Carpet Installation

[Manhattan]

I think I've got the bolt hole location down - put bolts in the holes, feel them through the carpet, mark, cut. Cutting is easy too - either an X with a razor, or heat a socket and cut perfect little cauterized holes.

But, not having pulled carpet out of this - it had a worn and torn piece of vinyl in place when I got it - I don't really have a good "go-by" to see where the carpet should terminate under the dash and how far to cut it back, when to cut around brackets, etc.

I'd love some thoughts before I start hacking away at the carpet...

I pulled the stereo, wiring and the stereo section of the dash to get a little better access. For perspective, this is shot from the passenger seat - looking at the transmission tunnel where the stereo should be.

#1 is easy. #2 and #3 will take a bit more measuring, cutting, cutting some more...

 

[yotadude520]

I think I've got the bolt hole location down - put bolts in the holes, feel them through the carpet, mark, cut. Cutting is easy too - either an X with a razor, or heat a socket and cut perfect little cauterized holes.

But, not having pulled carpet out of this - it had a worn and torn piece of vinyl in place when I got it - I don't really have a good "go-by" to see where the carpet should terminate under the dash and how far to cut it back, when to cut around brackets, etc.

I'd love some thoughts before I start hacking away at the carpet...

I pulled the stereo, wiring and the stereo section of the dash to get a little better access. For perspective, this is shot from the passenger seat - looking at the transmission tunnel where the stereo should be.

#1 is easy. #2 and #3 will take a bit more measuring, cutting, cutting some more...

View attachment 2183652

This video may help out a little bit:

 

[Manhattan]

Thanks @yotadude520 ! It did help. It also illustrates how much easier the thinner backed carpet is to work with. That stuff went in like a beach towel compared to the extra thick, double layer, ultra supreme stuff from ACC.

 

[Manhattan]

Well, that wasn't so bad. From start to finish, it took right at three hours to put the carpet in. Oh, I know... that's not exactly setting a record. Actually, it was for me

Couple things I learned - from you guys, YouTube and my friends at ACC...
- Put bolts in place and use them to feel through the carpet to mark the holes.
- Mark the holes on one side with a Sharpie, pull the carpet, cut the holes

- Use a socket (that you're willing to sacrifice) the diameter of the bolt shaft - on an 8 or 10" extension
- Heat the socket with a torch
- Use your HotSocket like a cookie cutter!

- Reinstall and bolt down that side - move to other side, repeat

With all the seat and seatbelt bolts holding the carpet in place, now it's safe to start cutting the edges to fit - no worries of the carpet shifting
- For the tight spots, use a heat gun to soften that thick rubber backing.
- I opted for the #3 method to cut around the stereo console brackets. Just measured from the shifter cut-out and made two 1.5" square holes... and stuffed, tugged, pulled... Took about 20 minutes just to get that section tucked. But it looks perfect - no cuts and the carpet can't pull or shift.

That's it for today. I'll button up the trim, stereo, etc. tomorrow. Overall, yeah - the thicker backing is likely worth it. That wasn't that bad - it was my first time doing carpet.

 

[Cannon88]

Looks great!

 

[xstogiex]

Wow! I hope my eventual carpet install looks that good.

 

[Manhattan]

Thanks guys. It rained for three days and there were no other projects I could get to on the truck... no incentive to rush.

 

[Jeremy9A]

That turned out awesome! I want to roll around on it

 

[Manhattan]

That turned out awesome! I want to roll around on it

Thanks. I am LOVING how much quieter the truck is! Okay, sure - that thin vinyl floor covering, with nothing under it, wasn't blocking much noise... I don't know how much the FatMat (sound-deadening) and thicker mass-backing contributed... kinda don't care. I'm sure they contributed. If I had to guess, the FatMat (or equivalent) and standard carpet probably knocked out the majority of the noise.

Worth noting - just adding a couple sections of sound-deadening to the doors, significantly changed how they sound when shutting them - from "clink" to "thunk"... scientifically speaking. It reminded me of putting your finger on a bell. You don't have to cover the whole surface to stop the bell from ringing.

 

[pappy]

Worth noting - just adding a couple sections of sound-deadening to the doors, significantly changed how they sound when shutting them - from "clink" to "thunk"... scientifically speaking. It reminded me of putting your finger on a bell. You don't have to cover the whole surface to stop the bell from ringing.

An engineer buddy said you only need to cover 25% of the surface to gain benefit. You don't need to cover everything. Talking about doors and side panels here, not floors.