While most people wouldn’t associate comfort with old trucks, there’s really no reason why that shouldn’t be so. Sure they didn’t come equipped with as many creature comforts as their passenger car brethren did from the factory, but that’s no reason why they can’t be equally, if not more comfortable. All it takes is a little bit of work to get that cab to be as quiet, comfortable, and luxurious as any contemporary vehicle.
One of the biggest contributions to comfort when it comes to stopping noise and vibration and keeping unwanted heat out of the cab is Dynamat Extreme sound-deadening material. Designed to be applied to any and all interior panels, the aluminum constraining layer is very moldable and conforms easily to all interior surfaces. The extra sticky Butyl layer is formulated specially to adhere to any surface, be it the floor, roof, or door, without sagging or coming loose.
So if that old truck fills with engine heat and is noisier than a can of rocks in a paint shaker, perhaps it’s time to gut the interior and line your cab with a little Dynamat Extreme insulation.
1. Here’s what little insulation was installed in the ’86 once all the interior components were removed. It’s sparse to say the least; a light carpet pad and some Sound Shield insulation was all that dampened all that road noise.
2-3. Luckily it’s only a matter of peeling the old stuff away before we can get started.
4. Once the cab is bare, it’s time to clean up the debris left behind.
5. A little glass cleaner goes a long way to clean the surface prior to any insulation installation.
6. A little rust on the floor is like a touch of gray in your coif; it’s a distinguished sign in old trucks. Unlike those locks of gray, however, you should spray that rust with something. Eastwood Rust Converter works great by converting the rusty sections to zinc oxide, inhibiting any further spreading of the iron cancer.
7. Installing Dynamat insulation is a pretty simple task and only requires a few tools. A pair of sharp scissors, an equally sharp box cutter, and a few different-sized rollers are all it takes.
8. Though the Dynamat can be installed as whole sheets, it’s easy and cleaner to trim them to fit the contours of the cab. First, the outline of one stamped section of the floor is traced…
9. …before it’s cut to shape using a straight edge and a box cutter.
10. It’s then a simple matter of peeling the backing paper off and sticking the insulation to the sheetmetal.
11. A few minutes worth of work with a roller gets the air bubbles and creases out and works the insulation into all the seams of the sheetmetal.
12. When laying out the insulation, be sure to trim around any holes in the body. Searching for these after the carpet and interior components are installed can be time consuming and very frustrating.
13-14. The finished cab has nearly every square inch covered with Dynamat to ensure that the interior is quiet, comfortable, and vibration-free.
15. To add even more protection from the elements, Dynamat offers Dynaliner, a lightweight insulator designed to be used on top of Dynamat. Featuring durable crush- and tear-resistant material, it has the highest heat-blocking properties available in a single layer synthetic foam-type material and is oil and water resistant. Sources
