Audio Upgrade Sound Deadening - worth the cost & time to install ??

[dougcjohn]

I'm waiting for the Power-9 F25 DSP Amp kit and the Sub Enclosure box to be completed and available.
Other thread on Power-9 and speakers
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/2025-26-b-o-audio-upgrade-zen-power-9-f25.134419/

I've been pondering if adding Sound Deadening... specifically the SoundSkin pre-cut product was worth the time & cost to install.
https://soundskinsglobal.com/pages/product-result?rq=yr_2025__mk_ford__md_bronco

Maybe more threads, but my search turned up 1 thread on SoundSkin.
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/sound-deadening-sound-skins.111779/

It's been little over a year since last post on that SoundSkin thread.
Going forward, Has anyone installed the SoundSkin Product on Floors, Doors and trunk area?

* EDIT: later I found a nice discussion on various products for sound deadening.
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/sound-deadening.133472/

The SoundSkin is a pricey product all precut and 3 layer, Amazon sells rolls of sound deadening... I'm not sure how they compare.

I have a 4 Door Hard top, the top makes a little wind noise but was wondering how much it improved overall with a complete soundskin deadening product?
I'm not sure which is worse to add the SoundSkin: the cost or the time involved to remove interior and reinstall.

If I do go with adding SoundSkin, I''ll coordinate it with installing the Power-9 cables to Battery, and removing the Seat Belts to change Black to Red belts.

I've tried a few various sound deadening rolls on other older cars... mainly a thin rubber with aluminum foil, so I question if that was a very good product.
The SoundSkin is a 3 layer, with the added foam for acoustical benefits. With the SoundSkin being precut, you have several extra trim pieces that can all be used inside speaker boxes, behind kick speakers, etc. That might add to the benefit of sound deadening.

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[Chrome_Pony]

Pre-cut absolutely not worth the cost increase for just cutting it yourself if you're installing. Buy the sheets and a good roller and you can put it anywhere and potentially still have some left for other projects.

I've only done the rear around the subwoofer and rear deck for the sub install, and I can tell a noticeable difference just from that area. That plus the Hotheads headliner is putting the Bronco where it should have come factory sound deadening-wise

 

[dougcjohn]

Pre-cut absolutely not worth the cost increase for just cutting it yourself if you're installing. Buy the sheets and a good roller and you can put it anywhere and potentially still have some left for other projects.

I've only done the rear around the subwoofer and rear deck for the sub install, and I can tell a noticeable difference just from that area. That plus the Hotheads headliner is putting the Bronco where it should have come factory sound deadening-wise

I was beginning to think that myself, If I'm removing the interior... cutting shouldn't be that difficult. The cuts or holes may not be a perfect... but who cares, they're all covered when done.

Did you use any particular brand / style?
Great to hear it helps.

 

[Chrome_Pony]

I've used Killmat and Noico. Cutting is easy. Either use this as an excuse to get some nice Milwaukee or Klein shears, or use a utility knife. The roller is the more important tool to get the material to conform to odd contours.

These are just peel and stick rubberized roofing materials, get an inexpensive brand and expect it to offgas for a couple days in the heat, as they all do that.

 

[Alassise]

I used the Killmat on my soft top, floor and trunk area. It made an audible difference on the Bronco. Doing the 4 doors in the future. The precut kits are better (IMO) if you are pressed for time or want a professional intel look. Other than that, I don't see a mayor improvement on the noise reduction.

 

[RlsTheBracken]

I did the pre-cut Soundskin, but I agree with the others that you should save your money and cut it yourself. I did the trunk and inside quarter panel by the subwoofer when I installed the sub, since I already had it all apart. Definitely made a difference. Agree with Chrome_Pony - spend the few bucks for a good roller. You’re covering a good-sized area.

 

[dougcjohn]

I've used Killmat and Noico. Cutting is easy. Either use this as an excuse to get some nice Milwaukee or Klein shears, or use a utility knife. The roller is the more important tool to get the material to conform to odd contours.

These are just peel and stick rubberized roofing materials, get an inexpensive brand and expect it to offgas for a couple days in the heat, as they all do that.

I agree on the roll and self cut… in looking through Amazon, I noticed all the rolls I looked at except for the SoundSkin roll, they were all 2 layer: aluminum and rubber. I did find a few that had the foam and lacked the rubber layer (intended mainly for speaker housings). The SoundSkin was the only one I could find that had the 3 layer that included the foam & rubber.

Agree on price savings for sure… but the time & hassle to remove interior is also major project and not desired to repeat.

Has anyone found the 3 layer in rolls?

 

[bc_indiana]

I'm waiting for the Power-9 F25 DSP Amp kit and the Sub Enclosure box to be completed and available.
Other thread on Power-9 and speakers
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/2025-26-b-o-audio-upgrade-zen-power-9-f25.134419/

I've been pondering if adding Sound Deadening... specifically the SoundSkin pre-cut product was worth the time & cost to install.
https://soundskinsglobal.com/pages/product-result?rq=yr_2025__mk_ford__md_bronco

Maybe more threads, but my search turned up 1 thread on SoundSkin.
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/sound-deadening-sound-skins.111779/

It's been little over a year since last post on that SoundSkin thread.
Going forward, Has anyone installed the SoundSkin Product on Floors, Doors and trunk area?

* EDIT: later I found a nice discussion on various products for sound deadening.
https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/threads/sound-deadening.133472/

The SoundSkin is a pricey product all precut and 3 layer, Amazon sells rolls of sound deadening... I'm not sure how they compare.

I have a 4 Door Hard top, the top makes a little wind noise but was wondering how much it improved overall with a complete soundskin deadening product?
I'm not sure which is worse to add the SoundSkin: the cost or the time involved to remove interior and reinstall.

If I do go with adding SoundSkin, I''ll coordinate it with installing the Power-9 cables to Battery, and removing the Seat Belts to change Black to Red belts.

I've tried a few various sound deadening rolls on other older cars... mainly a thin rubber with aluminum foil, so I question if that was a very good product.
The SoundSkin is a 3 layer, with the added foam for acoustical benefits. With the SoundSkin being precut, you have several extra trim pieces that can all be used inside speaker boxes, behind kick speakers, etc. That might add to the benefit of sound deadening.

Looking forward to seeing some more info once you get everything installed. I am pondering an audio and sound deadening upgrade as well. All of this 25+ B&O audio stuff is new to me (man how the car audio has changed...) and have had my head swirling looking at costs of some of the Trail Seven bundles. Really want to keep the center channel speaker as well and definitely upgrade the sub/amp. Rear pod upgrade as well likely. Very underwhelmed at the B&O and have a nice rattle at the rear sub it sounds like. Great work FORD!! lol.

 

[dougcjohn]

Looking forward to seeing some more info once you get everything installed. I am pondering an audio and sound deadening upgrade as well. All of this 25+ B&O audio stuff is new to me (man how the car audio has changed...) and have had my head swirling looking at costs of some of the Trail Seven bundles. Really want to keep the center channel speaker as well and definitely upgrade the sub/amp. Rear pod upgrade as well likely. Very underwhelmed at the B&O and have a nice rattle at the rear sub it sounds like. Great work FORD!! lol.

I’ll do some photos along the way, sounds like we’re in the same attitude. I haven’t played with upgrading Audio since my 20’s and that’s been several clicks back… ya know it’s been a while when you enter your Birthday on a Website and spend a long time spinning the Year button backwards.

All my newer vehicles had very acceptable audio systems. My ‘24 F450 Limited B&O audio is fantastic!

I’ve gone from attempting to accept the audio system, to being totally disappointed installing the VSS 6.5 Rear speaker upgrade. Didn’t realize the B&O setup pretty much prevented any benefits on the 6.5 upgrade. Add to the limitations; other popular options to improve weren’t supported with the 25+ models. Simply adding an amp on new systems didn’t seem worthwhile, and with several setups you’d loose a lot of control or features on the OEM stereo head.

The Power-9 seems to be the best solution all around. It’s definitely pricey, but comparing to other systems I think it becomes more reasonable and leader in performance, quality and integration with Bronco.

Speakers, it was a requirement to retain the center Ft Dash. Comparing… the Audison Prima as others suggested, provided the best range and quality. Ordered that package yesterday from Trail Seven.

Sound deadening at first seemed like a total Futile effort for the Bronco… originally thought noise was primarily top. But driving it more, I don’t believe the majority of noise is from the Hardtop. To me it seems more doors and floorpan road oscillations… and from several Posts & comments on improvements after sound deadening… that appears it may be accurate. That too is a major on-taking for an Old DIY Grump! Only want to do it once and complete!

Come full circle: speaker upgrades, sub woofer enclosure box, audio DSP/Amp, Sound Deadening… and Seat Belts (for my project)… makes zero sense to only do 1 or 2 and have to return to disassembly a 2nd time.

 

[Thatguylegit69]

I agree on the roll and self cut… in looking through Amazon, I noticed all the rolls I looked at except for the SoundSkin roll, they were all 2 layer: aluminum and rubber. I did find a few that had the foam and lacked the rubber layer (intended mainly for speaker housings). The SoundSkin was the only one I could find that had the 3 layer that included the foam & rubber.

Agree on price savings for sure… but the time & hassle to remove interior is also major project and not desired to repeat.

Has anyone found the 3 layer in rolls?

The Siless 3in1 Hybrid is what I used. Comes in panels or rolls, and its great stuff.
Just use it when its cooler or at night, cause as that shit heats up, it is like stripper glitter and gets on everything.

 

[Thatguylegit69]

"I don’t believe the majority of noise is from the Hardtop"

I can't speak for hardtops, but what I did with my softie, was grab 3 moving blankets from Harbor Freight, fold them and place them atop my Bikkini Top. Wonderful suppression, helps keep heat & cold out too.

" To me it seems more doors and floorpan road oscillations"

To address this in my sound deadening journey, I removed the liners, used a foam sound deadener on the interior, spray able sound deadener / undercoat on the exterior, and applied that 3in1 Hybrid liner to the actual metal body of the fenders. Its very quiet now.

 

[GroovyGeek]

In order to access the rear speaker and amp you need to remove all the plastic. At that point adding sound deadening is very low effort, even if it does absolutely nothing. I used Kilmat, which is more reasonably priced
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082Q2J2T4

Hard to say if it made a difference.

 

[Thatguylegit69]

In order to access the rear speaker and amp you need to remove all the plastic. At that point adding sound deadening is very low effort, even if it does absolutely nothing. I used Kilmat, which is more reasonably priced
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082Q2J2T4

Hard to say if it made a difference.

Yeah, agreed.
A note for the other 2 in this thread who haven't done it yet, when you have the back panels removed, go ahead and run an extra power cable from that amp area to the front. You don't have to connect it, but if you ever upgrade amps or such, the work will already be done and prepped.

 

[Brian_B]

In order to access the rear speaker and amp you need to remove all the plastic. At that point adding sound deadening is very low effort, even if it does absolutely nothing. I used Kilmat, which is more reasonably priced
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B082Q2J2T4

Hard to say if it made a difference.

I'd agree with this: Worth it if you are already pulling panels off - low effort to add in some sound mat while you are in there for something else.

I ~would not~ pull off panels just for the purpose of installing sound mat though. The plastic is crazy easy to damage - either breaking clips off, scratching it, or flat out breaking support pieces off. You ~can~ get them off without damage, for sure, but it's not easy and takes a good bit of patience, skill, and just flat out luck - and I'm not all that convinced that rolling out your Bronco 100% in sound mat would actually be worth the squeeze. Sound mat does the best on large surface area panels to keep them from vibrating or resonating, and there just aren't really any large surface area panels on the Bronco at all... the hood is really about it, and it has that glued-on aluminum support bracketing underneath it, and maybe the door panels, but again, has glued-in support framing...

I've done my entire rear end, the area around the subwoofer, and the A-pillars where the kick panel speakers are. It definitely helped with a lot of the creaks and squeaks and rattles, but not sure it made anything any quieter. I also run with windows down almost all the time...

The moving blankets on top of the bimini between that and the top is a good idea from @Thatguylegit69

 

[dougcjohn]

The Siless 3in1 Hybrid is what I used. Comes in panels or rolls, and its great stuff.
Just use it when its cooler or at night, cause as that shit heats up, it is like stripper glitter and gets on everything.

Read your additional posts… you put the 3n1 inside fender wells. Haven’t seen product in hand, but is it durable to withstand the rocks, debri, and the weight of snow & ice inside fender well? I’d think if spraying undercoat, you‘d use that in fender?

That 3in1 Hybird is an interesting & excellent setup of material. Different than SoundSkin… I lean to maybe better. Although you need the foil layer (Siless 80 as example) if wanted to include foil for shape & heat bar.

You took more the exterior approach except head liner. That’s another possible, I undercoated my F450 and it made a diff in Cab.

Altough the 3in1 and extra butel layer on inside sounds like a great option over SoundSkins.

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