Complete sound and heat insulation
04-23-2016, 10:47 AM
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JK Super Freak
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Complete sound and heat insulation
One of the few significant complaints I have about the wrangler is the lack of insulation on the interior. It's too loud for talking on the cell phone, stereo sound is drown out and heat/cold are a constant battle. On my previous jeep I used a name brand insulation kit for my hard top. It helped, but the 3m adhesive tape didn't like to stay attached and it only addressed the hard top. So I suffered with various pieces flapping in the breeze and bought a roll of fat mat for the foot wells.
The nice thing about fat mat or any other brand of sound mat is that once it's applied, it's never coming off. The downside is that lining your hard top in aluminum foil isn't very attractive. Doing a little Google foo, I searched around for something that had a more appealing finish. Thanks to Amazon, I found noico foam insulation pad. Turns out, this self adhesive black foam is meant to stick to sound mat. Now I've got 2 layers of insulation and it will look good.
Today, I've started with the freedom panels. This will give me a sense for how it all works before I tackle the main hard top section. Both materials are 18" wide which is perfect. The first thing I did was lay out one panel and unrolled a length of fat mat over the top. I pushed down and shaped the corners, traced them with a pen and marked the end. Then I moved the freedom panel out of the way and used an exacto knife to cut the pattern. Once I had the shape cut, I put it in the freedom panel to make any fine adjustments. Rounding a pair of corners was all it needed. Next, I flipped the shaped boom mat over and test fit it to the other panel. Yay, it's the same dimensions. I unrolled some more boom mat, used the already shaped piece as a template, traced the outline with a pencil, removed the template and cut the second piece. I test fit it, fine tuning a couple edges and I'm golden.
Next, I used the boom mat templates to cut the foam insulation. Matched both pieces and bobs your uncle.
Now for the fun part...
Setting a freedom panel on my work bench (dining room table if you're going to be technical about it) and lined up the boom mat. Starting with the narrower end, I peeled back about 6" of the backing paper and used my $20 heat gun from harbor freight to make the tar adhesive tacky. Forget patchouli, this still smells amazing. Now I very carefully lined up the corners and used my hand to press the first bit to the fiberglass. Phew, I did it right. Using the supplied hand roller, I rolled the boom mat, squishing it down onto the freedom top. Rinse and repeat, un peeling about 6" at a time, heating it, laying it and rolling it. Once I got it all layer down, I gave it one more pass with the roller and everything is good. Then I grabbed the foam insulation, peeled the backing tape and started to apply that with the same technique (minus the heat gun). Rolled it as I went 6" at a time. Take your time with the foam, if you rush it and air gets trapped, it will create bubbles. If this happens you can use the tip of the exacto knife to pop it, then hit it with the roller.
I did the same with the other panel and reinstalled. Looks great. Next up will be the hardtop. Since that bad boy won't fit on my dining room table (I mean my work bench) I'll set it on a blanket on the garage floor. The top should be straightforward, but I think for the Windows I'll make paper templates and cut material to match since the space is only a couple inches wide.
Materials:
FatMAt rattletrap sound deadener 50ft 80mm thick 109.99 (includes roller and exacto knife)
Noico liner 37.5sf heat and cool auto insulation pad 157mm 55.00
El cheapo harbor freight heat gun 19.99
Time invested so far: about 90 minutes for the freedom panels.
What's next: main section of the hard top, est 2 hours plus. Floor pan from firewall to cargo area. I won't use the foam since the floor pan will be under the carpet. Estimated time for floors, approx 4+ hours ( removing seats and carpet, while not breaking or losing clips).
Benefits: significant reduction in road noise, easier time maintaining heat or cold.
The nice thing about fat mat or any other brand of sound mat is that once it's applied, it's never coming off. The downside is that lining your hard top in aluminum foil isn't very attractive. Doing a little Google foo, I searched around for something that had a more appealing finish. Thanks to Amazon, I found noico foam insulation pad. Turns out, this self adhesive black foam is meant to stick to sound mat. Now I've got 2 layers of insulation and it will look good.
Today, I've started with the freedom panels. This will give me a sense for how it all works before I tackle the main hard top section. Both materials are 18" wide which is perfect. The first thing I did was lay out one panel and unrolled a length of fat mat over the top. I pushed down and shaped the corners, traced them with a pen and marked the end. Then I moved the freedom panel out of the way and used an exacto knife to cut the pattern. Once I had the shape cut, I put it in the freedom panel to make any fine adjustments. Rounding a pair of corners was all it needed. Next, I flipped the shaped boom mat over and test fit it to the other panel. Yay, it's the same dimensions. I unrolled some more boom mat, used the already shaped piece as a template, traced the outline with a pencil, removed the template and cut the second piece. I test fit it, fine tuning a couple edges and I'm golden.
Next, I used the boom mat templates to cut the foam insulation. Matched both pieces and bobs your uncle.
Now for the fun part...
Setting a freedom panel on my work bench (dining room table if you're going to be technical about it) and lined up the boom mat. Starting with the narrower end, I peeled back about 6" of the backing paper and used my $20 heat gun from harbor freight to make the tar adhesive tacky. Forget patchouli, this still smells amazing. Now I very carefully lined up the corners and used my hand to press the first bit to the fiberglass. Phew, I did it right. Using the supplied hand roller, I rolled the boom mat, squishing it down onto the freedom top. Rinse and repeat, un peeling about 6" at a time, heating it, laying it and rolling it. Once I got it all layer down, I gave it one more pass with the roller and everything is good. Then I grabbed the foam insulation, peeled the backing tape and started to apply that with the same technique (minus the heat gun). Rolled it as I went 6" at a time. Take your time with the foam, if you rush it and air gets trapped, it will create bubbles. If this happens you can use the tip of the exacto knife to pop it, then hit it with the roller.
I did the same with the other panel and reinstalled. Looks great. Next up will be the hardtop. Since that bad boy won't fit on my dining room table (I mean my work bench) I'll set it on a blanket on the garage floor. The top should be straightforward, but I think for the Windows I'll make paper templates and cut material to match since the space is only a couple inches wide.
Materials:
FatMAt rattletrap sound deadener 50ft 80mm thick 109.99 (includes roller and exacto knife)
Noico liner 37.5sf heat and cool auto insulation pad 157mm 55.00
El cheapo harbor freight heat gun 19.99
Time invested so far: about 90 minutes for the freedom panels.
What's next: main section of the hard top, est 2 hours plus. Floor pan from firewall to cargo area. I won't use the foam since the floor pan will be under the carpet. Estimated time for floors, approx 4+ hours ( removing seats and carpet, while not breaking or losing clips).
Benefits: significant reduction in road noise, easier time maintaining heat or cold.
