Sound Deadening Guide for Scion xB
 

If you've installed an aftermarket exhaust system and stereo, you're probably fighting a battle with cabin drone on the highway. This guide will demonstrate the removal of interior components and the installation of the deadening material. For this project, you will need:

1. Sound deadener (I used 50 sq ft of B-quiet extreme)
2. Sharp knife
3. Turpentine
4. Basic tool set
5. Wooden roller

Step 1: Remove the rear seats and interior
Take out the rear covers, cargo tray and spare tire. Remove the sill trim and the four bolts (two per side) that retain the side panels behind the rear seats.

https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/da...m/DSC00330.jpg

Remove the bolts as marked, there are two for cargo hold-downs and three for the rear seat. Open the rear doors and remove the rear seat bottom by popping up the front and then pushing in and up to detach the retaining tab from the hook in the seat frame. You will now see two more bolts on the floor to be removed. There are also two bolts on each side - both are 14mm. Two retain the seat belts, while the remaining two bolt down the rear seat. Use a wrench on the seat bolts while pulling the fabric away to remove them. Now, remove the rear seats and the plastic side panels.

Step 2: Remove the seat belts and carpet:

https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/da...m/DSC00332.jpg

Once the seat belts are removed, all the carpet can be taken up and set aside.

Step 3: Lay down your matting:

https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/da...m/DSC00333.jpg

The rear floor has a plastic insert that fits in the bottom of the spare tire well. I debated whether to cover it over and decided to go for it. Pre-cut lengths of material to go side-to-side across the floor.

Tip: You will need to leave holes in the matting for all of the bolts that have to go back in later. Cut a small "X" over each bolt hole as you lay your material.

https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/da...m/DSC00334.jpg

This material has a silver facing that will face out. You will remove the paper backing to expose a tarry substance that is extremely sticky. Pull the paper back about two inches from the edge that you wish to lay first, and rub your hand over the exposed silver facing. Then, slowly remove the rest of the backing while running your hand over each exposed section to stick it down. When each length has been laid, run over it with the wooden roller (you DID purchase one with your material, didn't you?) It takes three lengths to cover the floor. I used two layers of material.

Step 4: Cover the wheelwells:

This photo shows the flooring that has been covered, as well as one wheelwell. I used two layers on the wheelwells as well.

https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/da...m/DSC00335.jpg

Step 5: Reinstall the interior:

Just follow the steps backwards. Be careful to have your seat belts in FRONT of the rear seat bar when you bolt the seat down. I had a seat belt flop under the bar and had to back up a bit to get it right. Once the interior is back in place, you can move to the doors to lay matting in behind each door panel.

Step 6: Lay matting in each door:

https://www.scionlife.com/gallery/da...m/DSC00347.jpg

This photo shows matting that has been laid in a rear door. When working on the doors, you'll have to peel up the blue plastic vapor barrier that is sealed with a tarry gum. Be careful, since you'll want to get this back into place later. The exposed hole in the rear door will allow you to lay quite a bit of material inside the rear door. Your windows need to be rolled up to work inside the doors.

For the front doors, you can lay material through the hole opposite the speakers, then remove the speakers to fill in behind them. It's kind of like delivering a calf... you stick your arm in and work it around... well, if you haven't actually done it, you get the idea.

Door panels are removed by taking out a screw in the door release and one in the handle for all doors. The fronts also have a plastic rivet. Gently pull the door panels away from the doors. If a plastic retaining rivet pops out, replace it before putting the panel back on. The rear hatch panel is retained by 13 plastic rivets.

A LOT of exhaust drone comes through the rear hatch. I placed strips of mat between the bracing on the hatch and put two sheets of mat over the factory padding on the back of the hatch panel. This resulted in a very significant lowering of exhaust drone at freeway speeds.

Step 7: Clean the knife and your hands with the turpentine. Then, go for a drive, you deserve it.

exactly what i was looking for

:clap:

sweet.

Hey Mikochu!!! Can you hear me!!!!

Excellent write up! :clap:

:bow: nice great work great write up - i was wonderng those are sony speakers right if so what model number are they and do they fit with any custom brackets??? one more time good ____ :clap:

nice job

Nice write up, pics, work...Nice. Oh, how long did it take?

Those are indeed Sony speakers. They are 5 1/2" units, and there is an adapter available. I think I got mine at CarDomain. For some weird reason, Crutchfield had either the front or the rear adapters (but not both), while CarDomain had the other. Both adapters are from the same company... Scosche.

Link to front speaker adapters:
http://www.crutchfield.com/S-t4bUKho...3200&I=142SAT6

And the rears:
http://www.sounddomain.com/item/SCOSASCN656

As for how long it takes... I probably spent about 3 hours on the job. I'd say 3-5 hours is a good estimate. If you have help, it would shorten the time.

i see that most people put their brand of "mat" on top of the plastic......

so it should go inside the door???? Because I'm about to do mine in a few weeks... ?

I chose not to put the deadener on top of the vapor barrier to preserve panel fit and to allow access to the doors for maintenance.

good write up! I'll add it to the tech section now...

Travst,

How much sq. foot of material did you have left over after the install?

and is their a big weight increase afterwords?

50 sq ft is enough to do the whole car, including floorboards. I didn't have any left over, because I used up the remainder covering some sections twice. As for weight, I estimate the weight of all the material at about 25 lbs.

Just as a note to all who plan to do this, this type of sound deadener should be adhered directly to the surface you want to reduce noise from. It works by reducing surface vibration. Think of it kind of like a shock absorber. If you don't apply it directly to the surface, it's just acting like a sonic barrier and that's not what it's designed to do. There are specific products that don't require direct adhesion. Just look for the gray matting under the carpet and other areas of your car.

I checked the manufacturer's site...they say it's 0.3 lbs/sq ft, which would make it 15 pounds of material. Well worth the weight, I'm sure.

There are a few things you could have done to improve the install. 1. The majority of your noise isn't going to come through the floor. That's the last thing you should have deadened, because of several factors. It's already got an undercoating on it, to reduce some of teh road noise, etc. The majority of your noise (you've got an Xb correct?) Is coming through the hatch. Deaden the hatch, and you'll eliminate lots of your noise, as it's the worst part of the rear section for rattle. 2. Another thing you could have done to improve the install, and make it easier to roll flat, would have been to use a heat gun (or a hair dryer would even work) to heat it up to make it more maleable. This would have made it easier to roll out. 3. When putting the screws back, add some rubber washers to cushion the metal to metal contact (that's another source of rattle).

Sound deadening is often effective, for the most part, in eliminating the rattle that you want. You'll never get all of it, no matter how hard you try, how much you spend, etc. A good way to find the spots you need to deaden isto take your knuckle, a tool, etc and rap the panel with it. If it makes a ting or hollow sound, add deadened. If it doesn't make any sound or a dead solid sound, then you can save that for later. The thing you're doing is mass loading. The idea is to make the frequency of the panel change to one that's not able to be reached by energy that your vehicle puts on it to vibrate it. You want to eliminate metal to metal (or plastic to metal, etc) contact to remove rattle. You also want to deaden broad spans of metal as they'll get some sonic vibration. Again, it's up to your own interpretation, but the object is to leiminate the contact and to keep panels from resonating. The floor is the least likely to do that, and that's why I'd save it till last.

I've been under my xB several times and don't ever remember seeing any undercoating.

:bow: oh my nice job,umm want to come do mine

havent seen much under there either, except an undercoating of dirt