who puts carpet in a 4x4? AKA a guide for installing vinyl flooring.

[LAMBCRUSHER]

@brooksfj60 you MIGHT consider carefully locating and cutting tight slots to fit the outboard seatbelt anchor ends thru- y'know, the ones at the base of the Bpillar...it could be carefully located and cut, then the slot melted with a hot soldering iron, as suggested by @reevesci . Also, a slot tightly cut to fit the mat "around" the drivers dash support would also be a good addendum to what I've depicted. I cut out for the throttle stop- dont. fit it, fit it, fit it, then cut it less than you think and repeat. sand bags or water bags would help greatly to sink it to the floor, in order to figure out where it will eventually lie before you decide where to cut... The front mat is located best by the seat risers front and rear, and the shifter tunnel is a tricky summa gub...if you do how I did, once you get it to lay out and decide where it needs to be cut, cut it, and fit it, you'll start by laying it in, then slipping the boots under it and stuffing them thru the top of it and bolting them down to the tunnel reaching up from the doors, then finish laying it in...I do think I like the seatbelt receiver, seat slider mounts, and backseat mounts all bolted thru the vinyl, whereas the outboard seatbelt anchors should be bolted below the vinyl, in order to keep things from building up in the valley of the door well...NOW, an alternative approach would be to cut and slot everything to slide over/around the fixtures so it could be removed for easy washing. if you look at - so soory J for bringing these guys into it- $$$$ORs cut and sewn carpet, they show how a guy could cut up the vinyl to "lay in" but I don't think it would work well for those of us who have important people operating and riding in them daily, as it would leave too much void. a guy would be trading ease of removal for cleaning for a potential NEED TO REMOVE TO CLEAN, as a byproduct of how easy it was to remove...jumping jimmeny cricket on a pogo stick...I've just pulled a classic @Delancy

 

[scrapdaddy]

at least most of the rubber is still around for these pot belly pigletts, right?

Man, you got that right! Maybe even I'd look good in a 60.

 

[LAMBCRUSHER]

get 4, like right friggin now. I'm gunna be priced out of this market, too, before long...and hey, the biggest kept secret...fj62 FTW. they're gunna have their own sub forum one day... as long as guys quit choppin em up for never finished 2FEs, rear shoulder belts that don't have holes, good looking mirrors with no wires and 411s that really do bolt right the @#$! up...

 

[bhk]

get 4, like right friggin now. I'm gunna be priced out of this market, too, before long...and hey, the biggest kept secret...fj62 FTW. they're gunna have their own sub forum one day... as long as guys quit choppin em up for never finished 2FEs, rear shoulder belts that don't have holes, good looking mirrors with no wires and 411s that really do bolt right the @#$! up...

You forgot rear seat backs with headrests....

 

[Elbert]

I know this is an older thread so FYI. I'm looking to do the same thing....(My carpet is long gone) I have the vinyl replacment for the full interior, minus the rear deck area. I've not removed any of the OEM tar material off the floorboard. My question is ....Do I need to install some type of heat barrier between the floorboard and this vinyl? I do not want to use anything that absorbs water or that water will damage.

 

[MANUCHAO]

You got a 5.7 with dual E. Manifolds...i would do heat and sound insulation....

 

[Elbert]

exhaust has been modified recently, it now basically is the same/similar as a 99 pickup without emissions. one tailpipe. Ceramic coated ram's horn style manifolds, one large magnaflow muffler, and one single oval-round type mangnaflow muffler (one feeds the other) (acts as a resonator). Feeds one single tail pipe, and heat is reduced along with noise, from former setup. Pipes are 2.5, tail pipe is 3 inch. Right now I just have the truck in the shop with vinyl rough cut installed over the OEM floorboard. The floorboard has the OEM tar stuff on it still (in places). Asthetics went out the "window" a long time ago, I'm just looking for functionality and simplicity. Material has to tolerate water intrusion from creek/river crossings...etc. Vinyl is bullet proof, I'm not sure of the other heat/insulation material .... Noise and heat reduction has been good with the above mods (which is really a totally new exhaust setup from engine out to the exit). I really like the exhaust now as far as low noise, low heat and overall better build quality than before.

 

[Elbert]

I think I'm going to install some dynamat or something similar in various areas. I need to finish screwing around with the dash. I'm not going to strip the floorboards or go crazy with anything right now, but anything to reduce the heat and noise is a plus, although as I noted my change in the exhaust setup has made a good improvement on both. I do need to look at better sound control around my dual transfer case shifters, all I have there now, is a thin rubber boot and I'm tired of hearing the road noise from that.

 

[MarkBC]

Wouldn't vinyl trap water underneath and not let it dry out? Carpet breathes.

Also I was wondering for the dynamats, they seem pretty sticky. Once they go on, are they basically impossible to take off to do rust treatment underneath if for some reason it starts growing?

 

[Elbert]

in my case the vinyl is just laying on the floor board, its not going to be glued or attached to the floorboard and water does not damage vinyl to the extent I'm aware. Mildew comes to mind with carpet and the ability to get the carpet dry along with whatever padding or backing material is used with the carpet. The carpet is fully removed from my truck , the only thing on the metal floorboards now is the OEM tar / sound proofing stuff. I don't know much about the dynamat stuff other that I see it used a good bit. In my case if I were to cross a river or creek section and take in water....(as things are now) with just vinyl, the water would not be absorbed and would drain out the various holes in the floorboard (drip holes), I could if needed take the vinyl out and use an air hose or something to assist in drying things out later on. I follow the logoic on the dynamat stuff, I'm looking for ideas, it may be that I just cut some sheets of "something" to use where I think there may be a higher level of heat coming off the floorboard. I'm not looking to use any material that absorbs water or retains water. I am looking to mitigate noise and heat to a reasonable level where possible. Understand this is not a stock truck / daily driver kind of thing, but rather just a hobby truck and kind of a mid level trail truck. There will be a limit as to how far I chase noise and heat reduction.

 

[Elbert]

after some further reading I'm looking at this stuff too.

Thermozite, not sure why the link is not fully shown below, I just pasted a link from amazon

Amazon product ASIN B006LNWE7W

 

[TRAIL TAILOR]

after some further reading I'm looking at this stuff too.

Thermozite, not sure why the link is not fully shown below, I just pasted a link from amazon

Amazon product ASIN B006LNWE7W

I've used Thermozite on many projects. It is a jute padding with a single or dual sided foil heat shield... I just ordered more for my Dingo build. Used it under carpet and vinyl both.

It is a great product for sound and heat but if you plan to regularly submerge the floor it will more than likely get a little moldy and funky.

J

 

[IslandJ]

I used thermozite on top of cruisercrap. Doubled up in a few areas to even out the floors and over the trans hump. Bought it from a distributor near me, in person, the seller said because its made of plastic it wont mildew. Take it for what its worth.

This last rain season I had the windshield replaced and the installer didn't use sealant on the bottom glass to the rubber area. Both corners leaked to the floor boards a bit. I folded over the corners of the carpet and let it air out. Neither the carpet or Thermozite had an issue drying up. No mildew.

 

[Paul DiNapoli]

there's a bit more to replacing the floor coverings in these old trucks than one might think...
After 30 years of mountain living and all the mud that gets tracked in with it; and after 5-10 years of a slowly dripping rain gutter or bad windshield gasket, our carpet began to sprout.
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Having decided that carpet was NOT the business in a 4X4 years ago, I cracked open the piggy bank, and struck a deal for some NON-US vinyl floor covering for our 1988 fj62. Trail Tailor to the rescue!
View attachment 1396169 View attachment 1396170 View attachment 1396171

View attachment 1396172

lol - love it... you have pet snakes and growing a little lawn in the carpet!!

 

[Elbert]

I think I'm just going to cut up some "squares" of this stuff, mentioned up at post #51 for now, which I can just easily remove. While I later see if there is something that might be more water-proof. I don't take the truck swimming but where I use to run around a good bit we crossed a number of creeks and the water level gets up about half way up your door at times. My truck is a little rough so I'm not really concerned about aesthetic issues, but I don't want the vinyl melting and would like to reduce radiated heat off the floorboard. Guess this will be a moving target for a while, I have other "fish to fry" for a while anyway.....before this really get much concern. Appreciate the feedback.