The tub in my rig is just Herculined, making it loud. Anyone know of a clever way to add some sound deadening while keeping it hose-out-able? Will adding some deadening in the doors, firewall and rear quarters make enough of a difference to be worth it?

My interior is only Herculined, and is very loud too.

I put some Q-pads in the door trim panels, and carpeted the interior door trim and I could notice the difference. I have some heat insulation on the firewall. I think an adhesive pad like Q-pads or Dynamat in the quarters, and putting the interior quarter trim panels back in will help. A spray in chip guard like Techtron, is what we were thinking of doing to the inside of my quarters and roof, I still plan on doing it someday.

http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=50

I can't find any info on Techtron, maybe I have the name wrong, but its just a texture/chip guard used on lower body panels of trucks, under the paint. There are lots of these type products and most body supply shops will have them.

Look up lizard skin. I'm planning to use it.

www.lizardskin.com

I've seen that, could be a good option. Any idea if it will handle UV and general wear and tear if I don't coat over it?

It's supposed to. Just like a bed liner I guess. Get both the heat and sound and be good to go.

Running a hardtop and insulating it makes a huge difference, I have my top insulated, floor herculined and carpet only in the front, JD thinks mine is very quiet, I think it's pretty reasonable, I can take you out for a spin sometime if you'd like to see

Go diesel and wear hearing protection!

Perfect!

Oh it's going diesel for sure now! Just gotta get loads of dynamat for the interior and heat/ sound insulator for the engine bay

heads up.. dynamat is clearing out their old packaging and most placed have it on sale 20-30% or more off.. they are getting rid of Foose as the spokesman... so now would be the time to buy..

Lizard Skin will deteriorate if you spray it over the top or under any bed liner. That is straight from them. I looked into using it a few years ago and called them to ask if I could spray it over the top of Herculiner (I've got my tub lined too) and they told me that it will only last a couple of years because all bed liners are petroleum based and Lizard Skin is water based and doing an install this way will void any type of "warranty" or anything else they offer. Take that for what it's worth.

Now, with that in mind you can achieve the same basic sound deadening properties, at a lot cheaper price, by going this route. From what I have found out there on the interwebs, the micro-beads in Lizard Skin is just ceramic microspheres and the paint-mixture they are using is just an exterior latex based paint. Soooo.....A 1 lb. bag of the microspheres run about $15 and a gallon of latex paint runs anywhere from $15-50 depending on what you use. Lizard skin runs in the $150 to 200 range for a 2 gallon bucket, depending on where you get it from. And a pound of those should go a lot further than just 2 gallons.

If I was going to do it, I'd go with an oil based paint and use a bed liner gun to shoot it all. The liner guns are relatively cheap (in the $15-25 range) and as long as you prep the bed liner correct, Xylene or Xylol to clean it, then the worst that can happen is you have to re-apply in a few years. I had to do that with Herculiner under the gas pedal as it was. I imagine the reason for the latex paint is for flexibility. Oil dries harder and wears quicker, kind of the bend vs. break theory, so that could be your only draw back. The other option is to buy the microbeads and drop it right into the Herculiner or what ever liner you use and apply it that way. You'd get the toughness of the bed liner with the sound deadening as added creature comfort.