Rear door saddle..

Here I will show photos of the rear door saddle piece:

This pulls STRAIGHT UP. Pry with upward force.

Pull up the rubber door gasket. Do not close door on the gasket until it is replaced in it's place.

This part comes with felt rattle stoppers on the edge that hits bare metal. After I install the FAT MAT, there will be no bare metal.

Sometimes, just seeing the part will allow you to figure out how it is removed. Hence these photos.

More photos to come....

 

Fat mat

Bare metal photos......

That is before. There is more....

 

Fat mat

This was fun. I took all day with it. FAT MAT

 

Photos....

Soon, I will cruse the highway.

Right side:

Tank Fat Mat:

I need paper towels often and here, I can still access lower storage. If my trunk is loaded, paper towels underneath means unloading the cargo.

I also need windex:

Well that is it for now. A fun day.

 

What is this thing???

What is this?
I did not apply FAT MAT to it.

It is plastic. Here you can see the wires for the light and power plug.
The panel has extra insulation in this spot.

It is not a speaker, but it is about that size.

Extra photos: (5 allowed)

 

What is this?
I did not apply FAT MAT to it.
View attachment 48785
It is plastic. Here you can see the wires for the light and power plug.
The panel has extra insulation in this spot.
View attachment 48793
It is not a speaker, but it is about that size.

It is where the sub-woofer speaker fits if you have the Audio Package.

What was the approximate cost to do all that insulation? Very good detail on your procedure, members can now use that for reference to see what is under the panels.

 

Wow!What great detail.Kudos on this.

Was the insulation project for your sound system or,to block outside noise?
I have not done any insulation in my Soul but in other vehicles.
Mostly to reduce road and exhaust noise from aftermarket stuff.
I've found spraying uncoating in the wheel wells to be of help.
Also,as the OP probably found out,this sound matting is super expensive.
I found a alternative on another forum.There is a material that Lowes sells in
their roofing dept that is foil backed,comes in rolls and is very inexpensive.Its
primary use is to seal flashings on roofs.Its a dense tar type material that will apply easily
to all surfaces by peeling off the adhesive backing.The only negative is a slight petroleum
odor.However,this goes away completely after several days.
A easy economic material for sound problems.

 

Passed Testing...

Well Thanks guys...


625 Miles of test driving this weekend was like a dream come true. Quiet. I rolled past big rigs with the windows up and did not even hear them.
At speed, the wind noise from a slightly opened window is much louder than the sound of the ride. The stock radio is able to be heard and understood at very low volumes.

I used $88 worth of 'FAT MAT' off e-bay (50 square feet) and I had a foot left over after a few second layers pieces were overlapped.


Re-assembly was fun. I am glad that I took so much time to do this little project because now, it is all sealed up and I will not be removing these panels anytime soon.
Also glad that I took pictures.

Panel close-up:

Looks like this:

Everything is new and clean!

Front bumper cover:

I strongly encourage you to perform this mod on your SOUL. I did the same to my 2012 Tucson and it was much harder and used over 100 square feet.
On the SOUL, it is relatively easy. The improved carpet goes back to the rear seat. From there back, I laid down the dynamat.
I did it just for the quiet ride, but the radio sounds much better. The bass is especially robust.

Bob HAWK

 

Hey All==just received my 50 sq ft of fat mat rattle trap, along with a plastic roller and razor knife--bought it off of amazon. I have to say that the SSD cai along with the exhaust has helped power wise--not night and day, but the little sucker is fast for a four door family car--drone from the muffler is unacceptable--I will live with it because it sounds awesome outside the car, but hard to talk on the bluetooth speaker phone--not impossible to talk, but difficult.
I hope to install my fat mat saturday morning--will post back to this thread---tim

 

How Fat?

I used 50 mill thick FAT MAT

E-bay ad says:

FatMat is a 50 mil mastic compound that is a self- adhering mat.

Rattle Trap is an 80 mil product.

 

Ok guys--the tow balls are still clamped on, one on top, and one on bottom, with the the round ball up against the back of the muffler--added a second stainless steel hose clamp on top of the first just to make sure they stay in place. This made a big difference in the drone. Today I found 6" foam rubber, cut a peice the size of a spare tire, and then took a 12"x18" plywood and ran a bolt through to the spare tire mounting thread--compressed the foam hand tight, AND DRONE IS GONE!!! Yippee
Car sounds good--still a bit loud, but much easier to talk on the bluetooth---tim

 

A full day of modification for me, I DYNA-MATED my spare tire area. I also removed the rear side panels to cover the wheel wells with the 'FAT-MAT' brand of dyna-mat. I have a document saved as a PDF, but I can not attach it, here is a photo of the diagram.
View attachment 48617
The rear seats can stay bolted in. The rear lower seat comes up in the front and one bolt holds it, access that from the rear. I had to un-bolt the lower seat belt bolts.
The hatch door sill, the saddle, has one fastener on the inside, center. Use your plastic trim removal tool to pry this saddle piece STRAIGHT UP. 4 Fasteners hold it.
Pull upward on the lower rear seat and loosen it from it's two front stays. Go to the back and unbolt the one center bolt holding the rear seat in.
Each side panel has 4 screws to remove. One is under the saddle trim piece, two are on the trunk floor and the third screw is accessible when you remove the rear side door saddle. It pulls STRAIGHT UP. 5 Fasteners and 4 clips, at the top, pop off. Once loose, wiggle the panel around the rear seat back to remove.
Install DYNA-MAT as needed. I used 50 square feet. I will post photos of the panels.
View attachment 48585
This side has easy to remove connections for the light and the power outlet.
View attachment 48593
There is some acoustic insulation on the back of the panels.
View attachment 48601
I created a grocery hook that will work better than the net hook. I do not use the net, but I had to buy one with this car. See the Classified section if you need a net cheap.
View attachment 48609
Seat belt bolt hole. More....

I know it’s an old post, but thanks for all the pics. Nice job.

 

You Sir, are my hero. I installed an aftermarket muffler last month and the drone going up hills is borderline--I have been eyeing up fatmat rattle trap and was just going to do the spare tire area--Looks like you are going to make this easy for me to do the entire trunk area correctly--please post back on the results---thanks

 

I am having the same problem. The droning from my SSD muffler is quite harsh. I am hoping to hear the results as well.

 

On the aftermarket muffler installs...
Wondering just what are the results in?power,mpg?after you install in a Soul?
For sure,SSD and others will be louder.Have a drone a certain speeds.
Is the noise worth the results and expense on a Soul?
IMO.I think its a waste of time.
Rather have my Soul quiet.Thats why I bought it.
Another vehicle I own has all the exhaust bells&whistles:headers,high flow cats,cat back exhaust.
Just components to all the other stuff done onthe engine.
Yep,its a bit loud.

 

The SSD added enough power to be detectable by a butt-dyno. I didn't notice any change in MPG. One nice side effect is that cars hear me on the freeway and I get cut off a lot less. On long trips, the drone can be very annoying.

It was worth it to me to be more noticeable in traffic. However, my wife disagrees.

I am hoping the dynomat can tone down the noise level. Guess I will have to give it a try.

 

So, which Fatmat are y'all using? 50 mil or 80 mil?

 

Great job!! I laid down some sound deadener in the rear of my 2012 starting at the back seat. Is it worth doing anything forward of that? it seems that most noise comes from the front wheel wells and fire wall. I'm pondering removing the front fender liners and using some thick "peel n seal" on the insides of them.

 

When doing all of this, is it a given that you will break or strip some of the plastic screws, clips etc.? Would it be a good idea to buy some extras in advance?

 

Rattle Trap 80 mil

will let you know tomorrow--i have my kia in the garage and will start disassembling tomorrow as per this thread--seems like if your careful all fasteners can be reused--more to follow

 

What a waste of time and $$$$$. I did the steps above exactly as described--used the heavy 80 mil fat mat rattle trap--took 5 hours saturday morning---did not help the drone AT ALL. I actually didnt notice any different but not a big stereo guy. I was so discouraged I googled muffler drone this morning and came up with another reasonable solution that actually helped--it mentioned clamping weights onto or near the muffler!!!! I took 2 2" towing balls and a stainless steel hose clamp,3", and clamped them on the exhaust pipe right where it enters the muffler--made the drone much more bearable, at first I tried clamping on 1 tow ball, sounded good so I went with the 2nd tow ball--the weight has something to do with cancelling the vibration--hope this helps

 

something I found online

What can I do about it?

Not much. You can't really block this frequency range because it is a natural resonance frequency. It will rattle EVERYTHING (even materials like wood and some softer materials as well). Dynomat in your trunk won't work. Dynomat on your floorboards or on the unibody underneath your seats won't work. This range of 133 - 138hz is incredibly difficult to manage. The best way to address drone is with muffler design or resonators. The factory mufflers are specifically designed to not only block but also CANCEL these frequencies. Some aftermarket designs such as Borla's and Corsa's offerings do the same job. Borla's design cancels out some of these frequencies as well as ensures that the sound energy is going out the tailpipes. Corsa's designs have an internal chamber that is of the correct length to cancel this frequency out using the laws of wave reflection

 

Another possible solution??? I dont have a spare either--
The previous owner of my car had it straight piped from the cat (2.5"). I hated the sound, and every time I wanted to catch a yellow light, every cop in a mile radious could hear me...

So I bought a DTM muffler from a chop shop for $50 and had it installed for $20. That helped lower the noise, but it still droned real bad.

I then bought a stainless steel Magnaflow resonator for $70 and had it installed for $20. That reduced a bit of the cabin drone and outside noise. However at around 2k to 3k rpm while under load the cabin drone sucked. I drove it like that for nearly a year.

When I went snowboarding I had to seats folded down and noticed the drone got worse.

This past friday I put on my summers and I finally decided to put in a spare tire (I have been driving around with no spare for 2 years).

Because the weather was nice, I had my windows down for past few days. This morning my brother commented on my exhaust and asked if I did something to it because it was not loud as before. I burshed it off and told him no its the same, he must be mistaken.

I got in my car and drove it with the windows up.

Fuxx me I am an idiot. There was no cabin drone! my exhaust was super quiet and I could not hear it until the high RPMs. The outside noise was the same as before (a bit more aggresive than stock). But interior cabin noise was nil, and absolutely NO cabin drone throughout the rev band.

I then quickly realized that the spare wheel well was a great ****ing method for amplifying exhaust noise considering the exhaust was routed right beside it! Once I filled it with a spare tire, it absorbed/dampened the noise/vibrations.

tl;dr I drove around for 2 years with no spare tire while complaining of cabin drone. Turns out an empty spare wheel well was the cause.

Reddit, have you ever made such a mistake on your car?

 

Hmmm. So mailboxman, do you still have the tow balls attached to the exhaust?

I have a spare tire and syrofoam tray in the rear compartment and my droning is still quite loud. Just wanted to know if the weight option did the trick before I make the purchase.

 

Thank you for sharing

 

Thanks for the detailed photos

 

A full day of modification for me, I DYNA-MATED my spare tire area. I also removed the rear side panels to cover the wheel wells with the 'FAT-MAT' brand of dyna-mat. I have a document saved as a PDF, but I can not attach it, here is a photo of the diagram.
View attachment 48617
The rear seats can stay bolted in. The rear lower seat comes up in the front and one bolt holds it, access that from the rear. I had to un-bolt the lower seat belt bolts.
The hatch door sill, the saddle, has one fastener on the inside, center. Use your plastic trim removal tool to pry this saddle piece STRAIGHT UP. 4 Fasteners hold it.
Pull upward on the lower rear seat and loosen it from it's two front stays. Go to the back and unbolt the one center bolt holding the rear seat in.
Each side panel has 4 screws to remove. One is under the saddle trim piece, two are on the trunk floor and the third screw is accessible when you remove the rear side door saddle. It pulls STRAIGHT UP. 5 Fasteners and 4 clips, at the top, pop off. Once loose, wiggle the panel around the rear seat back to remove.
Install DYNA-MAT as needed. I used 50 square feet. I will post photos of the panels.
View attachment 48585
This side has easy to remove connections for the light and the power outlet.
View attachment 48593
There is some acoustic insulation on the back of the panels.
View attachment 48601
I created a grocery hook that will work better than the net hook. I do not use the net, but I had to buy one with this car. See the Classified section if you need a net cheap.
View attachment 48609
Seat belt bolt hole. More....

Hi sir, did it make much difference? Because i think the kia soul was already quite silent.

 

Yes, it made a difference. Very quiet and insulated at full speed. I am very happy with this mod.