As a Land Rover Defender driver one is not pampered by luxury. Don’t get me wrong – I love my The Rolling Beast but there are things that needs to be changed. You might know that the Defender is a large aluminium box where all the bodywork is swinging and vibrating while driving especially on bad roads or offroad. This is loud, terrible and uncomfortable. Listening to music is almost impossible only when driving very slow.
On researching for the best solution I read various articles about Alubutyl and the comfort others reached associated with an installation. I discussed the result of the research with my husband. We started the research for the best material and finally found out that there are special mats for lower resonance and which absorb structural vibrations for high end music installations. The manufacturer Silent Coat promises also that these mats eliminate road and outside noises, insulate the car and improves the quality of driving. In short, that sounded perfect and we wanted to give it a try!
- 4-5 m2 / 7 or 8 pakets of Extra Silent Coat Multilayer 4mm
- Brake cleaner
- Cutter (strong one, not the cheap one for cutting cartons)
- Buffing and Polishing Kit
- DUPLI-COLOR Alkyton for anti-rust and to protect for corrosion
- Silicone Sealing Compound (without vinegar)
Various:
- Folding ruler
- old t-shirt or soft cotton cloth for cleaning the surface with the brake cleaner
- working gloves
Important: the best temperature to work with the silent coat mats are above 18C. The higher the temperature, the more flexible, easier to handle and cut, are the mats. Use working gloves to avoid cut injuries from the sharp-edged Alubutyl mats.
Cleaning
First of all I had to uninstall the boxes and take everything out of the car. It took me around two hours, before I could start with cleaning the surface. Since I still have the original carpet in the car, which is glued to the sheet metal I had to solve this first and remove the adhesive residue with the help of the brake cleaner. Clean the complete surface with the brake cleaner. It needs to be fat free and without glue residue. Avoid inhaling of the brake cleaner!
Close holes with silicone and rubber plugs
On the wheel boxes there are holes where one can install the back seats if needed. As these holes are open, the splash water from the tires and dirt will enter the vehicle. Therefore they need to be closed and sealed because I don’t want to have a muddy swimming pool in the back of car. Grind rusty holes and coat them with DUPLI-COLOR Alkyton before sealing with silicone and closing with the rubber plugs.
Lay out the mats
After finishing with the cleaning I started to lay out the Silent Coat mats without gluing them. I wanted to get a feel for the best layout so as not to waste mats afterwards or to cut them wrong. Satisfied with the result I started with gluing and cutting. Make sure that the surface is clean and without fat before laying out each piece. You only have one try per mat because one are gluing very fast. I cut holes in the mats to guarantee access to the existing screws and lashing eyes, as well as to the bottom flap for the diesel pump.
Test Drive
As I finished with the mats I was very keen to have the first drive. So I installed the wooden panels and boxes again and went with Romeo on a test drive. I wanted to test on both – unpaved and paved roads. And the result was amazing. No vibration in the back of the car, an unusual silence and because of this much more comfort. As one can see, Romeo also loves it!
Summary
I can highly recommend the silent coating for your Defender. Best time would be before you start with the interior design. At the moment I do have the silent coating only on the floor from the B pillar to the back door. But the result is amazing and I’m looking forward to further redesigning and extending the interior of the vehicle.
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