Stovebolt.com Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Panel Truck Insulation

Have all you panel truck owners put some type of insulation or sound deadening inside your cargo areas? It's like an echo chamber in there. It's a HUGE amount of space to fill - it would be expensive and time consuming to cover it completely. Would jute or similar be effective? Indoor-outdoor carpet? I sure would appreciate any ideas,suggestions or inspiration to save some money and reduce the noise level.

I used that silvery bubble-y stuff. I wish I would've used the 3M stuff I used everywhere else. I might go back in one day and do just that!

Well today I got my answer: YES, it's absolutely necessary to cover the entire roof of panels and Subs with insulation! It was a mere 72-degree day and my roof was too hot to touch from the inside. Panel truck roofs are so large that insulation becomes much more crucial than for pickups. It was sweltering! I guess I'll have to not scrimp on interior insulation....

On anything with large surface area we use Lizard Skin. On pickup cabs Dynamat or bubble foil is okay but for heat and sound control where you want easy application and 100% coverage Lizard Skin is the best. A bit pricey but I put it in the same category as what Sreele is to rubber---you get what you pay for.

I have painted the outside of the roof of my '57 Suburban white: it makes an amazing difference in temperature inside: Parked in the sun, it used to be that I could not touch the roof inside it was so hot; now it just gets lukewarm. I knew the theory (white reflects heat) but experiencing it was an eye-opener!
It seems the OP was talking about noise though, and yes, the roof of my Suburban is like a big drum: something I thought would help (but never got around to doing) would be to "stuff" something (rubber?...) between the roof skin and the roof crossmembers to prevent the skin from "flapping" and making noise.
My Suburban, which is usually parked outside, gets a lot of condensation inside the roof, so something that does not react to humidity (or soaks it up) is a must.

I used a product made by the makers of Lizard Skin on the inside of both the roof and firewall, then put Lizard Skin over it in accordance with the manufacturers recommendations. I also put the Lizard Skin on the walls and inside the doors to further reduce noise. Can’t recall the name of the other product but it had ceramic particles suspended in it to reduce heat transfer. Worked great. The sound created by tapping on the roof went from a ringing to a thunk.

I had a tech tip for a long time here under "Tech Tips/Interior". The tip is gone. The Tip Was: On one of my suburbans, I used magnetic sign vinyl. Cut it and just stuck it on. No glue, no nothing. did not want to glue anything. You never get it off. The vinyl will last forever. Water proof, wipe it off with a damp cloth. Not the best sound deadening I guess but looks good and easy to install. Any color is available. I used white. Had to slip each piece under the bows using plastic spatulas and plastic tools.

Now were thinking outside the box! I too am reluctant to slather the inside of my pristine interior walls with goop.



I like the "paint it white" idea, but unfortunately my truck is black so I think it wouldn't look right.

Quietride website has insulation and headliners for the panels and subs.

Thanks for the post, Craig

Quiet Ride has an interesting catalog, and a lot of nice looking products.

However, I think it has confusing title-listings for 54/55st years, and confusing descriptions for 54/55st products (sometimes referring to 1953 In the descriptions).

I might try the 54/55st Suburban “headliner” panels. If I do, I’ll report on the fit.

If anybody buys products, please report back here on the fit/finish.