Preventing spoiler rattle

Anyone had luck deadening spoiler rattle from excessive bass :hsugh: ?

I got a 01 Impreza RS w/ 2 x Alpine Type-R 12's pushed by a Rockford T1500-1bd amp (1800W RMS ~ 1ohm) and the spoiler rattles like crazy. The car is well dynamatted - though I could add some more to the underside of the trunk lid. I've also filled the gaps in the trunk lid with expanding foam. Still can't quell that spoiler from dancing all around with the bass up, though.

Anyone got any good proven techniques for the spoiler on a Subie? (Looks like it's glued to the trunk and not bolted?)

 

The best way is to not pump that much bass. Seriously, it does not sound good, and nobody else wants to hear it.

You can always remove the spoiler. Wingless looks nice and clean.

 

Heh - yeah, that opinion comes through a lot.

Of course, I am asking about reducing the sound that can be heard outside of the vehicle.

A lot of time and effort has been invested in deadening the car to keep the sound where it belongs - where I can hear it. :biggrin:

And IMHO it does sound good because the mids and highs are equally well supplied to keep it all balanced. Doesn't so much matter if I'm playing Master P, System of a Down, Creedance Clearwater Revival, B.B. King, Mozart, Joss Stone, or Eric Clapton (and yes I play them all and many more) - it all sounds good to me - very loud and immersive (remind me to say that when I have tinnitus, eh? )

 

Tinnitus indeed.

Maybe unscrew the spoiler and use some dense foam or rubber pieces as washers to isolate the vibration. But, I don't know. I've never had this problem.

 

^I see what you did there.^

 

Really.....................?

Tinnitus sucks. Do yourself a favor and turn it down. A lesson I've learned the hard way. Now I get to go to sleep hearing ringing every night cuz I always had to have it cranked and show off my system.

hearing damage is permanent. Is it really worth it?

Just my $0.02

 

try only one sub maybe? i have heard plenty of great systems that have nice speakers and even one 10 inch sub... the days of rattling the neighborhood were back in the high school era. I would say that you can have a really good sound going with less bass and one less sub. the spoiler is not really part of the car, I would imagine it needs to come off to solve the issue.

 

get in there and bang around with a rubber mallet until you find what's rattling.

 

not trying to be an tool here...but you said it yourself also ^^.....

 

i have the same issue. i like the sound of good bass without rattle. ive done some testing and it looks like the area of the spoiler that the bad rattle comes from is where the break light mounts to it.

i drive a rs four door. so it should be the exact same sound your getting.

if you remove the light and put something behind it it might stop the rattling. the washer idea where the spoiler mounts are is a really good idea too.

its obvious you like bass so just telling you to turn it down is pointless advise..... a lot of anoying responses in this thread.

 

I like bass too. Just trying to share my experience that now annoys me every time the room is quiet.

 

from what ive found on my rs. the bass will rattle the wing even when its turned up a tiny bit. so you we dont even have to be blasting our ears out to to get the anoying rattle. its most deff something i want to fix soon cuz ill hear it with any amount of bass

 

Touche

 

Thanks for the support! I'm feeling a tad out of place w/ all the gear-heads and no bass-heads.

Actually, the inside of the spoiler is already dynamatted, especially that brake light - all of that is good. It's the whole spoiler vibrating, so maybe "rattle" was a bad descriptive word. It's more of a resonant vibration.

I've also added a strip of like 3/4" weatherstripping foam along the trunk lid to improve that seal and it did help a bit (did that last week). The trunk latch has been dropped some for a tighter latching and it's all dynammated. The spare tire area, some of the trunk lid, the jack, some of the wheel well area - all that is dynamatted. More dynammat (B-Quiet Ultimate to be exact) is on the way to finish off the whole trunk including the entire trunk lid - I'm hoping that helps some more - it is an incremental process I suppose. I'm going to do more of the wheel wells/fenders, rear doors, inside some of the interior trim pieces etc.

 

I was being a tad facetious, though I am sorry to hear you developed tinnitus from excessive stereo use. Actually, I am a bit cautious of listening too loud for too long, and I'm not pumping anywhere near SPL competitive volumes or anything. It's probably not the best for me though, I know. Choices ....

 

When I first got the car I had single 10" Type-R sub and a smaller amp.

It did sound very good and clean and had nearly no rattles/vibration (spoiler was one of the few), but it wasn't as much sound as I wanted.

When one of the voice coils burned out on the sub and I made the decision to upgrade because I wanted more.

It's still only the third loudest car stereo I've had. Not that I'm trying to make this one the loudest, but I do enjoy it - and since I live in an apt. the car is the only place I can really crank up my tunes.