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Headliner fun
#1
Headliner fun
OK, so today I decided to do the Dynamat treatment of my roof that I was talking about a couple weeks ago. Got two sheets of Dynamat ($90) and 3 cans of expanding foam. Getting the headliner down and out is a little tricky. Mine wasn't as delicate as some others I've read that crumbled to the touch, but you still have to be careful with it. Getting it down is easy once you remove the dome light, overhead console, visors, rear view mirror, pillar covers, grab handles, rear door latch covers and the 4 retainers out. Getting it out of the truck requires you to turn it sideways and bend it ever-so-gently in a few places. I took the time to wash it because it was somewhat dirty. Didn't notice it until I got it out in the light. I proceeded to measure and cut some Dynamat. The rear roof area of the Quad Cab is single thickness. No wonder it always feels hotter back there. I filled in the rectangular area in 2 pieces.
Before
After
It's best to do big areas in sections. You can overlap the stuff no problem. I did the front of the cab in three pieces.
Driver's side
Finished
You don't have to cover everything to get the benefits. I didn't want any issues with it interfering with the liner so I left it off of areas that had large cavities between the twin walls of steel. For that I used the expanding foam. It will provide some insulation and sound deadening almost as good as the Dynamat. Be careful, this stuff can drip and ruin upholstery. I used a large sheet of cardboard underneath wherever I sprayed it. Use the long wand and slowly pull back as you spray it in the hole making sure not to twist and snap the wand off spraying foam all over. The cavities above the rear doors are pretty large and filled with several large oval holes. Put some masking tape over them to prevent the foam from dripping out.
Holes filled with expanding foam
Put everything back together. Tomorrow I'll see what kind of difference it makes when I go out and feel the heat inside the cab. It's been in the low 100s here for a couple days.
Oh, and if anyone is unsure whether the holes for mounting cab lights are really there, here's photographic proof that they are.
Before
After
It's best to do big areas in sections. You can overlap the stuff no problem. I did the front of the cab in three pieces.
Driver's side
Finished
You don't have to cover everything to get the benefits. I didn't want any issues with it interfering with the liner so I left it off of areas that had large cavities between the twin walls of steel. For that I used the expanding foam. It will provide some insulation and sound deadening almost as good as the Dynamat. Be careful, this stuff can drip and ruin upholstery. I used a large sheet of cardboard underneath wherever I sprayed it. Use the long wand and slowly pull back as you spray it in the hole making sure not to twist and snap the wand off spraying foam all over. The cavities above the rear doors are pretty large and filled with several large oval holes. Put some masking tape over them to prevent the foam from dripping out.
Holes filled with expanding foam
Put everything back together. Tomorrow I'll see what kind of difference it makes when I go out and feel the heat inside the cab. It's been in the low 100s here for a couple days.
Oh, and if anyone is unsure whether the holes for mounting cab lights are really there, here's photographic proof that they are.
#4
Yeah, the stuff ain't cheap, that's why I did it in stages. Did the front doors 3 months ago, the rear doors 2 months ago, and just did the headliner. Very noticeable difference as far as road noise and sound system efficiency. I mainly did the roof for insulation, though. Even with a white truck it gets pretty warm to the touch on the inside.
#6
Max was mistaken. The stuff he was looking at is called Dynaliner and it just an adhesive-backed foam. Dynamat is a tar-like substance with adhesive on one side and foil on the other. It works better than the foam and is good at deadening sound and vibrations, especially on large areas like inside a door. The foam is good acoustically, but it doesn't do the same job at deadening and insulating. Also, because the Dynamat is so thin it can be used in places the foam can't, like under carpets or any place that might get wet like under the hood.
#7
Very good install, man. I wonder, if there was a difference in between the 1500s and the 2500/3500s.... I might not be remembering very well, but I didn't think that the holes were there on mine when I replaced mine. I could be wrong, and it doesn't make sense to have more than one set of cab portions......
Anyways, I hope that little bit works enough, I wonder if it's going to help with heat that much. Maybe if you really wanted to kill the heat, just add some tint... I'm sure you would have to go legal limit, but even 35% in the heat does wonders. Damn the law isn't your friend out there when it comes to tint I see.... Looks like they limit you to 70% on the front side glass, but you are unrestricted on the back side glass and rear... Hmm Hell, you can't even get a medical exempt out there. Are you all seriously hoodlums like that out there?
Edit- Here is some more guidelines on the tint laws out there- http://tintlaws.com/laws/CA/
Anyways, I hope that little bit works enough, I wonder if it's going to help with heat that much. Maybe if you really wanted to kill the heat, just add some tint... I'm sure you would have to go legal limit, but even 35% in the heat does wonders. Damn the law isn't your friend out there when it comes to tint I see.... Looks like they limit you to 70% on the front side glass, but you are unrestricted on the back side glass and rear... Hmm Hell, you can't even get a medical exempt out there. Are you all seriously hoodlums like that out there?
Edit- Here is some more guidelines on the tint laws out there- http://tintlaws.com/laws/CA/
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#8
Yeah, I have 70% on the driver and passenger windows, but 90% on the QC and slider glass. Even still, our sun is a lot worse than yours.
Also, when I park for more than 15 minutes I always have a set of foil reflectors in the windshield like this:
Even still, it can get toasty inside in a shirt time and I can feel it when I touch my hand to the headliner. This should help as the foil is real good at reflecting heat. Foam just absorbs it.
Also, when I park for more than 15 minutes I always have a set of foil reflectors in the windshield like this:
Even still, it can get toasty inside in a shirt time and I can feel it when I touch my hand to the headliner. This should help as the foil is real good at reflecting heat. Foam just absorbs it.
#9
^ Only difference is I have 5% on the front and sides, with dual layers of 5% on the rear. From what I have read, you'd get popped for that real right quick and in a hurry out there. Ever thought about individual sunscreens for the side glasses? I used to have a set that I used on my ram before I had the tint done. They used suction cups, were made to go on the windshield, but they worked just great on the side glass as well. I don't know how much of a PITA you think that is, but it is an idea along with remote start. I mention remote start just because you might as well not ever care what that big sumbish gets.
BTW, How is that roof paint holding up with that heat blaring down on it?
BTW, How is that roof paint holding up with that heat blaring down on it?