Tru-Fit Vinyl Replacement (1 Viewer)

[AppleTech]

So after burying my passenger side in about 6" of mud the day before I left town for a week, I decided to go ahead and replace the carpet.

The truck is 100% wheeling toy at this point, so I wanted something to clean. I did some digging and found on Tru-Fit vinyl options for the 80 series (I just google'd "80 series vinyl", their website is trufitcarpets.com.au.

Searching around in MUD, I found no one that had done a writeup on these, so I bit the bullet and ordered it. Ended up costing $211 + $180 in shipping. A bit pricy, but still cheaper than replacement carpet, assuming I would also one day wreck the new carpet. The ebay listing I purchased from also included free felt underlay, which was good because my original sound deadening material was shot from being submerged and left for a week to rot.

Here's what the carpet looked like before and after I pulled it:

As you can see, there was already some considerable stains from the days when my cruiser was a mall cruiser and DD - lots of coffee spills and crumbs to clean out. The shifter assemblies were really nasty and I'm still cleaning coffee out of it

The vinyl floor showed up yesterday in a large shipping bag that was pretty beat from its AU Post and USPS travels, but the flooring was no worse for the wear (the floor was rolled with the bottom side out for protection).

Detail of texture:

Note that this kit is ONLY the passenger area. I wasn't sure from their listing if it included the cargo area, but it does not. I don't know if the offer a kit that has that. No biggie for me as I have drawers in the back, so it doesn't matter.

After cleaning out the interior over the past couple of weeks, I took to installing the sound deadening underfelt. They gave you more than enough, so you can really go all out if you want to get it into every crevice (we know Mr. T didn't do this), but this is a trail rig so I didn't really go overboard. I did the cutting in the truck, not using the existing carpet as a template as it is hard to do without knowing the contours.

That's all I was able to get done today and get pictures of. Once it was dark, I did get the back vinyl installed and cut to fit up to the front of the rear seats. I'll get more pictures as I continue and update this thread (probably tomorrow midday).

Search Terms: trufit tru fit vinyl floor

 

[1973Guppie]

this is great, thx for documenting, looking forward to seeing the progress and final result.

Question, how thick is the vinyl? is it fairly durable / tough?

 

[AppleTech]

this is great, thx for documenting, looking forward to seeing the progress and final result.

Question, how thick is the vinyl? is it fairly durable / tough?

I'll put the caliper on it today and see how thick it is. Seems like it is going to be pretty resilient though - I don't really have any concerns about it...

-Phil

 

[kbahus]

Great find, can't wait to see the final install and what your thoughts are about it.

 

[martyj96]

Very interested in how it turns out. Thanks for the post. I was going to pull my carpet and rhino line the interior. I was worried it would be noisy and possibly a heat transfer problem. This looks like a better option.

 

[AppleTech]

OK so got it all finished up today:

Crappy pic of the partial install:

Finished:

Tips based on today's experiences...

1. I used the plastic channels from the existing carpet for each door sill (it is just stapled to the carpet). I used the channel in place as a guide for cutting the outside edge of the vinyl and then used a staple gun to secure it in place. On one of them, I put the staples too close and ended up cracking the plastic, so space them out at least 2 inches apart. Once they are stapled in, pull the plastic up and bend the staples back manually to lock them in place. Install them as close as you can to the center of the channel - some of mine are too far towards the inside and stick out from under the doorsill.

2. Cutting into your new expensive vinyl can be daunting. I installed the back first (as it has the largest molded part which made aligning it easier) and then installed the back seats to hold it in place while I did the rest of the work. When cutting, start with a small cut and expand as needed. You want to cut the smallest amount required or you will end up with gaps (I've got a couple).

3. Getting the handbrake/center console area right was difficult. I ended up cutting too much so I took a spare bit of vinyl and make a large U-shaped collar that went around the handbrake boot and then put the top level over that - it made it hug the handbrake boot and looks much cleaner (and you can't really tell I messed up).

4. The rear outside mounts for the front seats are stubby little towers. Note that the plastic cover does NOT go down and cover the tower, so only cut the hole for the bolt, not the tower. I cut a large square and thus have a bit of metal/underfelt showing here.

Hope this helps everyone. I think this stuff is going to hold up well...

 

[kbahus]

Are you going to use floor mats too? Curious how a Husky would grip the vinyl, or if it's even worth it.

 

[FJC80]

I searched for carpet replacements for my Nissan truck and found stockinteriors.com to have pretty inexpensive replacements for the cruiser that are molded to exact specs and backed. It was $250 for cruiser carpet replacment. Shipping depends on where you are but probably the same $100 or less bc it's in the US iirc. Looks like high quality oem stuff and that's how it's labeled. Seemed pretty inexpensive to make the interior new.

 

[Funner]

Worth while?

Thanks for posting. You took your time to try to get this right. In the pictures it looks as if there are some rolls/puckering in several areas (trying not to sound like an a-hole here). Does it look cleaner = better fit in person or are the pictures a good barometer of the finished product? Would you spend the $400 for these results if you had it to do over or look for another option?

 

[AppleTech]

Thanks for posting. You took your time to try to get this right. In the pictures it looks as if there are some rolls/puckering in several areas (trying not to sound like an a-hole here). Does it look cleaner = better fit in person or are the pictures a good barometer of the finished product? Would you spend the $400 for these results if you had it to do over or look for another option?

The vinyl fits really well... the rolls/puckers are probably just camera induced. I'd definitely do it again.

 

[sunrk]

I'm renewing all the flooring in my 80 at the moment. I ripped out the front vinyl and original disgusting felt underlay ages ago (I did the same with the cargo area floor liner and underlay) and have recently fully treated the front and middle floor sections inside the body to deal with rusting, apply two coats of rust-preventive hardware store gloss enamel paint (which takes 2 weeks to fully set as the solvent goes into the factory bitumen sheet stuff), and cover both areas with Resomat and dynatape.

I've half-done the new insulation with TruFit's premium underlay, and have just ordered more since I ran out when I used up most of the 900 x 1600 m piece.

flickr page

I haven't fitted the Trufit vinyl flooring as yet - that's happening when I get more underlay to do the front seat footwell spaces and up around the transmission tunnel area.

I did not remove any of the factory fitted bitumen sheeting stuff except under the dash on the RHF (drivers side - I'm in Oz remember!) where the floor panel was dented in by some abuse from a previous owner. The bitumeous stuff had cracked in that area due to the denting and the fact the exhaust is under the right side of the body.

Craig.

 

[CharlieS]

Reviving an old thread. I ordered a Trufit moulded Vinyl flooring kit. I didn't think to order the underlay stuff. Any US sources for similar product? And any tips or trick from others that have installed a vinyl floor in an 80?

 

[1973Guppie]

kilmat and noico foam tiles from amazon......

 

[sunrk]

Dynamat probably makes something similar to the Tru-fit underlay.

To this day I still have not done the second half to replace the back section of the factory floor covering (second seat row area) but it's on the cards.

 

[McDowra]

Reviving an old thread. I ordered a Trufit moulded Vinyl flooring kit. I didn't think to order the underlay stuff. Any US sources for similar product? And any tips or trick from others that have installed a vinyl floor in an 80?

Post a picture of it when you get it installed please, I am interested in this

 

[mudgudgeon]

Reviving an old thread. I ordered a Trufit moulded Vinyl flooring kit. I didn't think to order the underlay stuff. Any US sources for similar product? And any tips or trick from others that have installed a vinyl floor in an 80?

There's loads of threads discussing noise insulation of floors in these.

Dynamat (butyl mat), plus a closed cell foam with foil layer is the best option. Seal/tape all joints. Minimise gaps as much as possible.

I'm contemplating vinyl for my 80. Noise insulation being one hesitation.

 

[CharlieS]

I ordered some of the Dynamat product (Dynamat DynaPad 32" x 54" x 0.452" Thick Non-Adhesive Sound Deadener). More than I wanted to pay, but I don't want to do this twice. I'll also put down some adhesive sound deadener (Dynamat copycat) left over from another project.

 

[CharlieS]

Post a picture of it when you get it installed please, I am interested in this

Will do.

 

[mudgudgeon]

Will do.

I'm interested to know if the vinyl material is a hard vinyl like from the 70s 80s etc, or softer/ less dense?

 

[CharlieS]

I'm interested to know if the vinyl material is a hard vinyl like from the 70s 80s etc, or softer/ less dense?

I will post this information once it arrives. It is in transit now.