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DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100

Sector281411

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Had a little time yesterday on Father's Day to spend some guilt free me time working on the Jeep. I did this as a proof of concept for an alternative to a name brand headliner solution. I have seen so many videos on this and I have to tell you it was SUPER easy. So here we go.

I wanted to lower the ambient road noise and reading all the positive things people say about Sound Assassin strips, I decided to make my own "Sound Murderers".

I bought sound deadening material from Amazon:

Noico 80 mil Butyl Sound Deadening Mat

I then cut them into strips 1 3/4" wide. and installed them in my front two freedom panels.

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop001

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop002


Next I used a paper template and cut out some of this foil backed sheathing from Home Depot. One 4' x 8 ' section is enough to the entire roof of your jeep. Not the back side windows though. I outlined my template with a sharpie and used a very sharp scalpel knife to cut the foil first and then went back and did deeper cuts. This worked out great just use a sharp knife and cut in layers. I used some rough sand paper to even out the rough edges and make minor adjustments to the shape to fit the opening:

R-Tech Insulated Sheathing

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop006

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop007


Bought some black headliner foam on Amazon because I could not find any at local fabric shops. I bought way more than I needed but I didn't want to wait for re-stock:

Black Headliner Foam

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop008

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop009


Cleaned up the foil side with alcohol and used some Super 77 spray adhesive to connect the headliner foam to the panels.

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop010


Sprayed it on and quickly folded everything together:

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop012


Next I used some heavy duty velcro that I already had to attach the panels to. It is similar to this product:

Heavy Duty Velcro

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop005


Here you can see the attached panels and how they look installed. Sorry for the view through my sun shade.

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop013

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop014

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop015


Final thoughts:

I am mostly pleased with how they turned out as a proof on concept but I am not happy with using super 77 to hold the material after folding it over. I didnt have as much time to go slow and make nice clean folds and my final product suffered for it. Next time I will use Super 77 on the panel to stick the flat side down and then use a slower brush on cement that is made for headliners. I think this will give me the best results and allow me to go slower and make nice tight folds that will lay down more flat.

Best part of this whole process was determining that I can do my entire Jeep top VERY CHEAP and very easily. I think even for a rush job, start to finish about three hours on Father's Day that they turned out pretty damn good.

This morning was my first chance to drive it since installed the DIY Sound Murderer Strips and I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad I did that part. I have a 15 minute highway drive to work that I have to turn my radio to a certain volume to hear my audio book at. Today I was three notches below where I usually am and I could tell a noticeable difference on sound reduction.

I am going to give my setup a few days to settle and see if any issues arise. I doubt it but I am going to do it anyways. I am going to order some of the brush on headliner cement to do the rest of the top.

At this point I am less than a $100 to do my entire top.

This afternoon I will see if I can notice a difference in heat on the inside of my Jeep after sitting all day in the sun here in North Texas. I hope everyone gets something out of this.

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Sector281411

Sector281411

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Any comments? Do they suck that bad?
 

nerubi

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Never have been bothered by any noise or heat coming through my hardtop for 10 years. But what about all the other parts of the top, sides and bottom for noise? Some people that want Rolls Royce quiet have ripped out everything inside and installed sound deadner. If it bothered me I would have bought an MB G class.
 

Fire Burns

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Definitely subscribed for any updates, like how well they remain sticking up there without falling down. Aside from the obvious and insane cost, the Hotheads bug me that you have to sand the top. Doesn't sound like much fun honestly...
 
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Sector281411

Sector281411

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Never have been bothered by any noise or heat coming through my hardtop for 10 years. But what about all the other parts of the top, sides and bottom for noise? Some people that want Rolls Royce quiet have ripped out everything inside and installed sound deadner. If it bothered me I would have bought an MB G class.
I plan on redoing the ones I already did with a different adhesive that brushes on to make the folds of the headliner fabric cleaner and give me a little more working time. I am going to start making the templates for the rest of the top once all this rain goes away.
 

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Fire Burns

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Also your money shot, (installed pics) are covered by the mesh. Come on and give us some good pics!

Ignore @nerubi's silly comments about getting a G-class. Not all of us have $100k to spare on an ugly German box (or a Tiguan, for that matter), and might not care to regardless...
 
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Sector281411

Sector281411

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Definitely subscribed for any updates, like how well they remain sticking up there without falling down. Aside from the obvious and insane cost, the Hotheads bug me that you have to sand the top. Doesn't sound like much fun honestly...
I did a light sanding on the top and some alcohol to wipe it down, but it wasn't a vigorous sanding I can tell you that.
 
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Sector281411

Sector281411

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Also your money shot, (installed pics) are covered by the mesh. Come on and give us some good pics!

Ignore @nerubi's silly comments about getting a G-class. Not all of us have $100k to spare on an ugly German box (or a Tiguan, for that matter), and might not care to regardless...
Ugggh I would have to drop my windshield to get my spiderweb shade out of the way :(
 

MyDaughters20JL

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nice idea...
I notice the insulation sheets you use were 1/2": how much additional room is there to perhaps use a thicker piece for greater insulating/sound deadening/
 

LowBama

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I’m about to start a similar project. I plan to make the panels out of Luan plywood and match he tan leather with some headliner samples. Basically DIY hotheads. I’m going to cover most of the areas under the panel with Noico 80 and their 180mil close cell foam. I will then go doors and floor. I know it’s not meant to be a mecercades, and honestly I don’t think it’s that noisy now but I like projects that I can experiment and measure.
 

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nerubi

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Also your money shot, (installed pics) are covered by the mesh. Come on and give us some good pics!

Ignore @nerubi's silly comments about getting a G-class. Not all of us have $100k to spare on an ugly German box (or a Tiguan, for that matter), and might not care to regardless...
I get a pretty big social security check and can't find enough stuff to spend it on so looking at adding a luxury SUV.
 
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Sector281411

Sector281411

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nice idea...
I notice the insulation sheets you use were 1/2": how much additional room is there to perhaps use a thicker piece for greater insulating/sound deadening/
I am sorry I linked the wrong product I used the 3/4" sheathing and there is about an 1/8th of an inch gap left between the foam headliner and the freedom panel latch. I have fixed the link to the correct product.

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop016
 

MyDaughters20JL

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I am sorry I linked the wrong product I used the 3/4" sheathing and there is about an 1/8th of an inch gap left between the foam headliner and the freedom panel latch. I have fixed the link to the correct product.

Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Headliner and DIY Sound Murderers - Under $100 jeeptop016
thanks: I"m thinking of doing this to my daughter's jeep eventually..thinking I *might* try XLPE foam, but it's a pain to get anything to stick to it...last thing I want is for it to fall down while she's driving & cause an accident.

on another note, one would think that 3 or 4 pound xlpe would be a better insulator than 2 pound: turns out that the higher the density, the lower R value it has...keep this in mind when planning a project with xlpe
 

Fire Burns

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The other problem with XLPE is that its floppy and won't give you the stiffness and structure it needs to lay nice lay and look good - unless you have some type of backer board. That said, it would also offer superior sound deadening as well.

I'm thinking the ultimate headliner combo would be something like:

1. Sound deadening strips in the valleys, followed by
2) 1/2" 4lb XLPE, then
3) 1/4" backer (plywood?), then
4) Foam headliner material

Agree with the XLPE, secure connection would be the key and I've left that detail out...
 
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Sector281411

Sector281411

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Small update:

I had to drive to visit a customer on Monday about 2.5 hours away and I can without a doubt say just the Sound Murderes on my front two freedom panels makes a huge difference with road noise. I was quite pleased.

Also, the last few days here in Dallas, the temperatures have really started heating up and I can tell a noticeable difference in the amount of heat that radiates down towards my head. I have a black on black Jeep in Texas, it gets hot in there regardless but it does seem to cool down faster.

Now if only I could get a few hours to myself to get the rest of the top done.
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