Rear Wheel Well Insulation PICS!
01-04-2010, 01:54 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Rear Wheel Well Insulation PICS!
I finally broke down and put some additional insulation in my rear wheel wells. While I was in there, I added the Ace weatherstripping to reduce/eliminate the rocks collecting in the quarter panel.
My thoughts are that it did reduce the road noise coming up from the rear wheels some, particularly when the rear wheels hit bumps.
The disassembly is pretty straight forward: You only need one tool, a 7MM driver. The wheel well liner is one big piece.
Here are some of the bolts:
As indicated I was sick of the rocks accumulating:
It surprised me how Much dirt and how many rocks had accumulated. This is from the passenger side only, and the car has less than 4K miles:
Once the bolts are all out, there are 5 on the bottom, be prepared to get down on the ground to get them out, the liner can come out. You will have to wiggle and tug a good bit to get it out, but its flexible, so you really can't hurt it. I was surprised to find some sound insulation already on the top and back of the liner:
I was also surprised to find a black bag of sound insulation already in stuffed in the fender, in front of the wheels. In my old C5Z, I had put insulation in exactly the same place, so It's nice to see that Chevy figured it out as well:
The insulation I used is a roll of self adhesive Frost King duct insulation: Its a foil backed insulation you can get at Home Depot, etc. I also used some foil duct tape to help secure the insulation down better than with just the adhesive alone. I had some leftover Dynamat from another installations, so I put that on any flat surface as well:
Putting everything back together takes more jiggling and tugging to get everything into place, particularly since it fits tighter now with the insulation layer. Swearing is not required, but it helps.
Once back together, you can't really see the insulation, except where I went a little far with it. Regardless, you can't see it with the wheels back on:
The weatherstripping was installed after the liner was put back in: Just peel the adhesive backing and stuff it into the crevasse at the leading edge of the wheel well. I had to put two pieces at one particularly wide part on the driver's side.
Overall, I'm happy with it. The total project time was about 5 hours, about 2 longer than I expected, but I was taking my time.
My thoughts are that it did reduce the road noise coming up from the rear wheels some, particularly when the rear wheels hit bumps.
The disassembly is pretty straight forward: You only need one tool, a 7MM driver. The wheel well liner is one big piece.
Here are some of the bolts:
As indicated I was sick of the rocks accumulating:
It surprised me how Much dirt and how many rocks had accumulated. This is from the passenger side only, and the car has less than 4K miles:
Once the bolts are all out, there are 5 on the bottom, be prepared to get down on the ground to get them out, the liner can come out. You will have to wiggle and tug a good bit to get it out, but its flexible, so you really can't hurt it. I was surprised to find some sound insulation already on the top and back of the liner:
I was also surprised to find a black bag of sound insulation already in stuffed in the fender, in front of the wheels. In my old C5Z, I had put insulation in exactly the same place, so It's nice to see that Chevy figured it out as well:
The insulation I used is a roll of self adhesive Frost King duct insulation: Its a foil backed insulation you can get at Home Depot, etc. I also used some foil duct tape to help secure the insulation down better than with just the adhesive alone. I had some leftover Dynamat from another installations, so I put that on any flat surface as well:
Putting everything back together takes more jiggling and tugging to get everything into place, particularly since it fits tighter now with the insulation layer. Swearing is not required, but it helps.
Once back together, you can't really see the insulation, except where I went a little far with it. Regardless, you can't see it with the wheels back on:
The weatherstripping was installed after the liner was put back in: Just peel the adhesive backing and stuff it into the crevasse at the leading edge of the wheel well. I had to put two pieces at one particularly wide part on the driver's side.
Overall, I'm happy with it. The total project time was about 5 hours, about 2 longer than I expected, but I was taking my time.
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ws6outlaw (09-19-2023)
01-04-2010, 04:56 PM
#2
Pro
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Location: Clearfield Utah
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I had thought of doing this project as well - but I was concerned that the sound deading material wasn't water proof and might cause some problems. Let me know what you think.
01-04-2010, 05:54 PM
#4
Get Some!
01-04-2010, 06:05 PM
#6
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
The big variable is the road surface: Newer pavement and it's almost like a Lexus, coarse pavement (like worn asphalt with gravel mixed in) and you still hear the tires. This latest mod has reduced that road noise, but nothing will eliminate it when you have tires this wide, this close to your ears. I'm going to switch to Michelins when the its time to replace the tires, based on the comments I've read here. One thing this mod did seem to do well is reduce the noise of expansion joints and bumps in the road.
I know people have commented that if I wanted a quiet car, I should get a Lexus. That's true, I suppose, but what I wanted was a car that only makes the noise I want it to make, when I want it. These sound insulating mods have put me much closer to that.
01-04-2010, 06:15 PM
#7
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
The insulation is closed cell foam on a metal foil backing, so I'm not concerned about it holding water. To further ensure that it stays put, I taped the edges and corners with extreme temperature metal foil duct tape. This is what I used for my C5Z and it lasted with no noticeable ill effects.
01-05-2010, 12:48 AM
#9
Melting Slicks
DiverDan,
Good mod, thanks for sharing.
Mike
Good mod, thanks for sharing.
Mike
01-05-2010, 01:38 AM
#11
Drifting
Member Since: Oct 2006
Location: Phoenix AZ
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St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11
With all the insulation stuff I have done, the car is remarkably quiet (when the exhaust is in 'Mild' mode). At highway speeds, conversation is in a normal tone of voice and the stereo is far easier to hear.
The big variable is the road surface: Newer pavement and it's almost like a Lexus, coarse pavement (like worn asphalt with gravel mixed in) and you still hear the tires. This latest mod has reduced that road noise, but nothing will eliminate it when you have tires this wide, this close to your ears. I'm going to switch to Michelins when the its time to replace the tires, based on the comments I've read here. One thing this mod did seem to do well is reduce the noise of expansion joints and bumps in the road.
I know people have commented that if I wanted a quiet car, I should get a Lexus. That's true, I suppose, but what I wanted was a car that only makes the noise I want it to make, when I want it. These sound insulating mods have put me much closer to that.
The big variable is the road surface: Newer pavement and it's almost like a Lexus, coarse pavement (like worn asphalt with gravel mixed in) and you still hear the tires. This latest mod has reduced that road noise, but nothing will eliminate it when you have tires this wide, this close to your ears. I'm going to switch to Michelins when the its time to replace the tires, based on the comments I've read here. One thing this mod did seem to do well is reduce the noise of expansion joints and bumps in the road.
I know people have commented that if I wanted a quiet car, I should get a Lexus. That's true, I suppose, but what I wanted was a car that only makes the noise I want it to make, when I want it. These sound insulating mods have put me much closer to that.
I have an insulation kit gotten from Madvette (Forum vendor) and it's going to be one of my winter projects. Thanx for the opinion. And Kudos to the OP.
Nice write-up and great pics. Thanx for sharing. Happy New Year
01-05-2010, 10:55 AM
#12
Safety Car
Member Since: Jan 2009
Location: Mooresville (Race City USA) NC
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Their is nothing wrong with a car that goes, handles and looks like a Corvette but rides as quietly as a Lexus. The notion that a performance car has to ride like a buckboard and sound like one is an obsolete one. Nice job, and thanks for sharing!
