Sound Deadening or No Sound Deadening

[SimonT32]

I have had a number of conversations recently around converting my T6.1 T32 Panel Van into a "kombi" van with rear seat, carpeting and a 40 Winks Bed (or similar) to be able to have the occasional overnight stay. One of the things I wanted to do was sound deaden, insulate and carpet but have had conflicting advice around deadening; some saying it makes a massive difference, others saying that insulation, boarding where necessary and carpeting is all you need.
What's the consensus on the forum, does it make all the difference or not; and if it does, which is the best to go for?

 

[Stay Frosty]

Watch the THQ video on YouTube and sound deaden that bad boy like your conscience tells you to, there's no excuse for cutting corners.

 

[david173]

there is no single silver bullet but it all helps, you just dont need full coverage as its the rule of diminishing returns.

tap the panel if it 'tings' put some on till its a nice satisfying 'thud'

as its usually the first job I would definately do it, hard to do once you have insulated etc afterwards

 

[denz1968]

Deffo do it. We did every inch of our vans panels and the difference is satisfying compared to some vans that aren't done or have minimal sound deadening.

It is a tedious and time consuming job, but well worth the effort.

 

[Paynewright]

With the butyl sound deadening I think it follows the law of diminishing returns - I don’t think you’d notice much difference between 80% coverage and 100%. I’m no sound expert but the butyl is supposed to stop metal body panel resonance and there comes a point where adding more achieves little. Its quite heavy too.

For us the big change was carpeting the side and roof panels as it stopped the noise bouncing around. A bit like when you hang curtains in a room - they change the sound effect. Our downstairs loo is quite echoy - when there are coats on the back of the door it is less so (good job sometimes!)

 

[rod_vw]

I used 3M Thinsulate, not cheap I know, in the five conversions that I have done. They were all LWB models with fibreglass high roofs added (except one which was a factory high roof). Thinsulate is both a heat insulator and sound deadener.