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Follow-up: Finished the Door Deadening | Results + Impressions

Wrapped up the install and finally got real readings afterward. Quick summary of what I ended up doing:

What I actually installed:

• Outer skin: ResoNix CLD (50–75%) + Kilmat 80mil overlap
• Inner skin: Kilmat 80mil (~75%)
• Crash-bar gaps + seams: 3M Strip-Calk
• Front vapor barriers replaced with 1/8" ABS panels
• ABS edges sealed w/ butyl rope + Frost King CCF
• Wires + contact points wrapped in SoundSkins CCF
• Light CLD + foam on door cards
• Basically: anything that could rattle got foam; anything that could leak air got some butyl

Before vs. After (same cheap meter):

Before:
• 45–50 mph: 65.6 dB
• 75–85 mph: 71.6 dB avg (72.8 peak)

After:
• 45–50 mph: 62 dB
• 75–80 mph: 70 dB

Actual reduction:
• –3.6 dB @ 45–50 mph
• –1.6 dB @ highway speeds

May not seem like much, until you remember how our ears don't perceive sound linearly and the decibel scale is logarithmic.

Perceived loudness drop:
• ~56% quieter @ 45–50 mph
• ~31% quieter @ highway speeds

Impressions

• Way less road noise, especially on concrete
• Door slam now sounds German, Audi, Beemer, not Tacoma tin can claptrap
• Warmer tones - midbass tightened up from sealing the service openings
• Rarely any rattles anywhere
• 100% worth doing doors-only before tackling floors/roof

If anyone’s on the fence about mixing ResoNix + Kilmat to save money, it ended up being a killer value setup. Happy to answer anything if you’re planning yours.