Everything is cheaper. I wasn't kidding when I said that $36 worth of Frost King would work....My buddy used two $18 rolls of it 5 years ago to do his '67 GTO and what a difference: heat AND sound. Looks and applies the same. I have no experience with Dynamat, so I can not say if it is better (which it could well be) or worse. I suspect the other products come within 90% of Dynamat's efficiency for about 25% of the price, that's all. It would be a neat project to get about 4 or 5 of the leading brands and some not-so-leading brands and do heat and noise tests in a controlled experiment....and really find out!

 

the BIG problem with almost all (if not all..) of this sound deadening material (Dynamat, Hushmat, etc) is there is VERY LITTLE insulation value. if you want insulation (R value), use Frost King, EZ Cool, or something similar.

Bill

 

The Dynamat Extreme will cut down the temperature by 15 degrees F just by itself. When the DyanPad is installed it drops it even more than that.

I am aware that the makers of Dynamat do not advertise the temperature drops. THEY DID in the past when they still had the EXTREMELINER product. I still have the sheets that they showed the 151 degree F drop when both products were installed.

I have a customer who is a Corvette Forum member and you can PM him and ask him how his 1974 is when driving it in the summer with the A/C on. PM: '1974CorvetteJimCr' He has both products in his Corvette. The Dynamat Extreme and the DynaPad. The IR gun readings do not lie.

It is hard for me to change over to the cheaper products who jumped on the band wagon and started making this stuff after Dynamat hit the scene. With the proven results and the customers I have that love it...I can not see installing a product that seems to me to be cheaper...because I have seen it the copy cat stuff and it is nothing like the Dynamat in thickness.

This is definitely a scenario where people shopping around for a price comparison are going to use what they want to use. It is somewhat like carpet for your car...it may look good and plush and full on the surface...but when you flip it over and put it up to the sun...you can see that the fibers are not there and it and sunlight shines through and it can fail sooner due to being a piece of crap ( my opinion)...because the lines in the carpet where they loomed it are not consistent and far apart.

DUB

 

Helped install Dynamat on a friends '64. The kit came with precut pieces. Wasn't full coverage, but a time saver and much easier to install.

 

JackTripper

I used ThermoTec Cool It because it is advertised as a heat reflecting product. I could find no comparisons between ThermoTec and Dynamat as far as R value and ability to reflect heat so I just went with ThermoTec. I did not care about sound deadening especially in a convertible

Randy

 

Thanks guys. I went with Dynamat. There's one saying that really holds true, it's that you get what you pay for.

 

sometimes...

and sometimes you are just paying a premium for the name... aspirin is aspirin, even if it is not Bayer; and bleach is bleach, even if it is not Clorox; etc...

Bill

 

I went with Frost King. I wish that I had recorded floor readings before & after, but I could tell the temp difference by placing my hand on the tunnel, much cooler. But I also placed a layer in the tunnel area outside, which I think made a big difference.
I like GTOguy's suggestion in post #21.

 

If you use any of the elastomer backed aluminum such as Dynamat and others for a nice clean installation use a small roller to get it smooth.
Bruce B

 

100% Sometimes buying a name brand product may not offer a significant increase in performance of that particular product. And sometimes it make a big difference. Hence...."sometimes"...so it all depends I can list a few products other than those being discussed about here on this thread where the name brand does make a difference.

But when the products are set side by side for a comparison and thicknesses are different..and whatever other variable is found to be different...then logic would command that performance values of these products may be different. Thus...this may be worth it to some people to consider their options.

The only example I can think of that may remotely apply to this issue is fiberglass home insulation. They come in different thicknesses...but yet are made out of the same exact material many times from the same company....and preform differently.

DUB

 

This is the cheapest I've found.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/271557186043...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

 

To add to the discussion, I transitioned to Second Skin Audio products a few years ago for my projects.

http://store.secondskinaudio.com/

 

Google "Dynamat Extreme", I found some for $154.25 with free shipping.
But if you live in CA. check this out:
CALIFORNIA RESIDENTS:Proposition 65 Warning.
But remember the air in L.A. falls into the same category......