Sound Dampening

[ador]

You did a great job there. I just want to ask you a question... since I also have Thor ACE (33.1). I am about to do the same thing as what you did.

When you remove the seat, does the bolt holding the seat frame "bolt into the flooring" directly? Or do the bolts have "nuts" under the flooring? If the nut is under the flooring, how do you access them?

I don't want to remove the bolts and have the nuts fall down into the under carriage.

Originally Posted by Steamboat

Jdb: Thought your mod was a great idea so we did the same in our 17 ACE. Took the DW and I about 4 hours to install and that includes removing the seats. Definitely recommend cutting a template and then laying the mat on the floor to cut. I used a pair of tin snips to cut around Attachment 26684the template and then cut the holes for the chair bolts with a utility knife. We used the 48X60 mat and although it didn’t go all the way across the cabin, we were able to use the cutout piece from the doghouse to fill in the gap. Mounted the chairs on top of the mat in hopes of reducing more of the road noise. Will be taking a fairly long trip soon and we anticipate that the noise level will be greatly reduced.

[Steamboat]

Originally Posted by ador

You did a great job there. I just want to ask you a question... since I also have Thor ACE (33.1). I am about to do the same thing as what you did.

When you remove the seat, does the bolt holding the seat frame "bolt into the flooring" directly? Or do the bolts have "nuts" under the flooring? If the nut is under the flooring, how do you access them?

I don't want to remove the bolts and have the nuts fall down into the under carriage.

Ador: The nuts on the bolts for the cabin seats are located in the back portion of the wheel wells and with a little effort can be reached. For better access, turn the wheels as far as possible to the right for the passenger seat and to the left for the driver seat. May want to consider putting the front jacks down a little for better access, making sure the wheels stay on the ground. There still will be some stretching to reach the back nuts but it can be done. I used a portable impact wrench and a socket and ratchet. You will need someone to hold a wrench on the bolt heads at the seats and also to make sure they don’t fall over; they have some weight to them. I replaced the nuts, bolts and washers with higher grade hardware and got bolts that are half an inch longer to account for the carpet thickness. It’s great mod and makes a difference in the road noise. Enjoy!

[ador]

Dave, you did this floor mod first. Both you and Steamboat did a great job. You cut around the seat base. Steamboat removed the seats and reinstalled the seats on top of the pads. At least there are 2 available options.

Question for both you and Steamboat. How did you folks remove that "black plastic edge piece that goes across the horizontal and vertically sections"? I looked and did not see any screw that held in in place. How is that attached on the edge of the floor and the carpet?

Originally Posted by Jdb

I removed the carpet in the foot wells.

The mat pretty much lays in place. Where it didn’t, I used some 1” pocket-joint screws (Lowe’s). They are brown to match, have a wide head to hold the mat, and don’t require a pilot hole.

I did remove the table base between the seats, and reinstalled over the mat, using the original screws.

I also removed the black plastic edge piece that goes across the horizontal and vertically sections. I reinstalled that and used it to hold/finish the edges of the mat.

72” isn’t wide enough - this requires two mats

Dave

[Steamboat]

I started to remove the black edge trim to tuck the carpet but mine is attached so well I didn’t want to run the risk of damaging it. So I brought the carpet to the edge of the step, covered the black trim and used pan screws to secure the edge to keep it from being a trip hazard. If you decide to take out the seats, the seat base will help keep the carpet in place when the seats are reinstalled. I probably should have put double faced carpet tape along the edge of the trim but it seems to be ok with the screws.

[ador]

Thank you for taking the time in explaining the process Steamboat. I appreciate it. If I can take the courage to take on this project (removing the seat), I would like to add a "stack of washers" on the FRONT bolts to raise the front of the driver seat a notch. I have read someone who did this on the driver seat. When I drive our coach, I feel like I am sliding down the seat. I have read that raising the front of the driver sit does help with this problem.

Originally Posted by Steamboat

Ador: The nuts on the bolts for the cabin seats are located in the back portion of the wheel wells and with a little effort can be reached. For better access, turn the wheels as far as possible to the right for the passenger seat and to the left for the driver seat. May want to consider putting the front jacks down a little for better access, making sure the wheels stay on the ground. There still will be some stretching to reach the back nuts but it can be done. I used a portable impact wrench and a socket and ratchet. You will need someone to hold a wrench on the bolt heads at the seats and also to make sure they don’t fall over; they have some weight to them. I replaced the nuts, bolts and washers with higher grade hardware and got bolts that are half an inch longer to account for the carpet thickness. It’s great mod and makes a difference in the road noise. Enjoy!

[Steamboat]

I agree, the seat does tip down in the front so I stacked washers on the front bolts as well. I think 4, but I’d have to go to the rig to make sure. That meant the front bolts had to be longer than the others. It made a difference, now I don’t have to Velcro my butt to the seat anymore.

[eightyeightkeys]

Being a music producer and having built a couple of recording studios, sound waves are like water/air, it permeates any opening...any thin or porous material. Plywood or OSB is nearly useless and sound travels much more efficiently through solids so vibration/rumble is especially difficult to tame. LTV's and Tiffin were the only manufactures that I know of that actually sprayed their MB chassis under carriages. Kudos to them.

You need mass to block sound so the Fatmat, Killzmat Dynamat, etc.. products would be best. The thicker the better and follow the instructions rolling it down very well. Get it everywhere you can get it. The denim insulation or any insulation will only dampen down noise/rattles...which is good too. No one enjoys rattles except a percussionist.

Sound deadening should be a factory option. It is difficult to do 100% after the fact because of limited access. Engine noise, road noise is not only incredibly annoying, it's fatiguing. I'd pay for it for sure.