Car Builders Sound Deadener kit tested

Four-wheel drives, utes and the like aren’t known as being the quietest vehicles on the road.

While 70 Series LandCruisers take interior noise levels to new heights, its cavernous interior makes the Troopy not much more than an unrefined boom box. Having previously owned a 79 Series Cruiser, which I had lined myself with a well-known brand of sound deadening material, for this new Troopy with its wide open and bare interior, I knew I wanted something more effective.

I ended up at Car Builders in Bayswater, Victoria, which specialises in supplying kits for DIY-type people wanting to reduce the noise levels in their vehicles. While there are a number of kits specifically for the Toyota TroopCarrier, there’s also a heap of vehilce-specific options for other 70 Series models, as well as all the popular 4x4 utes and wagons. For those doing the installation themselves, Car Builders can also supply all the equipment needed for installing the product.

6

I opted for Car Builders to do the whole job, which was to supply and fit a premium pack which includes Sound Deadener that’s applied to the floor pan, rear firewall, roof and door skins, and a Mass Noise Liner which is a premium carpet underlay to cover the entire floor pan from front to rear firewall.

The Mass Noise Liner is laid over the top of the Sound Deadener and really helps tame the noise level in the Troopy. For the vast expanse of roof that the Troopy has, we fitted Sound Deadener only, which fits under the factory headliner. You can fit a 6mm thick Insul-Layer but you then have to replace the factory headliner with carpet or fabric, and that was something I didn’t think was really necessary.

All seats, internal skins on doors, and floor carpet, along with the factory headliner, are removed to fit the insulation and once installed everything is fitted back in place. The job was so neat and tidy that you couldn’t tell that anything had been added without a close inspection and lifting the edge of the factory carpet… but the driving experience was something else!

6

After the job was complete, I drove out onto the highway and immediately noticed the difference in the noise level inside the vehicle. Engine noise and road noise was greatly muted, as was wind noise once up to speed.

I didn’t even have to crank up the radio when cruising at 100km/h. The kit installation made a huge difference and it was a pleasant change from how the Troopie comes out of the factory.

Pricing

• Single-cab ute: from $389
• TroopCarrier: from $570
• Roof Sound Deadener: $190
• Quarter panels only (Troopy): $175
• Premium kit, plus roof liner, plus floor underlay kit (Troopy): $1157