Doghouse Insulation how much room?

[mikeannetta]

I have a 2016 SunStar LX Ford V10 engine. For those who added additional insulation under doghouse, how much room is there so as not to interfere with the engine? What products did you use? I’m leaning towards dynamat. Not sure if it should be the Dynaliner or Dynamat? Or combination of both? Biggest concern is to maximize available space under doghouse and to reduce sound when driving.

[Eck]

following

[NYer]

The YouTube video by RV Street does a good job of showing what he did. There are links to the product he used. Thinking of doing same to my 2020 Sunstar, once I remove the doghouse to see what is actually under there.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by mikeannetta

I have a 2016 SunStar LX Ford V10 engine. For those who added additional insulation under doghouse, how much room is there so as not to interfere with the engine? What products did you use? I’m leaning towards dynamat. Not sure if it should be the Dynaliner or Dynamat? Or combination of both? Biggest concern is to maximize available space under doghouse and to reduce sound when driving.

Everyone’s doghouse cover is probably different, but I’ve included a picture in mine. You can see on the left side the floor, so I’d guess there’s six inches or so of clearance. It doesn’t interfere with the engine, as one can see all that’s on top of the engine is the plastic intake ducts.

I used a very thick ceramic blanket, held in place with a foil sound deadening material.

Here’s a short video of the project.

https://vimeo.com/429101708

[mikeannetta]

Thanks Wyatt, that’s exactly what mine looks like. Did you experience any improvement?

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by mikeannetta

Thanks Wyatt, that’s exactly what mine looks like. Did you experience any improvement?

Did you watch the video link in my post? I used a decibel meter to measure before and after, so my results are not subjective. It made an amazing difference. Even DW said, “wow, what did you do, it’s so quiet now”.

FYI, later I also insulated under the front tire wells with Noico stick on car insulation, that helped too, and keeps the front floorboards cooler...

These are the two I used for the doghouse...

[mikeannetta]

Thanks again, watched video link, going to order and install while in storage.

[Morich]

Big question that I did not pick up on the vid is how did you attach the layers?

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Morich

Big question that I did not pick up on the vid is how did you attach the layers?

Good catch, as it wasn’t in the video. I first put in the ceramic blanket. It’s really thick and fibrous, which makes for a great sound deadening material, so long as it’s not compressed—as with any sound deadening material.

Then I added the foil blanket, that has a black sticky side, that held the ceramic blanket in place, when it attaches it to the sides.

It’s a snug fit when reinstalled, so it’s not going anywhere.

[Morich]

I assume no need for attachments along the center, etc as it is deemed stiff enough to hold up on it's own?
I've considered doing this but never moved on it as sound is not a big thing with us. The overall noise from bangs, squeaks and that sort of thing are something that I chase down and solve but the engine and road noise have not come to the top so far.
But having the right materials pointed out may change that!! Thanks for getting me into more work???

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Morich

I assume no need for attachments along the center, etc as it is deemed stiff enough to hold up on it's own?
I've considered doing this but never moved on it as sound is not a big thing with us. The overall noise from bangs, squeaks and that sort of thing are something that I chase down and solve but the engine and road noise have not come to the top so far.
But having the right materials pointed out may change that!! Thanks for getting me into more work???

When I was making the video, my thought was to get everything into place, dry fit it, and then make any adjustments, or additional adhesive to make sure the ceramic blanket stayed in place.

But when I took it out to do a dry run install, I saw that the ceramic blanket stayed in place with just the foil blanket holding it there. So once it was installed, I left it alone and never finished that part of the video.

The ceramic blanket is so fibrous, that any spray adhesive to the under portion of the doghouse cover, won’t do anything. It’d be like spraying a heavy cotton ball with adhesive and expecting it to stick, when the ball would just fall off leaving some of the cotton stuck to the adhesive.

The ceramic blanket stayed in place on its own, when conformed to the inside of the cover. The foil blanket, just made sure it did so, and added another layer of soundproofing.

It really did make an amazing difference, as now we can converse at a more normal level when driving down the road. It has to be one of my top mods that I’d do over again...

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Morich

I assume no need for attachments along the center, etc as it is deemed stiff enough to hold up on it's own?
I've considered doing this but never moved on it as sound is not a big thing with us. The overall noise from bangs, squeaks and that sort of thing are something that I chase down and solve but the engine and road noise have not come to the top so far.
But having the right materials pointed out may change that!! Thanks for getting me into more work???

OK today I have an update on the doghouse installation. I started the RV engine up today and I saw some of the white ceramic material blow out onto the ground. I suspected immediately that a rat had gotten in there and sure enough it had. So I took the doghouse cover off and found that a rat had decided to bring some food from a nearby strawberry tree of ours, under the ceramic blanket.

So I had unwittingly built a wonderful warm spot for a rat to find a home.
That led me to today’s project of undoing everything I did, cutting the ceramic blanket back a bit, and installing HVAC foil tape around the edges so that no rats could burrow underneath and find comfort.
Then I lined all the areas underneath on the suspension where I saw tiny footprints with tack traps.

I did notice that the aluminum foil blanket on top of the ceramic blanket was resting on the plastic air intake, so there isn’t 6 inches there’s like no inches of space between the plastic air ducks and the insulation.

I’m going to update my video in a few days to share what I did and what I found but in the meantime here are some photos.

[Wyatt]

Just an FYI, I Updated the Doghouse installation video to include the added protection against rodents...

https://vimeo.com/429101708

[Morich]

Since about all areas have some form of rodent that like to move into our RV, I have developed the habit of assuming they will and do some easy preventive things to try to reduce the damage.
One easy item to use is the solid "rat bars" and just throw a few here and there back under cabinet drawers and into the spaces where any rodent might like to hide out and chew on things like the wiring! One or two placed as far back on top of the engine block is one that makes me feel a bit better about stopping them chewing the ignition, etc.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Morich

Since about all areas have some form of rodent that like to move into our RV, I have developed the habit of assuming they will and do some easy preventive things to try to reduce the damage.
One easy item to use is the solid "rat bars" and just throw a few here and there back under cabinet drawers and into the spaces where any rodent might like to hide out and chew on things like the wiring! One or two placed as far back on top of the engine block is one that makes me feel a bit better about stopping them chewing the ignition, etc.

I like your idea, so I'm using tac traps on the places I saw their foot prints, which was under the engine and on the frame rail.

I'm reticent to "bait" them into the RV, as I may be unwittingly welcoming them into my home.

So I'm putting out the old fashioned style "snap" traps and tac traps around the perimeter of the RV 10 yards away or so. Caught one poor guy already last night...

We have a lot of wildlife also in our area--all sorts of cool raptors, (eagles, owls, cooper's and sharp-shined hawks, etc.), that if they eat a poisoned mouse will also die.

Let's hope it helps. Our Terrier, (Wyatt), has a kill of 14 (confirmed kills). But he can't be out there under the RV all night because he's a wuss.

[Phil-T]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

Our Terrier, (Wyatt), has a kill of 14 (confirmed kills). But he can't be out there under the RV all night becaus e he's a wuss.

Our Yorkie does the same. She will sit motionless for long periods time if there is any kind of rodent nearby. I have lot track of her kill count.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by Phil-T

Our Yorkie does the same. She will sit motionless for long periods time if there is any kind of rodent nearby. I have lot track of her kill count.

Great photo! Is that really your dog?

[Phil-T]

Originally Posted by Wyatt

Great photo! Is that really your dog?

LOL - I scarfed it off the net somewhere; but that's how she acts!

[deucehotrods]

Great ideas, I'm going to try that too except I'm going to use 3M Auto Glass Urethane Windshield Adhesive used for gluing windshields in, for attaching the fibrous ceramic blanket first. It is a thick, black, quick curing adhesive that will attach to anything, especially you, if you aren't careful.

You can buy it at your local auto parts store or on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/3M-08693-Uret.../dp/B000RW1XCK

I would put a few dabs of it every 6-12 inches and press the ceramic blanket into it with some weights on it and let it cure. As long as the fibrous material holds together and doesn't pull apart it will hold it in place. Then you can do the same thing in the same spots as before and attach the the foil blanket.

[Wyatt]

Originally Posted by deucehotrods

Great ideas, I'm going to try that too except I'm going to use 3M Auto Glass Urethane Windshield Adhesive used for gluing windshields in, for attaching the fibrous ceramic blanket first. It is a thick, black, quick curing adhesive that will attach to anything, especially you, if you aren't careful.

You can buy it at your local auto parts store or on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/3M-08693-Uret.../dp/B000RW1XCK

I would put a few dabs of it every 6-12 inches and press the ceramic blanket into it with some weights on it and let it cure. As long as the fibrous material holds together and doesn't pull apart it will hold it in place. Then you can do the same thing in the same spots as before and attach the the foil blanket.

I'll save you some trouble. I seriously doubt that any glue will work. Reason is, it'd be like trying to glue a really heavy cotton ball to something. The cotton ball would just fall off, leaving a portion of the ball still glued to whatever you glued it to.

The foil blanket has a glued side to it, and when I removed it, it had a fine layer of the ceramic blanket attracted to it, but it wasn't about to "stick" to the ceramic blanket.

Also, once in place, the way I did it anyway, it isn't going anywhere, as the foil blanket actually rests on the plastic intake cover of the engine when in place.