Door thud (sound) improvment possible?

Hi all,

 

I'm sure you've all heard that nice muted thud sound that luxury cars like Lexus and BMW doors make when closing. They have an expensive sound to it if that makes sense. I'm sure it's all in the rubber door seals, so I'm just wondering if it's possible to achieve this kind of sound in a liberty and how I would go about that?

 

Is there some sort of aftermarket door seals that anyone is aware of that are better quality? Or would replacing them with new OEM seals help? The car is quite old so I assume it sounded better when the car was new, before the seals wore out.

 

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Hi all,

 

I'm sure you've all heard that nice muted thud sound that luxury cars like Lexus and BMW doors make when closing. They have an expensive sound to it if that makes sense. I'm sure it's all in the rubber door seals, so I'm just wondering if it's possible to achieve this kind of sound in a liberty and how I would go about that?

 

Is there some sort of aftermarket door seals that anyone is aware of that are better quality? Or would replacing them with new OEM seals help? The car is quite old so I assume it sounded better when the car was new, before the seals wore out.

 

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New seals if they're worn will help. Noise deadening material inside the door and under the door panel will give you the most bang for the buck. I like siless personally but a lot of people use dynomat or even Grace's ice and water shield. Once you've applied some to the doors you can add some to the body under the carpet and interior panels. If you're up to the task of dropping your headliner this is where you'll really benefit. Your roof is essentially a giant drum head.

 

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To create the mutted/solid sound and feeling that they have you need to add sound mat or sound deadener to the door skin on the inside. thats how they make the door closing not sound tinny/hollow when you close the door on "premium" car brands.

What you guys are saying sounds like it would make sense, however having layered my doors with 1 layer of:

 

-Noico 80 mil deadener

-Noico 150 mil closed cell foam and

-1lb mass loaded vinyl

 

I can say it made no perceptible difference in the sound of the door closing.

 

Edited May 14, 2021 by Shogun506

What you guys are saying sounds like it would make sense, however having layered my doors with 1 layer of:

 

-Noico 80 mil deadener

-Noico 150 mil closed cell foam and

-1lb mass loaded vinyl

 

I can say it made no perceptible difference in the sound of the door closing.

 

Dang discouraging [emoji1787]

 

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going to be harder with frameless glass too

Just did sound deadening in all four door skins, and rear cargo spare well. It sounded muted inside the shop when he closed the doors. Since then very little perceptible difference in the field.

I would say it would likely have to also be put on the outer skin to reduce the "drum effect". Of course this it's likely quite hard to install but I get the feeling that's where manufactures have sound dreading. Don't want that outer skin vibrating or transferring the noise into the cabin. I think the sound dreading on the inner door is going to be trying to absorb the sound from the outer skin rather then preventing the vibration from happening at all. Which I don't think the sound deading is as good at doing.

 

This is basically an educated guess though.

I would say it would likely have to also be put on the outer skin to reduce the "drum effect". Of course this it's likely quite hard to install but I get the feeling that's where manufactures have sound dreading. Don't want that outer skin vibrating or transferring the noise into the cabin. I think the sound dreading on the inner door is going to be trying to absorb the sound from the outer skin rather then preventing the vibration from happening at all. Which I don't think the sound deading is as good at doing.

 

This is basically an educated guess though.

 

I think Shawn06SpecB has it right. The frameless windows are the weak point for that weighty sound you're looking for.

Just did sound deadening in all four door skins, and rear cargo spare well. It sounded muted inside the shop when he closed the doors. Since then very little perceptible difference in the field.

 

Thats discouraging to hear. I'm planning on deadening all of my doors to reduce the hollow sound and improve the audio. Worked well in my 2011 WRX.

 

The rattle caused by the windows in this cars frameless doors will be a challenge. Want to reduce it's movement side to side (assuming thats where the noise is coming from) while not restricting its operation up and down.

 

Sub'd for future developments

I've done all my doors and wagon hatch area and the most noticeable thing I've seen is better sound quality from the speaker cabinet effect on the doors. Noise reduction is hard to determine because I'm accustomed to how the car sounds but there was some small amount of noise reduction from the exhaust, which was my goal. It isn't Jaguar quiet by any means but if I crack a window and listen to the outside world you can tell the car is quiet. If I ever have the carpet up again I'll do the footwells/floor and that would probably help a lot. Also I have a 2018 Nissan Rogue SL with the stock Bose system and I did all 4 doors in that too. Comparing it to someone else's Rogue, mine had noticeably better mid bass and sound quality in general but no noticeable reduction in road noise. Those cars are already pretty quiet though.

I added sound deadening to all my doors and trunk area, and I felt it was a significant improvement considering the cost was like $35 and only took me 2-3hrs.

 

Stereo is noticably improved and exterior sound level is down, doors have a more solid feel compared to stock, but it's not like a MB or BMW overall.

Edited May 22, 2021 by BoozeRS05