How-to.....Make the rear seats livable for your passengers.

[bluefront]

And livable for the people up front also. It's damn noisy when riding in the rear of a normal Focus. The noise from the wheels/tires can make you irritable, give you a head-ache, and worse. The stock Focus has some noise reduction pieces back there......but the bare minimum. You can do better. Here's what I did......mostly using 18" self-adhesive indoor/outdoor carpet squares from Lowes.

I lined the rear wheel well as much as possible....the stock fender liner completely covers the carpet when reinstalled.



I lined the spare tire well and the bottom of the trunk area all the way to the seats.



I removed the stock side trunk liner, and covered as much as I could of the exposed inner wheel well, and the other bare sheet metal.



In the next photo......the lower right arrow points to the outside vent port. Don't cover it. The other two arrows point to areas you can stuff with carpet pieces, old towels, foam, etc. These open spaces are areas that act like little echo chambers.



This piece is the very top cover of the rear seat belt retractor.....I covered the inside of it with 4mm acoustic foam (from an old computer project). The idea here is to cover every hard surface with something softer that doesn't reflect noise. I did this same thing to the plastic housing right under this top section.



None of this carpeting is visible when everything is put back together......



Is all this worth the trouble? Depends. Depends on how much you dislike noise, and if you carry passengers. They'll love you for this mod. The noise reduction is dramatic. Next time you buy tires, buy a set known to be quiet-running.....and you'll like your Focus even more. Long highway trips won't be such a pain anymore. Go for it.....I'm glad I did.

[Sponsor]

[captcurt_18]

Another practicality mod from Carl. Great work, i will be needing this soon.

[Mr.Bergner]

Very nice

I imagine Gene Hackmans voice when reading your posts

[bluefront]

Heh.....too bad I'm not much into music. You can almost enjoy music in the car with all the noise reduction mods I've done. I spend a big part of the time driving with the audio turned off. It's quiet enough now in this car to do that.

After I did all the wind/traffic noise reduction, the noise from the rear wheels was very obvious/irritating. Now I can live with what's left......but that doesn't mean I'm stopping the project. I'm on my second box of carpet squares....I figure I've installed about 35 square feet of carpet, and none in the cabin area.....yet.

[bdnld4482]

nice

[SVTflyer03]

pretty sweet, I would like to use dynamat but it would cost around $250 to do what you did for about $30.

[Djmike2485]

It looks good. This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time but never figured out the less expensive alternative. I don't know what kind of reduction I'd get with covering the trunk though. I do notice a lot of road noise, especially when it rains, coming from where the seatbelt comes out of. It's like it belts you right in the left ear. Great ideas, keep em coming!

[bluefront]

There is a big difference between Dynamat and carpet....besides just the price. (A box of 20 carpet squares does cost $50). I suppose you could just glue on standard carpet, but it would take 3x as long, and the job would be messy.

But Dynamat only prevents panel vibrations due to it's weight, and provides some noise blockage. The carpet absorbs sounds, much like the acoustic foam used in recording studios. In the old days, they hung carpet on the walls for the effect. This carpet is thin enough to fit these various places, which of course is a concern.

When actually placing a piece of carpet in there, you have to leave clearance for the stock panel clips and screws. But the whole job just takes time.....I didn't have to cut or modify any of the stock pieces. I just hope all the carpet stays attached.....the adhesive seems strong enough if the carpet is laying flat, or applied at 90 degrees. It will only take gradual curves. In some areas I had to use a bunch of smaller pieces....to get them to hold.

In any case....no big deal if any come loose.

One other thing.....this particular carpet does not soak up water, since it is entirely made of recycled plastic. This is important for preventing rust should any of it get wet. Water flows right through it......the adhesive on the back is applied in stripes, so there's airflow, and it will dry out quickly.

[Phokus]

I still don't understand where you bought this stuff

I've been to 2 different Lowe's and they say they don't have that stuff

Is there a website on that box?

[bluefront]

www.ozite.com or www.eco-fi.com, #CN14N4720PKS, gunmetal color. The various Lowes don't necessarily carry the same stock.

Foss Manufacturing co LLC
11 Merrill Industrial dr
po box 5000
Hampton, NH
03843

phone# 8007464019