Zilla Mat sound deadener installation in #50's cab.

[terry1167]

Hey Robroy. Your work is oustanding and the cab looks excellent! The rubber mat looks very nice. I would still encourage you to put down a layer of the jute insulation or something in-between the Zillamat and your rubbermat. I think you will be more pleased with the results. My Either way, lookin fantastic and the difference will be awesome!

Thanks for the update and great pics!

[robroy]

Good day Terry, thanks for your quality reply!!!

Hey Robroy. Your work is oustanding and the cab looks excellent!

Thank you Terry--that's nice of you to say! I think I'm doing an awkward beginner's job installing this stuff, but this is the only way I'll learn how.

The rubber mat looks very nice.

Thanks! It's from Dennis Carpenter, and it smells fantastic.

I would still encourage you to put down a layer of the jute insulation or something in-between the Zillamat and your rubbermat. I think you will be more pleased with the results. My

Yeah you could be right about this. I actually do have a roll of thin-ish jute insulation material that I could use for this. It's not the most premium stuff in the universe, but already having it simplifies things a lot.

Either way, lookin fantastic and the difference will be awesome!

Thanks Terry!!!

Thanks for the update and great pics!

You're most abundantly welcome! If it weren't for your awesome thread on this material, I'd have never known it even existed!

Today's Update:

Last Sunday I installed a little more Zilla Mat, this time on the driver's side. It was hard to cut it out to fit nicely around stuff there, since that's the complex side! But I'm starting to get used to this stuff a little bit, so it turned out better than I figured it would.




Still lots more to do, but it's fun to see it actually getting installed at least!

Terry, thank you again for your most excellent reply!
Robroy

[MaiTai]

Hello - how did it turn out? Was there a big difference in interior noise?

[robroy]

Good evening MaiTai, thanks for posting!

Hello - how did it turn out? Was there a big difference in interior noise?

Unfortunately I haven't finished it in all this time--basically a whole month! I've scarcely even been out in the garage to look at the truck since the last post I made here.

I'll be certain to update this thread though as I finish it, and I'll let you know the results! Thanks for being interested and for posting MaiTai.

Robroy

[UNCLE BOO]

Hi, Robroy! Great thread going here!

It's always great to see all the different things people are doing out there, and their willingness to share their experience and expertise.

I, too, plan to use a similar (or the same) sound dampener when I get to that stage of my project (still a long way off). Are you also planning to cover the floor under the seat, and the cab back? The way that stuff goes on, I can see using it to cover almost all the interior surfaces (roof and door interiors). It will be quiet as a coffin!

Look forward to seeing more progress, when you get a chance to get back to the garage!

[robroy]

Good evening Uncle Boo, thanks for replying!

Hi, Robroy! Great thread going here!

Thanks!

It's always great to see all the different things people are doing out there, and their willingness to share their experience and expertise.

Yeah, I've sure learned a lot from reading threads here.

I, too, plan to use a similar (or the same) sound dampener when I get to that stage of my project (still a long way off).

Excellent!

Are you also planning to cover the floor under the seat, and the cab back? The way that stuff goes on, I can see using it to cover almost all the interior surfaces (roof and door interiors). It will be quiet as a coffin!

"Quiet as a coffin" I'm not planning on covering those areas now, but I might change my mind later on.

Look forward to seeing more progress, when you get a chance to get back to the garage!

Thanks for being interested!

Today's Update:

Today I stretched the roll back out to warm up on the tailgate.



Then I covered the one remaining area:



I then stuck some slabs of this stuff up against the roof, and WOW did that make a difference! I haven't even driven the truck yet, but just tapping on the sheet metal makes the noise reduction pretty obvious. Once I install a head-liner it will probably be even better.



I still have a lot of the roll left! When I take the doors apart next I might lay some down on their insides.



Uncle Boo, thank you again for replying, and I hope your Saturday night's perfect!
Robroy

[terry1167]

Lookin pretty sweet, Robroy! Thanks for posting the updates and pics.

[robroy]

Good morning Terry!!!

Lookin pretty sweet, Robroy! Thanks for posting the updates and pics.

You're welcome--and thanks to you for letting us know about this stuff!

As seems to be the case with many parts of this project, I just begin to get the hang of how to do something by the time I'm wrapping it up. Although I read it in the instructions, I doubted that leaving the protective sheet mostly ON, and just peeling away enough kind of anchor it where I wanted it to lay, would really be effective. Finally near the end I started doing this, and found that it's pretty easy to pull the protective sheeting away as I'm pressing the piece in to place--the protective sheeting doesn't get caught under the slab of Zilla Mat like I thought it might.

I've also gotten the idea that the main job Zilla Mat's doing is reinforcing sheet metal, to prevent it from vibrating. I'm starting to see how laying down a layer of more traditional, jute-based sound deadening material as you did would complement it well.

Thanks for your excellent reply Terry!
Robroy

[UNCLE BOO]

You are entirely welcome, robroy! And, thank YOU for posting this thread! Your experience is going to help a lot of us out here, when we get to this stage ourselves.

They say you learn from your mistakes. Well, you can also learn from other's mistakes....if they are willing to share their experiences openly. The little things you learned as you went through this installation (what works and what doesn't so well) and shared with us will help us when we build up the courage to do the same project! Cudos to you, man!

Bruce.

[bjde0b]

Robroy - Did the zilla mat make your truck smell like asphault? Any problems with loss of adhesion on the roof? Are you still happy with Zilla Mat or would you look into something else?

[robroy]

Good day Bruce and Bjde0b, thank you both for replying!

Bruce, thanks for appreciating the effort I've put in!

Robroy - Did the zilla mat make your truck smell like asphault?

I wish!!! No, unfortunately there's zero asphalt smell now. So if I want that, I'll have to put some sacks of asphalt in the bed and leave the rear sliding window open.

Any problems with loss of adhesion on the roof?

Nope, although I know why you're asking! It takes something awfully sticky to stay upside down that that, despite road vibration. So far it's 100% stuck there, and it doesn't look like that's going to change any time soon. This stuff is extremely sticky!

Are you still happy with Zilla Mat or would you look into something else?

I'm happy with it, and I'd choose to use it again, although my evaluation might not be that great because I have nothing else to compare it to.

Based on the small amount of driving I've done since installation, I can tell that it's quieter, yet it's still very far from what I'd call quiet. I think that's mostly because the majority of the noise is coming from the engine compartment, and there wasn't any change to the insulation between the engine area and the cab.

I might pull the floor mat back up and put some regular jute-style sound insulation down, which might help more. But it's OK for now; there are other parts of the truck that I'll be focusing on before working on this more.

I get the impression that if a guy really wants a quiet cab, the whole floor area, and maybe even the firewall, needs to be covered with both something like Zillamat, and another layer of sound insulation. I think that the most important thing that this Zillamat does is keep sheet metal from vibrating, and it seems to do a great job of that! But the approach Terry took with his truck's probably the best if a guy's seriously looking for major results.

Bruce and Bjde0b, thanks for your most excellent replies!
Robroy

[bjde0b]

I bought RaAMmat today based on an analysis review of different products.

[MaiTai]

Wonder how this would be glued on top of the Zillamat - http://www.wayfair.com/Floor-Muffler-Ul ... 49-FMU1000

Seems to have good sound ratings at a decent price

[billbates40]

Wonder how this would be glued on top of the Zillamat - http://www.wayfair.com/Floor-Muffler-Ul ... 49-FMU1000

Seems to have good sound ratings at a decent price

That is a good find. Someone will have to try it out.

BTW Those Yellow Seats are amazing!!!

[70_F100]

Wonder how this would be glued on top of the Zillamat - http://www.wayfair.com/Floor-Muffler-Ul ... 49-FMU1000

Seems to have good sound ratings at a decent price

As thin as it is, I doubt you would notice much difference on top of the Zillamat. The Zillamat mostly works by dampening the vibrations of the sheet metal, so the majority of the work is done.

I work in foam manufacturing, and I know that foam is a good insulator/sound deadener. We sell our scrap foam to companies that make carpet padding and I've looked at some of the finished products. The composite-type paddings have a fairly smooth surface, and I would think that the 1/2 inch stuff would make excellent sound deadener when used along with the Zillamat and would be good padding for the carpet as well. I'm pretty sure it could be glued to the Zilla without a lot of trouble since the surface is somewhat sealed.