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DIY removable soft top sound insulation pads: They work!

csspar

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So after installing a Gobi rack + soft shell RTT, driving on the highway at 65 is loud. I knew it would be, and I can deal with it when I'm alone, but trying to listen to a podcast or have a conversation is pretty awful. Also, loud prolonged noise is way more fatiguing than you'd expect!

I'm planning some extended trips that will involve hours per day of highway driving and I know the noise would get old quick, so I whipped up some headliners for the top.

These are pieces cut from an old memory foam mattress topper with Noico 315 mil sound deadening foam stuck to them. My fantastic wife then upholstered them with felt and a vinyl top piece. I only had enough foam for the first 4 sections of the soft top, and the last section only got the Noico foam stuck to an outdoor rug. No mattress topper.

They're secured (poorly) with adhesive velcro strips. They look saggy and kind of ugly in the photos because the adhesive has been peeling away from the soft top. I'm trying to figure out a better solution. When they're stuck on properly, the average person would hardly notice they weren't stock. They look much better in person, and honestly all said and done they look way better than I expected.

Now, the thing that actually matters! I was absolutely shocked by how well these work. I was expecting to get in the Jeep and say ehhh yeah maybe it's better, I don't know. But no, these things have taken the noise level inside the Jeep down almost to pre-roof rack and tent levels. Of course you can still hear the wind noise, but it's significantly muffled. I can now have a conversation at 65mph without raising my voice at all. The thing that really stood out to me was that I can now hear all kinds of previously unnoticed noises and rattles from the stuff inside the Jeep!

Anyway, I absolutely recommend this if you have a soft top + roof rack. I'm happy to post more pictures and dimensions if anyone wants to try this out for themselves.

And if you have any suggestions for securing these a little better than velcro, I'm all ears!
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csspar

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Interesting. Did you Velcro them to the top? How thick was the topper?
I used 2 inch velcro strips, but the adhesive isn't holding to the soft top material. I might try using fabric adhesive to secure the velcro strips to the roof. I'm pretty sure the mattress pad is 3 inches.
 

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Thanks. I usually have the top down and doors off, but we went on a trip to Arizona and I thought some easy soundproofing for road trips would be nice. I noticed wind noise through the doors and might add some more weather stripping to them.
 

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I used 2 inch velcro strips, but the adhesive isn't holding to the soft top material. I might try using fabric adhesive to secure the velcro strips to the roof. I'm pretty sure the mattress pad is 3 inches.
try using 3m adhesive aerosol spray. Works great on fabrics
 

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csspar

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Thanks. I usually have the top down and doors off, but we went on a trip to Arizona and I thought some easy soundproofing for road trips would be nice. I noticed wind noise through the doors and might add some more weather stripping to them.
I just got back from a trip that was about 6 hours there and back, and this soundproofing was a godsend. If you're just using them for longer trips you can probably hold up the first 3 pads with bungee cords around the roll bar.
 

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Hi, I'm in the same boat as were. I'm glad I found this post. Can you please show me how you installed the Noico sound deadening foam to your mattress topper? Thanks!
 
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OffRoad7

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So after installing a Gobi rack + soft shell RTT, driving on the highway at 65 is loud. I knew it would be, and I can deal with it when I'm alone, but trying to listen to a podcast or have a conversation is pretty awful. Also, loud prolonged noise is way more fatiguing than you'd expect!

I'm planning some extended trips that will involve hours per day of highway driving and I know the noise would get old quick, so I whipped up some headliners for the top.

These are pieces cut from an old memory foam mattress topper with Noico 315 mil sound deadening foam stuck to them. My fantastic wife then upholstered them with felt and a vinyl top piece. I only had enough foam for the first 4 sections of the soft top, and the last section only got the Noico foam stuck to an outdoor rug. No mattress topper.

They're secured (poorly) with adhesive velcro strips. They look saggy and kind of ugly in the photos because the adhesive has been peeling away from the soft top. I'm trying to figure out a better solution. When they're stuck on properly, the average person would hardly notice they weren't stock. They look much better in person, and honestly all said and done they look way better than I expected.

Now, the thing that actually matters! I was absolutely shocked by how well these work. I was expecting to get in the Jeep and say ehhh yeah maybe it's better, I don't know. But no, these things have taken the noise level inside the Jeep down almost to pre-roof rack and tent levels. Of course you can still hear the wind noise, but it's significantly muffled. I can now have a conversation at 65mph without raising my voice at all. The thing that really stood out to me was that I can now hear all kinds of previously unnoticed noises and rattles from the stuff inside the Jeep!

Anyway, I absolutely recommend this if you have a soft top + roof rack. I'm happy to post more pictures and dimensions if anyone wants to try this out for themselves.

And if you have any suggestions for securing these a little better than velcro, I'm all ears!
Jeep Wrangler JL DIY removable soft top sound insulation pads: They work! 20200705_160422
Jeep Wrangler JL DIY removable soft top sound insulation pads: They work! 20200705_160422
Do you have the list of materials used?
 

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csspar

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Hi, I'm in the same boat as were. I'm glad I found this post. Can you please show me how you installed the Noico sound deadening foam to your mattress topper? Thanks!
They had self adhesive backs and I just stuck them right on to the foam topper and trimmed them to fit. Honestly it was probably more of a pain than it was worth, but I'm sure they help a little bit.

I don't remember the exact details of the materials I used, but other than the mattress topper and the Noico pads I used a thin gray felt fabric and a relatively thin black vinyl for the top part that touches the roof. Unfortunately I have no idea how much fabric they need because it was just pulled from my wife's supply.

I tried to use velcro to hold them in place, but that ended up not working out, so now the front piece is held up with a bungie cord, and the back two pieces wedge in place securely enough between the roll bar and the soft top.

I hope that helps a little bit. Feel free to ask if you have any other questions about it.
 

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I could probably tuck something between the Spiderweb shade and the top for those occasions. I leave the shade in place year round.

Thanks for the update. I appreciate it.
I was thinking the same thing. You could install a sun shade/bikini top/Spiderweb shade, lay your sound insolation pieces on top of that, and then close your soft top. Basically sandwich your sound insolation between the sun shade and soft top to hold it firmly in place.
 
 



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