Sound Deadening Car Doors – DIY Guide & How-to

Noise coming through your vehicle doors can be one of the most annoying things to experience. Even when you close the car windows and turn the radio up, there’s a good chance that you’ll still be able to hear the noise.

I really hate it when I’m driving and I’m unable to hear my favorite song, and I know you might be here because you’re facing a similar problem. You won’t have to waste your time on research, because there are a number of easy ways to effectively soundproof your car doors, and I’m here to fill you in on those.

Otherwise, aside from traffic noise, some car doors produce annoying rattling sounds, but I’ve got you covered! This problem is pretty easy to fix and won’t require much of your time.

Sound-Deadening Car Doors

1. Prepare All the Tools and Materials You’ll Need

The first thing you’ll need to do is prepare the materials you’ll require to get the job done. You may already have some of these materials and tools at home.

These days, you don’t have to spend a fortune to soundproof your car doors; you just have to be up-to-date on the methods! These are the materials you’ll be needing:

  1. A self-adhesive, sound-absorbing mat or tape of a similar type. I recommend the thick Noico 80 mil (click here to check out the current price online).
  2. A screwdriver. You can use any screwdriver, as long as it’s able to open your car door.
  3. A small pick to pry off smaller parts.

Those are the only things you’ll need at the moment to noiseproof your car doors. I know you might think the soundproofing process is difficult, but it’s actually quite easy, and you’ll be finished in no time (if I did it, I know you can do it as well!).

2. Remove the Car Door Panel

The first thing you’ll be doing is removing the door, and in order to do this, you’ll have to pry off the parts that aren’t screwed on with a small pick or a flat screwdriver.

You should also keep in mind that car doors are made to be taken apart easily, so you won’t have to use any force. Plus, if you take the time to read up on your car doors, this will allow you to determine exactly where to press so the parts can be easily popped off.

Once you’ve successfully pried off all the parts, you should be able to see some screws. This is where the screwdriver comes into play. While unscrewing each part, I highly suggest that you take some pictures of where each of the screws came from. This will help you out when you’re ready to put the panel back on.

Now that all the screws are out, you should be able to successfully remove the panel. Make sure you unscrew the speakers if they’re built into the door, and disconnect any wire connections, as doing so will make it much easier for you to get the job done. Again, taking pictures before doing anything is extremely helpful.

3. Remove the Protective Seal

A large number of cars have a protective seal under the door panel. If your car has one, you’ll need to partially remove the seal by using a razor blade or a utility knife. Just pay close attention, so you don’t damage the airbag.

To be on the safe side, you can start at the top and use the razor blade or utility knife to slightly remove the seal, until you have enough space to attach the sound-dampening material.

4. Insert the Sound-Deadening Tape

Once you’ve successfully removed the panel and the seals, it’ll be time to put some self-adhesive tape on the door. You can start with the innermost part of the door frame, but remember that you don’t have to completely cover the metal. What I recommend is to cover at least a quarter of the surface.

For this, I suggest using Noico. It’s considered the best material for this project because of its thickness. Noico is actually twice as thick as some other soundproofing materials on the market!

All you have to do is carefully measure the door and stick the tape in every space you find. When you’ve applied enough material through the holes in the frame towards the inside of the door, you can also cover the frame itself. If you want to cover the entire door, you’ll be able to do this in small sections.

5. Check the Results

Now that everything’s finished, all you’ll have to do is check to see if it was worth it, by simply knocking on the door to see if anything happens. If you followed the instructions above correctly, the car door should sound quite different when you knock.

Because of the thick material, the doors will be a bit heavier, but for most people, soundproofing is probably far more important. I was pleasantly surprised by the results of this project, which is why I decided to share the information with others.

6. Replace the Door Panel

Now, all that’s left to do is put everything back the way it was before. Remember to reattach the protective layer and speakers if your doors had them to begin with.

Finally, put the door panel back where it originally was and screw it on. This shouldn’t be complicated, and then you’ll be finished!

Is Noiseproofing Your Car Worth It?

This is one of the most common questions I get from my readers, and the short answer is yes. Noiseproofing your car door is one of the most effective things you can do if you want to reduce unwanted road noise and improve the overall acoustics of your vehicle.

Conclusion

I hope you found this article helpful! You won’t need a professional to pull this off—all you’ll need to put in is a bit of time and effort, and you should be fine.

Here’s another interesting article for you to check out: 5 Best Dynamat Alternatives 2019.

image: Pixabay

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