Before we could begin reinstalling the interior trim, we needed some way of sound proofing the cab. The factory sound barrier material was falling apart. We looked at a lot of different methods of sound deadening. From mats and foils to carpet padding. The asphalt mats and other such materials looked good, but seemed that they would be difficult to work with and would not be able to easily reach into every nook and cranny. We then came across Quiet Solution’s web site and determined that a liquid based sound deadener would be the best and most effective sound deadening solution. After contacting Quiet Solution, they were more than happy to help support our project. In less than a week, a five gallon pail was delivered to our shop.
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At first, we had intended to apply the material with a spray gun. However, the Quiet Truck material is extremely thick. It has the consistency of latex paint that has been left out too long. We decided to go the easy route and we purchased a couple of paint rollers and several thick pile paint roller tubes along with a few plastic disposable paint trays. It was decided that four coats would be our goal. We began by removing the front seats since they had been installed earlier. Then we pulled back the carpeting which was sponsored by Auto Custom Carpet and then covered everything in thick painters plastic. Since ACC had supplied thick rubber based mats as well as heavy juke type padding with the carpet, and because the seat pedestals and the center console were already in place, we only pulled the carpet back just enough to get to the bare metal. Next, we masked off the side and rear windows and then we thoroughly washed down the surfaces before applying the Quiet Truck.
Now we were ready to begin applying the Quiet Truck material. Quiet Truck is water based so we were not greatly concerned with getting messy. We started with the roof and worked our way down to the floor. The first coat was a learning experience for us. The material is so thick, that it took us a while to get the feel of working with it. Needless to say, the first coat went on pretty thin. We used a full size roller everywhere space would allow and we followed up with a shorty roller in all of the tight spaces. Following the instructions, we waited for the first coat to dry before applying the second layer. It’s very important that the material be allowed to dry completely so as to prevent the material from hardening where exposed, but remaining wet and uncured underneath. Kind of like paint ‘skinning’ over when the lid is left off too long.
For the remaining three layers of the Quiet Truck sound deadening material, we found that by getting a very thick coating on the rollers, that we could slap up a large amount of material to the truck and then quickly roll it out, spreading the material around while maintaining a very thick application per layer. This was a bit tricky on the roof and there was a great deal of dripping and splatter, but we were able to achieve a maximum material transfer by using this method. The walls and floor were much easier, for obvious reason, since gravity was working against us to such a degree. We let each layer dry a minimum of 8 hours before the next coat of sound proofing. After the last coat dried, we were able to begin replacing the interior trim. There was a noticable difference now between the tang of bare metal and the very dull thud of metal coated with Quiet Truck. We are extremely confident that the rewards are worth the effort.