Wind and road noise.

[Carl Curtis]

I have a T6 SWB Kombi with twin sliding doors.
The road and wind noise coming through the doors is getting on my nerves. Particularly on motorways.
I have insulated the doors below the glass but its made no difference.
Am I the only one with this issue or is it common.
Are there any fixes?
Am I going to get anywhere whinging to VW about it?

Many thanks in anticipation.

Carl.

 

[DXX]

Search this forum on ‘sound deadening‘, there is a huge amount of information. No point in going back to VW, it’s a commercial vehicle, albeit an expensive one.

 

[Paynewright]

The extra seals on the front doors helps.

I’m just about to deaden most of the van - just waiting for a dry day to decibel check the ‘before’ noise level!

 

[Lukavell]

When you say insulated do you mean against noise or heat? If heat then you need to read up, as suggested by @DXX, about sound deadening. It's an easy job to do with great benefit to the noise levels in the cab.

 

[DXX]

The extra seals on the front doors helps.

I’m just about to deaden most of the van - just waiting for a dry day to decibel check the ‘before’ noise level!

I’m not sure what you are using to measure the dB level but I used an IPhone app. Although the van was noticeably quieter after sound deadening the app only picked up a slight reduction. I used the same road, same speed, gear, RPM and fixed phone position. Perhaps I was expecting too much from a free app.

 

[Lukavell]

I’m not sure what you are using to measure the dB level but I used an IPhone app. Although the van was noticeably quieter after sound deadening the app only picked up a slight reduction. I used the same road, same speed, gear, RPM and fixed phone position. Perhaps I was expecting too much from a free app.

Its my understanding that decibels is not a straight line curve of measurement which might explain why a couple of numbers difference sounds like a big difference.

 

[Paynewright]

I was planning to use an app.

remember that the decibel scale is logarithmic - if silence is 0 DB, then 10 DB is ten times louder than silence, 20DB is a hundred times louder, 30DB is a thousand times louder and so on

 

[Deaston]

I’m not sure what you are using to measure the dB level but I used an IPhone app. Although the van was noticeably quieter after sound deadening the app only picked up a slight reduction. I used the same road, same speed, gear, RPM and fixed phone position. Perhaps I was expecting too much from a free app.

What were the readings? Every -3dB is a halving of the sound levels.

 

[DXX]

What were the readings? Every -3dB is a halving of the sound levels.

It was hard to determine as it didn’t give a mean value. I realise it is not linear but my ears told me it was far better.

 

[Murdoch]

You won’t get very far with VW .... their accountants stopped them fitting decent soundproofing a while ago

i have the same model and I hate to say this but you have 2 choices

1. turn up the radio
2. read ALL the threads about sound proofing and act on them

different types of tyres can make a difference

i have wondered about adding a bulk head - this should help

 

[Insert Coin]

As above, get these - T5 T5.1 T6 Rubber Door Seal

 

[Lukavell]

i have wondered about adding a bulk head - this should help

Certainly helped in my old T5 kombi

 

[Carl Curtis]

Wow this thread has gone very technical with dB levels!!!
I have a bulkhead fitted and if im honest I cant say its made much difference.
I leaning towards the sliding windows being the main culprit.
In answer to sound deadening I have used fibreglass (rockwool) in the doors.

 

[Paynewright]

Wow this thread has gone very technical with dB levels!!!
I have a bulkhead fitted and if im honest I cant say its made much difference.
I leaning towards the sliding windows being the main culprit.
In answer to sound deadening I have used fibreglass (rockwool) in the doors.

Rockwool is insulation and fibreglass is not good, apparently its sponge like for water retention! Stuff made from plastic bottles is best.

Sound deadening is a fairly thin layer of butyl you stick on the panels to stop drumming. Several makes are available.

 

[Lukavell]

Plus if you put some kind of dense foam or mass loaded vinyl on top of that it'll be even more effective. All the sellers of the sound deadening kit sell sound absorbing stuff too.

I think rock wool is more suited to heat insulation as opposed to sound