I removed the rear seat and seat back in my F350 extended cab to add a storage box. Now I hear a very noticeable amount of road noise coming from the 2 vent louvers on the rear cab wall.

Has anyone found that covering the vent louvers has caused any negative effects? I see several posts with theories about why they are there and what might happen if they weren't, but most of it seems like speculation. I'd rather eliminate the noise and live with doors that were slightly harder to close (if that is even noticeable). On the other hand if those who have actually done this have really noticed that the windows fog up or noticed other negative effects, then I guess I better look for plan B.

I did cover the louver vents with a piece of carpet and duct tape and the sound was back to what it was (or quieter) than before I removed the seat.

 

It's a work truck, bro. Crank the radio and don't sweat it.

 

Welcome to the forum. Just a suggestion: See how it dampens the sound by covering with carpet while leaving a space for air to circulate?????

 

That was going to be plan B. Maybe build a little foam box around the louvers with a couple slits for air facing downward.

 

Probably just pop your ears when you slam the doors. Try taping them up for now and see what happens. Hot temps will build pressure but probably not enough to do damage. Cranking your heat or a/c with fresh air intake will create pressure

 

how about some thick rubber flaps that are mounted on the outside to cover the vents.

the weight of the flap will keep them covered until there is enough pressure inside to push them back open.

just mount them on the topside some how.. some 3M 2 sided tape perhaps.. ive herd that stuff sticks most anything..

just a thought.

 

it will make closing the doors harder, as there is no place the inside air pressure to releive unless a window is also open..

 

Partial hijack - If you get a chance, can you post a pic with the rear seat gone?

 

Alot of stereo shops cover them with sheet metal or dynamat so it cant be a total bad thing besides harder to shut the doors

 

Good idea! Like me, most have probably never seen what's behind the back seat. The plastic louvers just snap out of the holes, but you push it out the back of the cab so it would fall out between the cab and front of the truck bed. There's only a couple inches between there and it may be hard to get it back in place with the bed on the truck.

I will glue a piece of the same gray carpet under the window and along the entire back cab wall to make things look nice, but the thin carpet alone did not do much to reduce the road noise coming from the louvers.

Still waiting to hear if anyone has actually blocked the louvers and found any negative results...

 

So what did you ever do? Were you able to seal them up without major issues? Many started leaking!!! Not good!

I really just want to seal them and forget about it!

What was your outcome?

Thanks,
Leo

 

I first duct taped the louvers to seal them. Road noise was gone but I didn't like the doors that tried to pop open when a door on the opposite side of the truck was slammed shut. No place for the pressure to escape. I also noticed the air conditioning/heater fan seemed to be working harder and would speed up if a window was cracked open.

In lieu of these symptoms, I decided to tape some rather porous spongy material over the louvers. That, along with loosely covering the back wall with carpeting, allowed enough air to escape that slamming doors or running the air conditioning fan was only minimally noticeable beyond normal. Also, road noise was only slightly noisier than the stock configuration. No water leaks or inside fogging have been noticed, although the truck has seldom been on the road without an overhead slide-in camper attached and it was used little for winter operation. I had bought some sound abating tape to cover the rear cab wall area, but did not install it as I felt it was not needed.

I would not advise completely sealing the louvers. In addition to what I mentioned above, I suspect water or wet clothing inside the cab would make it very difficult to purge moisture without cracking a window which may cause additional water to infiltrate.

 

My biggest concerns would be the that the vent, heat & A/C wouldn't be as effective because there is no escape for the air you are drawing in to flow back out. The other issue may be if your air bags ever deploy, the rapid increase of pressure in the cab may be hard on the ear drums.

 

I also took the rear seat out....basically for my 2 dogs to have room. I put in a GoreTex seat cover with an old sleeping bag up the rear wall and down over where the seats were just to give the dogs a place to lay down. Since the vents were covered but not sealed....have not had a problem with doors closing and have no road noise.

 

Leave those vents alone... the small amount of road noise is nothing. But I guess you could cover them and blow out your ears and never hear ANY road noise again.

Ok, so you probably wont lose your hearing, but as everyone has pointed out, they are there to allow pressure equalization, kind of like in an airliner.

With no where for air to go, playing bass-heavy music can cause some real problems.