Chevy BrightDrop Forum banner
1.3K views 29 replies 11 participants last post by  Vega  
#1 ·
I thought I'd start a new thread specifically focused on sound dampening the BrightDrop. As those of us who have them know, they are quite loud in the cab at freeway speed. Would be great if folks could share their experiences, solutions, and photos to help the community approach solving the problem.

To kick things off, here's a decent article about what one needs to consider when dampening sound in a vehicle: How to Soundproof a Car - Second Skin Audio

Obviously these people have a product to sell, but that doesn't make them wrong.
 
#3 ·
From my research it seems like Resonix may be the best product.


It's also the most expensive of course... but it will be what I go with.
 
#4 ·
From my research it seems like Resonix may be the best product.
Does it also insulate or is it just sound? I'm looking to do some insulating in the cab at the same time. Certainly can do one layer on another, but if there's a combined product, cuts down the work by roughly 50%!
 
#6 ·
One issue I'd like to raise here is noise on coarse roads. It is remarkable how much quieter a smooth road can seem just after you've left a coarse one.
I wonder if something on the skid plate would help- kilmat or possibly some ribbed material.
Also, I wonder if each tire could be fenced or walled off near the contact patch. Particularily the rear non turning wheels could have a fence very close. Maybe foam like a camping bedroll mat.
 
#12 ·
Question: can the kilmat style butyl rubber sound mats be applied to the exterior surfaces? For example, our rear wheel wells are just bare aluminum. I was thinking of spraying the underside with rubber coat and applying sound mat strategically on the inside, but could the underside of the wheel well be completely covered with kilmat? Or would gravel just chew it up? Completely exposed to the tire.
 
#19 ·
The things which reduce sounds:
  • absorption - making sound waves run them self out of energy like foams
  • mass - heavy things which are difficult to get to vibrate
  • stiffness - same concept as mass

They all work on different wavelength. Foams are great on higher frequencies, and mass is good for lower. And stiffness works across the board.

The most important one:
- Airtightness, one 1/4 hole makes the whole assembly almost useless.
 
#27 ·
Solid info!

I recently sound isolated a second floor in my house. I was trying to reduce noise transmission between the second and first floor. For the low frequency noises the best thing was MLV (mass loaded vinyl) as an underlayment to the wood floor. This stuff is a 1lb per sqft (you can get double that that too). What worked best for the high frequency noises was sealing all gaps. I triple sealed the door between the floors and added a hanging sound blanket.
the sound transmission went from understanding conversations between floors to only hear murmuring (if at all).
All to say: mass and gaps are key for sealing sounds out.