# Benefits of deadening the roof?



## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

What are the benefits of deadening the roof? Better bass response? Less road noise?


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

What are the benefits of deadening anything?

The roof of my car was a 15" wide, 28" long "drum head" (unsupported metal) behind the sunroof area...


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

Call it "overkill" but I filled the area with Overkill Pro and then layered Overkill over that..


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## Rudeboy (Oct 16, 2005)

This varies a lot between vehicles. A roof can be a very resonant panel. Since it's the sheet metal closest to your head, it can be a significant source of audible noise. It can also e tough to get to. If the roof sounds tinny when you tap on it from outside of the vehicle, it's a candidate for treatment. If a sudden rain storm startles you, it's a definite candidate. 

The only critical treatment is vibration damper. If you're looking for thermal insulation or have rattles between the headliner and sheet metal, a layer of CCF will help. A barrier is almost never needed. It will help if you have a lot of air noise from the roof, but there just aren't enough noise sources directly above the vehicle to justify a barrier in most applications.

I'm working on a very noisy test car right now. Treating an area and driving it for a while to observe the changes. The first thing I did was treat the roof. The reduction in air turbulence noise made a noticeable reduction in overall noise levels.


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## Oliver (Jun 25, 2007)

ZAKOH said:


> What are the benefits of deadening the roof? Better bass response? Less road noise?


1]road noise might be coming from the road - do you drive with the rubber side up and the shiny side down?

2]is your subwoofer mounted in your roof?

3]what is wind?

anwer these and we'll progress


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## Rudeboy (Oct 16, 2005)

Not sure if this was intended to encourage serious discussion or not, but ...



Oliver said:


> 1]road noise might be coming from the road - do you drive with the rubber side up and the shiny side down?


This would be a consideration if we were talking about blocking sound. We're not, we're talking about panel resonance which can be excited by anything that catches the relevant frequencies. It could be road noise, it could be mechanical, could be just about anything, even ...



Oliver said:


> 1]
> 2]is your subwoofer mounted in your roof?


It doesn't mater where the sub is mounted. If you can hear it, it could be driving panel resonance anywhere in the vehicle.


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## Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX (Oct 24, 2007)

Hic's (A$$hole, Oliver) got an interesting way of viewing the world.. Cooks the noodle tryin to figure it out sometimes...

I find myself calling it "excellent eccentricity"..from time to time...:laugh:


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## SoundJunkie (Dec 3, 2008)

I am pulling the headliner out of my FJ next week to apply a layer of RAAMmat and Ensolite. The wind noise I hear is from the roof rack on a very long and wide panel. In my application the benefits are worth the trouble. In a smaller, more aerodynamic vehicle with little to no roof it may not be worthwhile. I will update post install with the results.

Sent from my DROIDX using Tapatalk


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## Ludemandan (Jul 13, 2005)

@ SoundJunkie - you might want to look into a more direct way to reduce roof rack wind noise. Whispbar - The Quietest Removable Roof Racks and Rack Accessories for The Great Outdoors, and watch their videos. I have one and it's basically silent.


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## tornaido_3927 (Nov 23, 2009)

Aaron'z 2.5RS/WRX said:


> Hic's (A$$hole, Oliver) got an interesting way of viewing the world.. Cooks the noodle tryin to figure it out sometimes...
> 
> I find myself calling it "excellent eccentricity"..from time to time...:laugh:


Haha, excellent name for it! :laugh:

I have wondered about doing my roof, I need to go and play some test tones to see if my roof is really doing much unwanted resonating because I'd be hesitant about spending time and money on it if it were to give me minimal gains.. I don't have a huge roof or anything so I just don't know! 

....Yet


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## kyheng (Jan 31, 2007)

Tropical countries do have affect on doing this....


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## SoundJunkie (Dec 3, 2008)

Ludemandan said:


> @ SoundJunkie - you might want to look into a more direct way to reduce roof rack wind noise. Whispbar - The Quietest Removable Roof Racks and Rack Accessories for The Great Outdoors, and watch their videos. I have one and it's basically silent.


Thanks for the link....they don't have one for my vehicle though.  It's a double decker roof rack from the factory, Toyota does have a deflector panel that houses a couple of aux. lights as well that I was looking into also.


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## Vital (Feb 23, 2010)

As others said - it depends on what kind of car/roof it is.

After doing mine (altima - 4door sedan) i can def say there's a lot less vibrations "up there" but the freakiest thing is driving when it rains hard, music off and you can CLEARLY hear rain drops hitting your front and rear windshield... while roof creates an illusion like there's no rain above it. Deadened my roof a year ago and still can't really get used to not hearing any rain noise right above my head while clearly seeing it and hearing it infront of me and behind me... just not above me lol.


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## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

I have about 22 ft^2 of Raammat BXT2. My goal is to cover the trunk, rear deck, and the rear floor with it. The doors have been already deadened. I think 22 ft^2 is enough to cover all metal surfaces. However, based on the opinions of DIYers here, it seems, 25-50% coverage is enough, and only on flat surfaces. If I follow this approach, I will be left with several square ft of materials, so this is why I wonder whether it's worth the trouble to also deaden the roof. I think the primary reason I am having doubts about the roof is that I am just too scared to damage anything as I remove the trim cover. Maybe I should just do it..

Any ideas whether placing a layer of ensolite on the roof will do any good?

Regarding the car/roof type, it's a 3rd generation Taurus sedan. I'd say it's a relatively noisy car compared to other midsized cars, but less noisy than many compact cars. However, the roof does not resonate much or at all when I knock on it. I'd have to bang on it with my fist to hear the resonances. There are no drivers on the roof.


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## Rudeboy (Oct 16, 2005)

Unless there are rattles between the headliner and roof or you want to add a small amount of thermal insulation, adding the CCF won't do anything. Remember - to absorb a frequency a material needs to be 1/4 as thick as the wavelength of the frequency.

You can usually apply vibration damper without completely removing the headliner. Drop one side enough to reach in, apply the CLD, zoop, zoop with the roller and button it back up. Move to the other side and repeat. Most damage occurs when you try to take the headliner out of the car.


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## ghost0217 (Jan 27, 2011)

I did mine in my F-150. Before I did it, when it would rain, I thought I was driving a "Coke Can". Now, its like a tank. I can hear the rain off of the windshield instead of the roof. When knocked on, mine had a significant vibration before though. Now none. I also recieved a noticable gain in output from my sub. I did not meter this, so it may have been phsychological, but I swear it is louder and clearer.

Good luck,
ghost


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## SB3BabyHuey (Jan 27, 2009)

Id say, if you think it will help just do it. Personally id say do it. Its just one thing to check off the list of things that you think you can do to make it sound better. I wouldnt say that its required though.


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## jblw10gtimk11 (Jan 16, 2011)

If you have a small roof with alot of bracing you can most likely get away without deading it. I have a 89 chevy 3500 ext cab dually, and my roof is like a big tin can, so i definitely plan on using some sort of mat in the near future. Plus i always thought putting some sort of matt around all your windows, helps your window seals to hold up longer. Just my 2 cents. When in doubt do it, and do it right.


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