Hello, I am planning my fist real van build … 2013 Transit connect (still looking for one).
I am looking into Cost friendly Sound Deadener ideas please … or will insulation do the trick?
THANK YOU <3 
Hi Trav, Thank you for the link. I gave it a read and lots of great info. TY
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Echoing many of the other things here - Promaster 159, 2019. Started with Mat66 all over - floors, walls, ceiling - not 100 % coverage, but prob 80%. Floor: initial thought was a bedrug.com, which we bought, ~$250 or so, Eliminated all the cut and paste we saw from other floor installs, installs in 10 seconds. But quickly learned that a soft surface did not allow for sweeping dirt out easily, and would not be a stable/firm surface for cabinet installation. Ended up with a complex but bombproof floor, still using the bedrug - basically a grid of 3/4 x 1-3/4" wood strips in the low spots of the stamped floor, to support a 5/8" plywood floor - the bedrug easily cut to fit in there, so it fulfilled its goal of sound and thermal insulation. The firring strips were fitted with metal T-nuts installed from bottom of firring, before construction gluing the firring down. Flat head hex socket screws then secured the floor pieces to the firring strips. Overkill, and tricky to get everything lined up but solid, and removable quickly if needed, and no holes in the bottom of the van. Pics available. Also preinstalled Tnuts for the cabinets that got bolted down, have been rock solid. 54 Tnuts total - 4 ea for 3 cabinets, 4 more for fridge and power supply tie downs, 38 for the plywood floor. Havelock sheep wool in all walls, beams, ceiling. 3 bales bought, have used 2.5 of them. Apart from cutlery rattling around in the drawers, the van is now quiet as a Lexus, as well as maintaining cool in the summer, and warm in the winter. Bottom line: Mat66 (lots alternatives on Amazon - 80 mil = 2mm) - used 2 boxes of 72 square feet each, best cost /sq foot at the time; , bedrug, sheep wool (3 bales, 2.5 used).
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Oh, and as others have done, built some very simply boxes around the wheel wells - dual purpose of allowing me to stuff more sheep wool into there, and then provided some flat surfaces for storage - it’s where our folding camp chairs, small propane heaters, walking sticks, ski poles etc can go easily. The wheel wells were also covered with the Mat66 first of course.
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Thanks for the great detailed into … Since this is my first planned build (not making excuses) I will try to keep costs at the minimum as not to invest too much in learning from my mistakes. But it seems like proper insulation is KEY in the build… much like a house foundation if not done right the house will never sit properly.
So to skip the sound deadening materials and try to go with a Styrofoam insulated floor or not … and the sheep’s wool for the walls and ceiling. I like the idea of the bedrug as you said … 10 seconds to lay down which should give me a smooth surface saving me lots of time building the floor. Transit Connect is $179… around the same price as MAT66 but much less work… but I think the MAT66 will deaden the sound better from what I’ve read… I guess a little more effort and a few more $$'s will be worth it at the end.
Winter will be spent gathering mats and ideas and hopefully a van. Where I am most 2009-13ish models are rusted pretty badly (bumper and rocker panels). After seeing 100’s of videos I just want to start the build but the good ol $$$ is what’s holding me back… but I am stoked for sure.