Doghouse insulation

[mrkeman]

Has anyone insulated the doghouse in their class A gas?
Mine is very hot and loud. Thanks in advance for the help.

[rgatijnet1]

You also want to find and plug any gaps in the firewall that will allow noise and heat to come in while driving. I found that the best way to locate these gaps is to use a strong light on the inside of the coach while you look for gaps under the hood at night. Closing all of these up, along with plenty of insulation on the doghouse cover, will make a huge difference. If you are still bothered by heat, they make an insulation that wraps around your exhaust pipes that also helps to keep the heat out of your engine bay.

[Gjac]

As a follow up to this thread I just test drove a 2012 MH with the Ford chassis, it was much more noisy than my old 454 that I added insulation. If I buy the MH I will definitely add the same insulation that I put on my old one. One issue is the Ford has much higher rpms than the older 454 TBI's, which only adds more noise especially when accelerating. The older 454's and 460's added more heat.

[atperci]

Our doghouse only has an 18"x24" access panel and of course no insulation whatsoever. The radiant heat from it was ridiculous at the end of long day of driving. In the summer the air conditioner would struggle to keep the coach until the sun went down.

Trying to apply insulation was difficult, given the dimensions of the access panel and the design of the doghouse itself. I had to be contortionist from above and from the wheel-well below. I used about one and a half sheets 36"x48" of generic fire retardant fabric with foil attached and three cans of contact spray adhesive to glue it in place. We did a 2,500 mile trip a few weeks later and it helped with the heat, not a lot, but it was noticeable.

As far as noise is concerned, our coach is never so loud that we can't hear each other. Sure we would have to talk a little louder when climbing a steep hill, but we have never had to yell. I don't think the insulation really helped the noise level that much.

I think that if we ever have to replace the carpet over the doghouse, I would add more insulation between it and the new carpet. That would probably help even more and be a lot easier to install.

[Yankee_Clipper]

Yes, I took the doghouse off and had our carpet shop glue on a layer of carpet padding about 1/2 inch thick. That was half the problem, the other being the exhaust manifold had warped and spit the #8 cylinder bolts. Got that fixed and now we ride in (relatively) quiet comfort. HTH

[mrkeman]

Thanks for the Advice. Have a great day !

[wildmanbaker]

Yes it helps to quite and it also helps with the "heat soak" after you stop and set-up, coming from the engine area.

[garyemunson]

I used a Dynamat clone from Summit Racing that worked very well. My doghouse was bare fiberglass on the inside. I cleaned it very well and applied the self stick sound deadener (sticks EXTREMELY well to a clean surface). I also replaced the rubber gasket on the cover. The change in noise lever was astounding. As Gjac said, you can actually converse after you install it.

[Gjac]

Yes I have. Mine was hot and loud also. There are a number of products out there some are rather expensive like Dynamat, I used a 1/2 in layer of jute felt than had Al foil bonded to one side. I bought it from Lowes or HD if I remember correctly it was about $20. I bonded this to the inside doghouse cover using Weldwood contact adhesive,the foil facing the engine. It made a world of difference my foot no longer gets hot and I can have a normal conversation with my wife even when climbing hills.