taping down foam wont help much.




For on the outside of the car on the where the plastic meets the metal. How so Ryan? It's been working on my car for the last 6 years, can't tell its there, and that rattle hasn't come back. What would you use?

[Ryan from Ohio]

For on the outside of the car on the where the plastic meets the metal. How so Ryan? It's been working on my car for the last 6 years, can't tell its there, and that rattle hasn't come back. What would you use?

That wasnt directed towards you. I agree where parts meet and you can sandwich a material in there it will work.

For the license plate I actually used a "dynamat like" product.

If you want to stop a few select vibrations then use whatever works. Take the spare out and use some carpet padding there. Also wrap the jack up and make sure that bolt holding all that stuff together is tight and all items are held firmly.

[Afugy]

Sorry, I missed the part where he said to use it on the plate it's self. I also wouldn't use that tape on the plate.

[spyder_013]

That wasnt directed towards you. I agree where parts meet and you can sandwich a material in there it will work.

For the license plate I actually used a "dynamat like" product.

If you want to stop a few select vibrations then use whatever works. Take the spare out and use some carpet padding there. Also wrap the jack up and make sure that bolt holding all that stuff together is tight and all items are held firmly.
I plan on sandwiching that plastic piece on. On the license plate itself, I am using a Dynamat License Plate Kit from Crutchfield. I did also get 2 more screws today. Just as a temporary fix, I took some craft foam and taped a sheet of it to the back of the kit, and it stopped the license plate vibrations, just looks ghetto and is clearly not permanent.

I am still Dynamatting the trunk lid, not yet the entire trunk.

Sorry, I missed the part where he said to use it on the plate it's self. I also wouldn't use that tape on the plate.

I think it is just a big mis-understanding, dont worry bout it, lol.

Thanks for all the help guys, I got some very good suggestions. Once my stuff shows up, I will hopefully get my BAD rattles taken care of.

[Gr1m]

you can actually put screws through that plastic piece behind the license plate so you cant see them and it will keep it from rattling a lot. you can also put a vertical screw in where the license plate light goes to prevent that entire "ALERO" piece from rattling. dynamat wont do shit for that trunk lid because the design is just not meant to withstand pressure like that,

[spyder_013]

you can actually put screws through that plastic piece behind the license plate so you cant see them and it will keep it from rattling a lot. you can also put a vertical screw in where the license plate light goes to prevent that entire "ALERO" piece from rattling. dynamat wont do shit for that trunk lid because the design is just not meant to withstand pressure like that,

Alright, I will do that. Do you just do one screw? or Both?

I ended up putting that double sided foam tape between the plastic piece and the trunk at the top, and some soft foam weather stripping at the bottom where they meet. As well as silicon/epoxied the white clips for the screws that hold that piece on, and got 4 new license plate screws and epoxied their brackets as well.

I have to say, that all really helped a ton. Still waiting on my license plate kit so I can secure everything down better, and giving the epoxy time to settle all the way. I still get a little jingle from the trunk latch/license plate light, but you have to be right by the car to hear that, and that doesn't bother me. I also have that one rattle that comes from the empty space of the trunk where it meets the center of the rear window, if dynamat doesn't cure that, then I will find another solution.

Thank you all so much for the good advice, it really helped a lot!!!!

[RisenequinoX]

i used 2 screws and 3m double sided tape on my license plate. works great

[spyder_013]

I used that Dynamat kit on my license plate, and also added 2 more screws. Then used the 3m foam tape on the top of the license plate frame and then some 3m weather strip on the bottom so it would no longer contact the metal of the trunk.

I also used Dynamat on the trunk lid, and it worked as I expected. It didn't cure every rattle and noise, but it got rid of the really annoying one that occured at the top of the lid where it meets the window in the center. It looks stupid, and doesn't do all that much, but it got rid of that one rattle that killed me.

[heineck]

wait till u get some real subs then the hunt for rattle begins, not bashing ur setup, i had the literally the exact same thing... imho just buy edead off ebay its the same thing and a hell of a lot cheaper than overpriced dynamat, with d-mat ur paying extra just cuz chip foose is on the box

[spyder_013]

Well, I should say I used "FatMat" copy. It was literally the exact same thickness and everything as Dynamat.

[Gr1m]

yep ive used fatmat and dynamat. it is practically the same thing.