Insulation on a Budget

[RustCollector]

So I wound up taking a deeper dive than I intended with my '88 suburban and I've blown the budget all to hell. Originally I was just going to do the headliner and pretty up the dash and door panels. A boat load of vinyl, a roll of carpet, and A LOT of AC and dash parts later I'm pretty much doing the entire interior

The insulation under the carpets is oil soaked, barf soaked, pee soaked... I mean it's a 33 year old truck and the previous owner like his dogs, what more can I say? There was never insulation in the doors, on the sides of the back, or on the roof. The truck is loud and clanky and I live in Phoenix, so it's hot too.

I would LIKE to shut it up and cool it down by just fully insulating under all the "new" panels I'm getting ready to install, BUT I don't know if ya'll have noticed that there's a lot of square footage in a square body suburban and automotive insulation is REALLY expensive. I'm looking at $500-$800 to insulate this beast with the "good stuff". That would have been out of budget before I blew the budget... it's a pipe dream now.

Any suggestions on what would work well to hush the racket and keep the heat out? Something cheap? Like hardware store materials? I'm thinking carpet underlayment or Pergo padding type stuff, but I'm just brain fried on the subject and can't decide what makes sense and what doesn't anymore.

This is my second time stripping the entire interior out of this truck and I'd prefer if it were my last

 

[RoryH19]

I used kilmat in my k5 along with jute material. Works well and is quieter than my r10.
If you want to go less expensive I heard people use peel and stick or frost king from home depot or Lowe's. I can't remember which. It's used for HVAC systems.

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[Joshua Keith]

I used kilmat on my k10, and then insulated the door panels with this stuff.

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[Frankenchevy]

I did a self batched lizard skin type material and peel’n stick window flashing. My carpet is backed by a sound deadener too.

 

[RustCollector]

The kilmat by itself would be $200. If I did the kilmat + Noico I'd be right there at the $500 by the time I'm done. That's the stuff I'd already been looking at

Frankenchevy, what kind of Lizard skin material did you use?

 

[Joshua Keith]

The kilmat by itself would be $200. If I did the kilmat + Noico I'd be right there at the $500 by the time I'm done. That's the stuff I'd already been looking at

Frankenchevy, what kind of Lizard skin material did you use?

I bought 1 box of the noico stuff and it’s plenty enough for 4 doors…

50$ for 20 sq/ft Noico and about 60$ for 50 sq/ft of the kilmat. I’m not sure how much you’re planning on needing.

 

[RustCollector]

Boy my phone hates me tonight.

So I'll try this again....

Going off the tables they show, which are pretty consistent between brands, I need about 136 sqft, or 4 36 sqft packages of each material.

Like I said, a lot of square footage.......

 

[Bennyt]

Kevin- I'm also in Phoenix and I went with Lizard Skin on my son's truck. It ran around $400 on my son's C10, so I can only imagine what it would cost for a Suburban. I'm hoping it makes a huge difference here and would say that any money put into insulation, interior, and cleaning out smells would reward you in the long run in this climate and with a significant other in my case.

You could also just spray the front cab/ firewall, and roof portion to save money and do the rest later or never.

 

[SDJunkMan]

Has anyone used that foil bubble wrap looking stuff? I thought about using it in my doors, above the headliner, and on the back of the cab.

 

[AKguy]

Used this stuff. Seems to work well, got it from Amazon.

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[TPISly-C10]

I used kilmat in my k5 along with jute material. Works well and is quieter than my r10.
If you want to go less expensive I heard people use peel and stick or frost king from home depot or Lowe's. I can't remember which. It's used for HVAC systems.

You must be registered for see images attach

use the same best for cheap!

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[RoryH19]

use the same best for cheap!

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Yep, no complaints here. Works well.

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[RipTideTiger]

So I wound up taking a deeper dive than I intended with my '88 suburban and I've blown the budget all to hell. Originally I was just going to do the headliner and pretty up the dash and door panels. A boat load of vinyl, a roll of carpet, and A LOT of AC and dash parts later I'm pretty much doing the entire interior

The insulation under the carpets is oil soaked, barf soaked, pee soaked... I mean it's a 33 year old truck and the previous owner like his dogs, what more can I say? There was never insulation in the doors, on the sides of the back, or on the roof. The truck is loud and clanky and I live in Phoenix, so it's hot too.

I would LIKE to shut it up and cool it down by just fully insulating under all the "new" panels I'm getting ready to install, BUT I don't know if ya'll have noticed that there's a lot of square footage in a square body suburban and automotive insulation is REALLY expensive. I'm looking at $500-$800 to insulate this beast with the "good stuff". That would have been out of budget before I blew the budget... it's a pipe dream now.

Any suggestions on what would work well to hush the racket and keep the heat out? Something cheap? Like hardware store materials? I'm thinking carpet underlayment or Pergo padding type stuff, but I'm just brain fried on the subject and can't decide what makes sense and what doesn't anymore.

This is my second time stripping the entire interior out of this truck and I'd prefer if it were my last

I used lizard skin on the floors and ceiling. Nasty job but worked really well. Had to add some heat shielding along the fire wall and trans tunnel. Relatively quiet….quieter and can almost hear the radio now!

 

[80BrownK10]

How about that peel and stick roofing material called like ice and water shield. Used in place of tar paper on first runs, and valleys, or on someone who wants to spend the money on the whole roof. I'm not sure how thick it is, been awhile since I saw any in hand. For sure not as thick as that killmat though.

 

[SrMousse]

You've caught my attention. This is on my list as well. I had to pull carpet from the back of my truck and temporarily replaced it with patio carpet from HD, which helped a touch with sound, but I have to crank the radio on the highway! Now the headliner is beginning to drape... stinken kids and their love for "drawing" on the headline with their fingers! So, once I finish the engine/exhaust swap, this is next on my list... Let us know which way you go and how it turns out for you!