[bluefront]

I'm still working at it....determined to make my Focus the quietest running Focus on the block, that includes this forum. [wave]

My previous efforts involved engine noise reduction, helped out by a big engine cover, with an acoustic pad.....and another project involving wind noise reduction, combined with a number of rattle fixes and other misc. efforts.

I'll put my latest mods in this thread.....starting with the hatch area. I completely covered the bottom of the trunk area with carpet squares from Lowe's. These are 18" square. self-stick, and easily handled. The well for the spare tire is completely lined....I think that made the biggest difference. When you put the OEM trunk cover back in, cover the spare with a towel or something.....the bottom of my cover is relatively hard, and can make noise against the wheel.

Here's the next mod....removing the rattle sounds from the OEM hatch cover. It rattles. If you watch it in the rear-view mirror while driving along, you'll see the movement, which can make noises.

I covered the interior trim that the hatch sits on, with a few sections of sticky-back felt. The bottom edge of this cover is rather sharp....probably would cut foam.

Then I rolled up some foam into a tube which I stuffed into the stock bumpers. This puts slightly more pressure on the hatch cover.

On to the center of the hatch cover.....it's not supported at all, and bounces around. I added a strip of foam (1/2" thick) on the bulge of the plastic trim that covers the wiper motor. When the hatch is closed this foam pushes against the hatch cover, and stops all vibration. The last photo is hard to see, but it's the view with the hatch closed.

I did these mods separately.....with a road-test between. I can testify that either mod helps out. Together they make a big difference. Before anybody mentions Dyna-Mat......if you layered it under the new rear carpeting in the trunk, it might help somewhat. But you'd certainly still need carpeting or something between the Dyna-Mat and the spare tire. I didn't think it was worth the extra effort/cost.

I'll be doing more similar mods shortly, since the weather is getting warmer. Stay tuned.....

 

[dirtbrown]

wow I like the things youve done so far...ive watched all your threads religiously and plan to keep watching this one and others...thanks!

 

[mauctopa]

I covered the 4 doors ,the whole floor of the car and trunk with Fatmat ( used 100 sq. ft) and the car is much quieter. It took 2 weeks for the stink the go away tho lol

 

[Djmike2485]

That is a great solution to the problem. I never thought about the carpet tiles. Hmmm... new ideas coming in for the season. Great work!

 

[Phokus]

I'm guessing lining the underside of your hood with this stuff would help too?

 

[bluefront]

Under the hood? I doubt the adhesive would hold up.....plus you can buy a factory under-hood shield. That would be a better solution. My dealer wants about $100 for the thing however. The SVT models came with one. Maybe find one at a junk-yard.

 

[Phokus]

but your hood is different than my hood
Is the thing a different shape on the 09?

 

[bluefront]

^^^^Can't answer that question. I suppose you could trim an early hood shield to fit. Go to a Ford dealer and see if one is available for your year...

 

[bluefront]

I started on my tire/wheel noise reduction phase. I'm going to line all four wheel wells with this exterior carpet stuff. This will be under the stock splash shields, not at all visible, and mostly protected from splashing. The carpet material is synthetic, made from plastic products.....and won't absorb water.

On the front the carpet will be attached to the plastic splash shields, but in the rear the carpet is attached directly to the body......the adhesive holds well to the painted surface, as long as the surface is clean.

On the subject of Dyna Mat.....won't work like carpet in this application. Dyna Mat cuts down on panel vibration by adding weight. I have no panel vibration here. The carpet material absorbs sound waves......the effect I'm looking for. Ever walk into a bare room with no carpets? That's the sound this carpet mod is going to reduce......hopefully. More to come.

 

[justjake]

Have you removed the inside hatch skin and placed carpet there yet? That should be a huge reduction in vibration and noise.

 

[bluefront]

^^^^^Not yet......[thumb]

 

[bluefront]

Today I removed the hatch trim cover.....it already has a large foam pad attached. There simply isn't enough room to install a carpet section on top of the foam....the trim wouldn't go back on properly. If you removed the OEM pad, this new carpet would fit.....with very little gains, IMO.

But I did install a few carpet sections to the underside of the hatch cover. I think more padding here would really help. Not sure yet if the adhesive will hold on without more glue....I'll find out. It looks good.

 

[bluefront]

More work with the carpet......Instead of the inside of the hatch trim cover, I cut out carpet to line the outside. This adhesive carpet really holds tight to the plastic. It won't come loose. The inside of the hatch is almost completely lined with carpet....but there's still a way to go.

 

[justjake]

Good thinkin' mate.

 

[Xornok]

Dude, can I just send my car to you and you do ALL of your mods to my car?

 

[bluefront]

^^^Heh. More carpet today.....I lined the hatch trim strip below the latch. Now if anything slides around back there, it'll hit the soft carpet.

 

[bluefront]

Here's the carpet trick to the front fender liner........The first photo is a little foam barrier that Ford stuffs in there to keep water out of the rear section of the fender. I covered it with carpet....the carpet faces the wheel.

And here's the fender liner itself, lined with carpet on the inside. None of this carpet is visible with the liner back on, and none of it gets directly splashed by water. Its only purpose is to absorb/reduce noise from the tire/wheel and from the front suspension.

I really could notice the reduction of front suspension noise on the first road test.
I've still got two wheel wells to go with this carpet mod. [thumb]

 

[bluefront]

Update.....as it turned out the adhesive carpet won't stay attached under that hatch cover. So I took those sections, and reapplied them to the top-side of the hatch cover. That's holding up ok.

 

[700whpfocus]

what type of adhesive do u use?

 

[700whpfocus]

howbig and how much did this cost so far?