Under hood Insulation

16193 Views 14 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Heemaan, Dec 17, 2016

Carnut2

Discussion Starter · Apr 7, 2012

Okay Boys, this should be easy. What is the material the factory installed under the hood of your 2012 Ram for insulation/sound deadening? Mine appears to be a cardboard like material that does not impress me. The service department said it could be a fabric type or what I have. Where's tha consistency here? Which is it? I think I would rather have the pad like material. Let me know wht you have.

1 - 15 of 15 Posts

Asur

· #2 · Apr 10, 2012

I got same thing, cardboard like material, hard and ugly

pogster

· #3 · Apr 10, 2012

Never seen or heard of cardboard under there. I don't know what he fabric is made of but its a fire blanket designed to melt and smother an engine fire. It is also acts as a sound deadener.

Atomik69

· #4 · Apr 10, 2012

^^^^^ I think I have the same thing as pogster

Carnut2

Discussion Starter · #5 · Apr 10, 2012

Thanks for the feedback gents. I did a little research at the dealership and poked around a few '12 Rams and they are the same as mine. Its NOT a blanket type (fabric) insulator that was like the one under my F-150. It is like the other Rams though, a thin (cardboardlike) material not very thick and somewhat flexible. Does not look expensive by any means, but if it does what its supposed to, "it is what it is". Case closed. :smileup: Oh, by the way, a Silverado got frisky with me today. Boy did he get a surprise !

edd5

· #6 · Apr 10, 2012

Mines a formed grey fabric/fiber mat. Not very thick, only about 1/8". Hugs the contours and is retained by built in edge clips and a couple large plastic push-in buttons. Feels soft like a fabric but is fairly rigid. Looks nice.

Carnut2

Discussion Starter · #7 · Apr 10, 2012

Yup, sounds like mine, dark gray almost black?

edd5

· #8 · Apr 11, 2012

Yes, dark grey. Kinda matches my mineral grey paint. Like I said, has cloth felt like feel and look, not shiny or cardboard.

Grubrunner

· #9 · Apr 11, 2012

pogster said:
Never seen or heard of cardboard under there. I don't know what he fabric is made of but its a fire blanket designed to melt and smother an engine fire. It is also acts as a sound deadener.

Ha?!? Who told you this?

Couldn't be further from the truth.

It has no fire suppression values whatsoever. It is NOT a fire blanket.... far from it. I hope you never have an engine compartment fire to find out the hard way.

It's a heat shield liner that's near identical to what's on your firewall.... though the two have different thinkness values. Both these liners also has some some sound suppression values..... though that's a secondary effect of them.

Some people are known to remove them and scrap them. They polish the underside of their hood and, yes, it looks great when that hood's popped up and engine bay all blinged. However, put your hand on your hood after a lengthy drive or some hard WOT driving..... pretty darn warm [hot] and probably not good for your paint's longevity.

If you really want to make the most of it: Dynamat the underhood first.... then throw your OEM hood shield back on if you wish. I did this to my '06 Goat a few years back and it worked like a charm. I also hear Dynamat's DynaLiner [HERE] works great too.

Safe driving.

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Jchaney579

· #10 · Apr 13, 2012 (Edited)

Grubrunner said:
Ha?!? Who told you this?

Couldn't be further from the truth.

It has no fire suppression values whatsoever. It is NOT a fire blanket.... far from it. I hope you never have an engine compartment fire to find out the hard way.

It's a heat shield liner that's near identical to what's on your firewall.... though the two have different thinkness values. Both these liners also has some some sound suppression values..... though that's a secondary effect of them.

Some people are known to remove them and scrap them. They polish the underside of their hood and, yes, it looks great when that hood's popped up and engine bay all blinged. However, put your hand on your hood after a lengthy drive or some hard WOT driving..... pretty darn warm [hot] and probably not good for your paint's longevity.

If you really want to make the most of it: Dynamat the underhood first.... then throw your OEM hood shield back on if you wish. I did this to my '06 Goat a few years back and it worked like a charm. I also hear Dynamat's DynaLiner [HERE] works great too.

Safe driving.

Guys, guys... Need to not look any further... Just lit a match and caught mine on fire, lets just say im buying a new Ram tomorrow...

JK! But yes, it seems to be just a flimsy cardboard overhead mat. I think it's "suppose" to look like it will smother a fire, but it will do nothing in that actual situation. On the upside... I find ram hoods to be the best mechanically wise. As when you have to slam a hood on any Ford to get it to latch the more and more you open and close the more out of line and saggy it gets against your body lines. I find my Ram hasnt even come close to moving from its factory body lines after opening and closing several times. So its apples to oranges... At least they didnt cover it in Owens Corning insulation thinking it would be safe right?

wvcoolvinilla

· #11 · Apr 13, 2012

all I know is don't try and use the pressure washer at the car wash to try and clan the salt off of it.. tired it on my wifes Charger ouch !!!

Ramfd

· #12 · Apr 13, 2012

Guess I won't do that. I was just thinking I needed to clean it. My engine by is nearly spotless but that stupid mat has white residue all over it and it drives me crazy. I was thinking about adding fiber glass resin to it and then painting it with high temp paint to give it some shine. Then it would be easy to clean.

juicestain09

· #13 · Oct 26, 2012

wvcoolvinilla said:
all I know is don't try and use the pressure washer at the car wash to try and clan the salt off of it.. tired it on my wifes Charger ouch !!!

I just did that exact thing to mine on my 2009 Ram 1500 and am still waiting for it to dry in my garage after it fell off as I tried to close the hood. The clips or plugs that are used to hold the damn thing just went right through it because of, I assume, the weight of the water that it soaked up!

So... anyone know how to get them back on? Or am I looking at buying a new one? And if so, how much are they and where do I get them? FML moment for sure at the car wash...

ld2que

· #14 · Jul 5, 2013

Question has anyone had problems with their liner being eating up by some critters...heck changed my oil today and my liner was hanging down and the battery cover was chewed up. Any suggestion on after market liner and critter problems besides putting some buck shot in them?

Heemaan

· #15 · Dec 17, 2016

Took off that nasty, hanging fire blanket/heat shield last night. I'd been having electrical problems for a few months. When fog lights are on and use the left blinker, the wipers come on...when fogs are off and then turn them on, sometimes the horn squeeks weakly.. I've been tracing grounds and wires and replaced the wiper fluid motor/pumper and have almost given up. I removed the heat shield because it was hanging and from what I've read on here, it would only "improve" things.

Since removal everything is working as it should. (knock on wood) Lights are brighter, no blinker/wiper/horn problem. Seems to be "breathing" better and has a little more pop. The blanket must have been on something, causing a short, or...???
Also: It seems to serve a couple purposes, though not fire-proof (fire resistant), it's likely fire retardant and being hooked to the hood by plastic plugs makes a fire melt the plugs and drop the blanket onto the engine. I'm not worrying about my engine catching fire. Soon as the ice melts and I can get to my truck, I can't wait to try it again because first start and run after I took it off last night, everything was good.

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