Road noise- interior

[The_Chemist]

I ran out of time trying to install mine yesterday and saw what you are talking about. I have the weld indentions but also have the holes. My issue was that the holes don't line up with the seal. The outer two are fine but the third one in is off by about 1/2".

On top of that, the seal seems designed for a wider bed-to-cab gap than the 2019 has. The side seals don't touch the cab whereas this one will not only touch but be forced to curl in. I'm concerned about grit getting in there and rubbing through the cab paint over time.

Unless I'm doing something very wrong.

Exactly!

I think the design may have been changed. My first hole is close to the side seals. The other holes that I could feel are not drilled through. Where the verticle pieces of sheet metal come together, I can feel a complete hole on the piece of sheet metal that faces the cab. In the center of that hole I can feel an indent, not a hole the entire way through. Therefore, I don't think my seal will not even line up correctly, unless I'm just not seeing or feeling the holes correctly.

I may purchase a cheap fiber optic usb snake camera on Amazon to connect to my phone so that I can get a visual.

I think RAM owes all of us big time for all the hours of time and labor we have in trying to fix noises, squeaks and rattles on our brand new trucks! LOL

 

[Edwards]

OK, I was trying to install it wrong. Upside down. I was trying to match the side seals where the open part faces into the truck. Looking at the diagram and pics of install I turned it around and it went in as advertised.

I also measured and the center pin is offset to one side.

Quite easy install except for the 2nd from the end over the tank. I got it started by hand and then, from the passenger side, put the end of a big long screwdriver on top of the plastic pin and was able to pop it in in an instant leveraging two hands on the screwdriver. Almost like I do them all day long.

 

[Edwards]

Exactly!

I think the design may have been changed. My first hole is close to the side seals. The other holes that I could feel are not drilled through. Where the verticle pieces of sheet metal come together, I can feel a complete hole on the piece of sheet metal that faces the cab. In the center of that hole I can feel an indent, not a hole the entire way through. Therefore, I don't think my seal will not even line up correctly, unless I'm just not seeing or feeling the holes correctly.

I may purchase a cheap fiber optic usb snake camera on Amazon to connect to my phone so that I can get a visual.

I think RAM owes all of us big time for all the hours of time and labor we have in trying to fix noises, squeaks and rattles on our brand new trucks! LOL

I think if you feel around a bit more you'll find them. The welds that you are feeling are two pieces of metal and every hole that I laid eyes on was in a single thickness of metal with a notch in the other piece. If you get a flashlight between the muffler and driveshaft, right up against the bottom of the bed, you should be able to see one or two holes looking toward the cab.

You don't use the outer two holes in the bed (not sure what those are for.) The seal should be roughly centered on the bed but if you can find one hole then the seal will guide you on the others - assuming you are installing it correctly (open part of U cross section faces down.)

 

[The_Chemist]

I think if you feel around a bit more you'll find them. The welds that you are feeling are two pieces of metal and every hole that I laid eyes on was in a single thickness of metal with a notch in the other piece. If you get a flashlight between the muffler and driveshaft, right up against the bottom of the bed, you should be able to see one or two holes looking toward the cab.

You don't use the outer two holes in the bed (not sure what those are for.) The seal should be roughly centered on the bed but if you can find one hole then the seal will guide you on the others - assuming you are installing it correctly (open part of U cross section faces down.)

Thanks for the advice. I figured the open side of the U faced down. But, I need to look again and find the holes. It'll be awhile now. It snowed here last night and I don't have a garage, only a carport.

 

[drumexpert]

I received the seal this Friday and did the install on my October built Rebel.


Like others have noted, the seal is centered on the cab/bed. I made the mistake of starting with the outermost hole and could not get the rest to lineup. Eventually I was able to remove the seal and started with the second outermost hole I could find and the rest of the seal went in rather easily. Here are before and after pictures from the bed of the truck (kind of tough to take good pictures)

Before (without the seal):



After (with the seal installed):


As for noise isolation, I could tell the difference under 45MPH. I would say the difference from the driver seat without the seal in place was like driving with a rear window slightly open. Now with the seal in place, it drives as if the same rear window has been closed. However, I did a before and after test at 50MPH on the same stretch of roadway, and could not get a measurable difference in my sound decibel reader application.

I attribute this to the fact that I have the stock wrangler duratrac tires. I think the tire whine produced by the tires overcomes any speed related wind noise at 50MPH that may have been present without the seal installation. Just a thought. Or it could be that the sound meter app I have is not very accurate.

I wonder if someone with duratrac tires experiences the same low speed noise isolation improvement with the seal installed, but negligible noise isolation at highway speeds because of the tire whine?

 

[VinnyRam]

I received the seal this Friday and did the install on my October built Rebel.
View attachment 13590

Like others have noted, the seal is centered on the cab/bed. I made the mistake of starting with the outermost hole and could not get the rest to lineup. Eventually I was able to remove the seal and started with the second outermost hole I could find and the rest of the seal went in rather easily. Here are before and after pictures from the bed of the truck (kind of tough to take good pictures)

Before (without the seal):

View attachment 13591

After (with the seal installed):
View attachment 13592

As for noise isolation, I could tell the difference under 45MPH. I would say the difference from the driver seat without the seal in place was like driving with a rear window slightly open. Now with the seal in place, it drives as if the same rear window has been closed. However, I did a before and after test at 50MPH on the same stretch of roadway, and could not get a measurable difference in my sound decibel reader application.

I attribute this to the fact that I have the stock wrangler duratrac tires. I think the tire whine produced by the tires overcomes any speed related wind noise at 50MPH that may have been present without the seal installation. Just a thought. Or it could be that the sound meter app I have is not very accurate.

I wonder if someone with duratrac tires experiences the same low speed noise isolation improvement with the seal installed, but negligible noise isolation at highway speeds because of the tire whine?

Thanks for posting the pictures. Is the seal attached to the cab side or the bed ?

 

[drumexpert]

Thanks for posting the pictures. Is the seal attached to the cab side or the bed ?

The seal is attached to the bed.

 

[VinnyRam]

The seal is attached to the bed.

Thanks. Mine is on order. So it attached to 5 holes on the bed side with the open face pointing to the ground.

 

[JV77]

I picked up one of these seals yesterday and installed it on my October build. In my one drive so far, I agree with @drumexpert in that the biggest change is when speeds are below 50mph. I have a Laramie with the stock bridgestones. I will say the interstate I was driving on this morning is primarily concrete so its already loud at speed. I had previously tried stuffing a towel under the rear seat and adding a couple layers of microfiber towels over the vent in the back wall. The seal reduced the noise much more than those two did in my opinion. It didn't sound like I had a window cracked in the back anymore, which was my primary complaint. It was spitting rain and ice this morning too, so hopefully in dry conditions the road noise will be even further reduced.

 

[bonebro]

I got drove around last night and did some more investigating. I put the microfiber towels directly over the vents, stuffed towels under the center of the rear seat and installed the cab to box seal. Now, instead of most of the road noise being centered in the rear seat, the corners under the rear seat have the road noise. I’ll stuff more towels and try that. Does anyone have any idea what the vents on the bottom of the door jamb are for? Maybe that is the next culprit.

 

[JV77]

I got drove around last night and did some more investigating. I put the microfiber towels directly over the vents, stuffed towels under the center of the rear seat and installed the cab to box seal. Now, instead of most of the road noise being centered in the rear seat, the corners under the rear seat have the road noise. I’ll stuff more towels and try that. Does anyone have any idea what the vents on the bottom of the door jamb are for? Maybe that is the next culprit.

I still have the microfiber on the vent as I didn't want to pull the liner again yesterday, but I didn't have the towel under the seat this morning. I will stuff it back in and see if that helps too. I am also wondering what those vents are for on the rear door jambs, before finding this thread those were my original thought. I might have to tape over them for a quick test.

 

[bonebro]

I still have the microfiber on the vent as I didn't want to pull the liner again yesterday, but I didn't have the towel under the seat this morning. I will stuff it back in and see if that helps too. I am also wondering what those vents are for on the rear door jambs, before finding this thread those were my original thought. I might have to tape over them for a quick test.

I debated the same thing! Wondering if they are vents for the subwoofer on passenger side and etorque on driver side...

I just got to work, tested out the extra towels... stuffing the entire under seat and behind the seats definitely helps, even on a concrete road.

 

[JV77]

I debated the same thing! Wondering if they are vents for the subwoofer on passenger side and etorque on driver side...

I just got to work, tested out the extra towels... stuffing the entire under seat and behind the seats definitely helps, even on a concrete road.

Thats good to know, I will give that a try. Also an interesting thought about the vents being for sub and etorque. I wonder if that would mean non-etorque truck have an open vent that is just a straight shot to the interior. If anyone has pulled the carpet back in this area I would be interested in a picture.

 

[VinnyRam]

I debated the same thing! Wondering if they are vents for the subwoofer on passenger side and etorque on driver side...

I just got to work, tested out the extra towels... stuffing the entire under seat and behind the seats definitely helps, even on a concrete road.

Thanks for the update. Have you try the blue tape around the rear window?

 

[bonebro]

Thanks for the update. Have you try the blue tape around the rear window?

I have not tried that. I do not hear any extra noise coming from the rear window. Might be worth a try tho! As well as those vents inside the rear door jamb.

I went thru the car wash a few minutes ago, and turned the hvac fan on high when the auto car wash was spraying suds.... monster BUBBLES started forming everywhere around the window seals! I have sealed up the cabin vents too much (hence the low road noise). I’ll check if the hvac fan is suppressed by opening a door to see if it speeds up. Also might try to make a tunnel for air to escape easier.

 

[Edwards]

Thats good to know, I will give that a try. Also an interesting thought about the vents being for sub and etorque. I wonder if that would mean non-etorque truck have an open vent that is just a straight shot to the interior. If anyone has pulled the carpet back in this area I would be interested in a picture.

I don't think they have two cab stampings (eTorque and non) but if you get in the bed and look from above into the space between the cab and bed, you can see the edge of the vents. That will save you from dismantling the interior. I have eTorque and only have two rear vents. They are offset to the passenger side to make room for the eTorque battery.

Just need someone to confirm on a non-eTorque model but I'll bet they are the same.

You can see some shots of the interior of the vents here: https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/interesting-finds-behind-back-seat.4808/

 

[JV77]

I don't think they have two cab stampings (eTorque and non) but if you get in the bed and look from above into the space between the cab and bed, you can see the edge of the vents. That will save you from dismantling the interior. I have eTorque and only have two rear vents. They are offset to the passenger side to make room for the eTorque battery.

Just need someone to confirm on a non-eTorque model but I'll bet they are the same.

You can see some shots of the interior of the vents here: https://5thgenrams.com/community/threads/interesting-finds-behind-back-seat.4808/

I have noticed that there are two in the back wall of the cab. I have covered the center one from the linked thread with microfiber towels to try to lessen the road noise. In that post, I was actually talking about the vents below the rear doors in the door jamb that are visible when you open the rear doors. I thought those were the vents @bonebro was referring to as well, but maybe I misunderstood. I will have to crawl around under the cab to see if I can see anything on those vents or not.

 

[JV77]

I finally had dry roads this morning and can confidently report the seal has eliminated the original sound issue completely for me at all speeds. I still get tire noise, especially at interstate speeds on concrete, but I would think that is more tire related and is probably normal. When these wear out I will probably switch to Michelins which always seem to cut down on road noise. Either way, the truck was always quieter than the Tahoe I used to drive, now it is significantly quieter. I am sure it would be possible to get the truck even quieter, but I think I will drive myself crazy if I keep chasing any possible noise leak. For now I am happy with the seal.

 

[Troyrugsucker]

I also installed the seal today in about 5 minutes. The road noise is now minimal! Can you say Happy Camper! Thanks for the help RAM PEOPLE!!

 

[Noubon125]

2019 1500 Limited with build date 10/20/2018.

Excessive road noise which is most noticeable at highway speeds. The cabin noise on this truck is clearly louder than the 2019 truck I test drove and my own previous truck.

Does anyone know how to test the active noise cancellation system?

Anyone else have cabin noise louder than expected?

Thanks in advance.

Try to check your paranoma roof. Open it and close it again when it close give it a little push to close the roof. The noise will gone it is happen with my laramie. The roof close very slow and weak that why some time it not close probably. Need a push.