What to use to cut noise in back of Chevy panel van ?

In reply to DeadSkunk :

Be careful about spray foam directly on the walls of a van. I’ve heard it will shrink and warp the outside walls of the van. 

In reply to Nate90LX :

I've seen two vans that had it done with no ill effects that I'm aware of.

californiamilleghia said:

In reply to DeadSkunk :

How does the foam outgas in hot weather ?

No idea, just know of a couple of vans that had it done. One was paneled over the foam, the other was paneled and carpeted.

In reply to AngryCorvair :

"That new muffler sure makes the car quiet!"

stuart in mn said:

logdog said:

We used Foam board from Lowes in The Candy Van.  It quieted the ride down a great deal and helps a ton with keeping it warm. It was easy to work with and I would use it again.  We used mostly 1 inch but I got some 1/2 to make door panels.  On the doors I used duct tape on the bare edges.  

Any issues with the foam squeaking where the edges are pressed against the van structure, when going over bumps or on rough pavement?

As for the peel and stick products, remember that you don't have to have 100% coverage - just putting some strips of the stuff on instead will accomplish most of what you're trying to do to reduce booming and drumming inside the van.

I can't say I have noticed any squeaking.  Overall the van is much quieter with it.  But I may not be hearing it over the massive wind noises from the door seals 

John Welsh said:

logdog said:

We used Foam board from Lowes in The Candy Van.  It quieted the ride down a great deal and helps a ton with keeping it warm. It was easy to work with and I would use it again.  We used mostly 1 inch but I got some 1/2 to make door panels.  On the doors I used duct tape on the bare edges.  

Does this also do a good job of muffling the screams and cries for help after they are lured in with the offer of free candy? 

Well, we DID win a trophy for scariest van...

BTW, does this rag smell like chloroform to you?

In reply to logdog :

Did you put a batch of tie down hooks inside ?

Just in case.,...

californiamilleghia said:

In reply to logdog :

Did you put a batch of tie down hooks inside ?

Just in case.,...

Maybe.....

I tried polystyrene in my old van.  Maybe if you put it in properly it works, but have you ever driven down the road with a styrofoam cooler in the back seat?  The squeaks drive me mad.  My van sounded like I had 250 styrofoam coolers in the back.

Undercoating won't do much for sound, and be forewarned.  If you use it on interior panels, the smell will last an incredibly long time.  It will be like sleeping with an open gallon of Napthalene and Diesel for the first several months.

Bedliner dries pretty hard, so it won't have the viscous properties that are so good at killing sound.

You want a mixture of hard/soft/hard/soft.  The secret is, sound doesn't like to change.  Any time you ask it to travel through a different state, it loses a lot of its energy.  Low frequencies are pretty good at passing through hard things, but high frequencies bounce off of it.  It's the opposite for soft, viscous things like foam, dynamat, etc.

If I were doing it again, I would line the walls with some form of soft insulation with a vapor barrier.  No matter what you do, small space + damp breath + cold steel means that whatever air gets behind the wall to the steel will sweat.  Choose an insulation that won't promote mold.  Then a layer of something hard like Luan.  That will prevent a lot of heat transfer and also kill a lot of noise.  If you find that the inside is too echo-ish, you can line the inside of the luan with something like low pile carpet, headliner fabric, or just some muslin or flannel.  That combination of layers gives you hard (body panel), soft (insulation), hard (luan), and soft (carpet/flannel)

One more thought:  I don't know if the later vans had different body ribs, but some of the later cargo vans were lined with plastic panels and tie-down points.  I might consider the easy button... snag the panels from the later cargo van, and snag a headliner from a passenger van.

In reply to Curtis :

thanks for your ideas ,  not too many Chevy Express passanger vans around ,  plus right now pick a part must be a swamp with all the rain !

I know my VW bug has a  thick tar paper glued in the doors and rear 1/4 panels at the factory to stop the noise some ,  

Maybe it better to just isolate the front seating area more , or get a louder Radio :)

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DeadSkunk said:

Get it spray foamed and then line it with whatever you wish.

Back when I used to run body shops, this was a huge problem.  If you do this, just know that you may never be able to have body work done and you may be dropped from your insurance if you try to.

At the shop we found all kinds of crazy stuff.  We got a mustang with rear end damage and found that the left quarter well behind the wheel was filled with concrete to (apparently) patch a small rust hole.  It was probably a 50 lb chunk of concrete.  The service writer called the insurance company for a supplement which got the customer in hot water for "non disclosed modifications, modifications inconsistent with safety, blah blah."  The poor guy had just bought the Mustang, and the concrete looked 10 years old, so it wasn't really his fault, but his insurance wouldn't pay.  I forget if the company paid their original amount for what the repair should have cost, but as of when the guy came to get his still-smashed Mustang, he brought a trailer because he said his company dropped him.

If anyone came in with Dynamat, spray foam, or other non-factory stuff that was in our way, we called them first and told them how it would go.  Trust me... if you need a shop to fix some body work and there is spray foam in the way, be prepared to open up your own wallet for a significant bump.  This is why I use easily-removable stuff.  It's easy to take out 10 screws and luan and let the insulation sheet fall out.  Not so easy to remove 10cuft of hardened spray foam.

californiamilleghia said:

In reply to Curtis :

thanks for your ideas ,  not too many Chevy Express passanger vans around ,  plus right now pick a part must be a swamp with all the rain !

I know my VW bug has a  thick tar paper glued in the doors and rear 1/4 panels at the factory to stop the noise some ,  

Maybe it better to just isolate the front seating area more , or get a louder Radio :)

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Haaa.... maybe very true where you are, but I live in Amish country.  You can't throw a rock around here without hitting a black chevy passenger van   We call them Yoder Toters

Isolating the cabin is a good idea.  You could make a curtain with some heavy fabric like velour.  We use that a lot in theater for its sound-absorbing ability.

Double bubble roll from Lowes Depot. Not the absolute best at insulating or sound deadening but cheap. Spot apply w/ spray adhesive.

Curtis said:

californiamilleghia said:

In reply to Curtis :

thanks for your ideas ,  not too many Chevy Express passanger vans around ,  plus right now pick a part must be a swamp with all the rain !

I know my VW bug has a  thick tar paper glued in the doors and rear 1/4 panels at the factory to stop the noise some ,  

Maybe it better to just isolate the front seating area more , or get a louder Radio :)

​​​​​​

 

Haaa.... maybe very true where you are, but I live in Amish country.  You can't throw a rock around here without hitting a black chevy passenger van   We call them Yoder Toters

Around here it's 90 percent plus white panel vans , I would have loved any other color but black ,  too much sun for black and then I would have to wash it :)

My favorite foam noise-reducer for a stripped interior is soft foam earplugs.  Seriously.

JBasham said:

My favorite foam noise-reducer for a stripped interior is soft foam earplugs.  Seriously.

But then I would have to turn the radio real.LOUD. ?

I do have foam earplugs in the van for sleeping  on planes etc

Canoe deleted