My 2011 TL has the notorious rear tray rattle (with and without stereo playing) and I'll be pulling the tray out in the next week or so to install dynamat. I'd rather dynamat a few strategic areas as opposed to the entire deck, but I'll do whatever it takes to get rid of the irritating rattle. Does anyone know of a good writeup on this site or elsewhere that details the tray removal and dynamat process (or other effective process)?

 

you know you can search youtube and it will most likely have what you are looking for.

remember, Honda likes to re-use EVERYTHING.

this means your car is the same as other hondas or VERY similar.


- take rear bottom cushion out, by pushing down on seat then un-hooking clip with hand underneath.
- once bottom cushion out, remove rear back seat/cushion. there are bolts near the seat belt areas, locking the rear in. also, bolts in head rest, locking seat in.
-once, bottom and rear cushion are out, you have clear view of deck.
-further remove the side panelling by popping out air bag square and prying.

same process for this throughout Honda's entire lineup, dare i even say almost the same for MOST cars.

 

Thanks. I appreciate it! I bought a roll of adhesive-backed urethane foam to insulate some strategic areas and hopefully mitigate the rattling.

 

^if it were me, I'd only want to do it once.

ive been taking my rear seats out for suspension work, so i am familiar and can get it done in under an hour....

buttt, I would only want to insulate the deck once.

this would mean dynamatting the whole deck!! and everything else you can see!!

once you put everything back together to test for "rattles" you might not want to pull everything back apart again. lol

 

I gotcha. That's likely what I'll end up doing. So there's no issue with the tray fastening back down with a layer of dynamatt between it and the deck? I other words, the fasteners/clips are long enough to accommodate?

 

^oh i have never tried

 

I got the urethane tape idea from an Acura TSB. I'll likely do a combination of both Dynamat and tape. Man that stuff is expensive!

 

^my car is my "racecar" so I welcome rattles. LOL

but good look on your endeavor!

 

Think I'll give this stuff a try for 1/2 the cost of Dynamat:



...nevermind, apparently it smells and melts. Being in the back window is not going to be good. Guess I'll go with the trusted Dynamat brand.

 

Good looking out!

 

There's Dynamat Superlite and Dynaliner. I'm not sure how thick the Superlite is, but the Dynaliner is available in 1/8", 1/4", and 1/2". I'm thinking 1/8" should suffice since the primary goal is to isolate metal-to-metal and plastic-to-metal contact points, not sound deaden. Plus, the thinner mat will allow the clips to hopefully secure mostly if not fully.

Guess this table answers my question (under trim - doors use 1/8"):

 

I got some clarification from the manufacturer, and they typically recommend applying the Dynalite followed by the Dynaliner on top, but said the Dynaliner alone may be enough for what I'm doing. They suggested I put the Dynaliner on the underside of the tray as opposed to the sheet metal. That way if I need to add Dynalite, I could still do so (Dynalite on sheet metal, Dynaliner on underside of tray). Fine with me--that means I can apply the Dynaliner inside the comfort of my home as opposed to in the back seat of my car with no seats and hitting my head on the rear window.

 

I was just reading over the procedure for removing the rear deck tray and it says to whack the top of the C-pillars with a rubber mallet to break the fastener so the panels can be removed. Then to replace the fastener with a new one when reinstalling. This is going to be interesting.

 

I am looking forward to your install and review. You should take pictures and post a procedure for future members trying to do the same. I will be adding a subwoofer here shortly and this may be on my list of things to do.

One question, is it reversible if you decide you want to remove it for whatever reason?

 

I imagine it is, but it is likely pretty tedious to remove, especially considering it is on the rear deck which will be subjected to hot temperatures.

 

I Dynamatted the rear deck yesterday and my hopes are high. I used the Dynamat Superlite followed by the Dynamat Dynaliner. I'll post a picture in the next day or so. Since the back seat is out, I plan on Dynamatting some areas behind and under the seat as well. The Superlite is very thin and the Dynaliner compresses very well, so it looks like there won't be any problems with the fasteners being able to grab the sheet metal fully.

Oh, and I found the cause of my rattle--cracks in the sheet metal surrounding the subwoofer mounting holes. I removed the sub, Dynamatted over the area and will be applying JB weld from the underside to prevent the cracks from spreading (per the TSB).

 

I followed the procedure and whacked the C pillar in the indicated location but the connectors wouldn't break. I was able to get a flat-bladed screwdriver behind the cover and pry the connectors free (destructively).

 

Wow...do you have an aftermarket subwoofer by chance? Are you FWD or AWD?

Hope this works for you.

 

I removed the stock subwoofer and will be installing an aftermarket subwoofer (JL Audio 8w3v3). I have the SH-AWD.

 

Just realized you may be referring to removing the aftermarket sub down the road if necessary? If that's the case, yes, it is very easy to undo, as long as you don't hack things up too badly (which there's no reason you should). The easiest way is to simply disconnect the factory sub from inside the trunk, splice into the wires, and feed them into the high-level input of your aftermarket amp. If you go to sell your car down the road, simply disconnect the spliced connections, tape the wires up, and reconnect the factory sub. I decided to go the whole 9 yards and removed the sub, dynamatted the rear deck, and installed a LOC/summer. Still reversible, but more of a PITA to reverse because I'd have to remove the rear seat and deck to re-install the factory sub. I would likely just sell the car with the system though. Or rather remove the sub and amp and leave all the wiring in place for the next owner.