Vibration Dampening using Dynamat & Raammat

Directly to the skin of the van, we applied Dynamat Xtreme and Raammat (essentially the same product, except Dynamat is a little pricier). This is an aluminum foil backed butyl rubber product. In theory, applying it directly to large sections of sheet metal help to dampen the vibration of the metal and reduce road noise.

Only tools needed: cleaner for the van body, scissors or razorblade to cut Dynamat strips, and a spudger tool to ensure good contact with the van body.

At first we thought this stuff was snake oil. We bought a conservative amount and covered about 50% of our wheel wells and took it for a test drive - OH. MY. GOD. This stuff is amazing! The loudest and most annoying sound emanating from the cargo area of the empty van had been the noise from rain being slung into the wheel wells by the tires. With the Dynamat, we reduced this noise to almost nothing!

When applying large sections of Dynamat, removing a little bit of the paper at a time as we went helped us to keep the Dynamat aligned and avoid air bubbles between the sticky side and the van.

Adding Dynamat to the wheel wells made the most noticeable difference in sound - the super annoying reverberating noise from rain and road debris splashing against the metal was nearly eliminated. 

We excitedly began to apply it to every flat section of sheet metal we could find – wheel wells, walls, doors, roof, and even behind some of the interior trim in the cab floor and doors. Photos shown on the Dyanmat website seem to recommend covering 100% of the surface area you are trying to quiet, but we figured this was probably unnecessary and would be way too expensive for a giant van. By knocking on the metal with our knuckles after applying each strip of Dynamat, we could tell once we reached critical damping (typically around 25-30% coverage).

After we ran out of Dynamat, we bought some more Raammat and kept going until every large unsupported sheet metal section was covered. Now, our big empty cargo van sounds a lot more like a luxury sedan rather than an old abused school bus.