Flooring options.

[Pete M]

our trucks could definitely benefit from some steel heat shields underneath the floors.  

[Jesse J]

yeah for sure

[A-man930]

20 hours ago, JustEmptyEveryPocket said:

I used this in my truck. No carpet, no vinyl, no padding, nothing besides multiple coats of lizardskin. Works well for me. Been daily driving it like that for ~4 years. Its definitely not quiet, and some heat gets through to my legs in the summer. But overall it was worth it and I would do it again.

 

I've considered this, but wasn't sure if it's "tough" enough; specifically where the driver's feet sit (I wore out that area on mine when it had Herculiner over the whole floor).  How many coats do you think you did?  Which product did you use? They (now) have one product for heat and one for sound.  

 

As noted by other's, I would be hesitant to put anything other than a properly-applied coating of some kind on any surface where water can pool.  

 

What about some kind of glorified floormats?  Carpet, vinyl, or whatever you want secured in some manner that's easy to remove but still gives some sound/heat protection.  Might have to get creative keeping it from scooting around...

[JustEmptyEveryPocket]

3 hours ago, A-man930 said:

How many coats do you think you did?  Which product did you use?

I used three different products from them, and applied 2 coats of each. So that would be:

2 full coats of the heat retardant, 2 full coats of the sound deadener, and 2 rounds of a top coat product. At 4 years or daily use I am just starting to wear through the top coat right where my right heel sits. Everywhere else it still looks brand new. Or it would if I ever cleaned off the mud and dust. . .

[omega_rugal]

i been looking for thick vinil to cut it and use instead of carpet. carpets get dirty quckly, stink and most important, atract and hold moisture that rots the floors, i hate it.for heat insulation you may wrap the exhaust pipe that happens to cross the floor, it´s the only heat source down below

[gogmorgo]

The transmission is also a pretty big heat source, probably bigger even than the exhaust. When I drove my parts xj out here with next to no heat at -45, the trans tunnel was definitely the warmest part of the interior, and that was with a smooth-shifting ax15, not an aw4 heat pump.

[omega_rugal]

a manual transmission shouldnt generate heat by itself, but the exhaust runs right next to it, it must get it from there... even a aw4 shouldt not heat up that much as you can feel it inside the cabin

[Torq_Shep]

30 minutes ago, omega_rugal said:

a manual transmission shouldnt generate heat by itself, but the exhaust runs right next to it, it must get it from there... even a aw4 shouldt not heat up that much as you can feel it inside the cabin

A manual transmission probably generates less heat than an automatic transmission in general but a manual transmission still generates a fair amount of heat. I believe operating temp of the fluid is somewhere around 75-80C and that heat comes from somewhere =P

[Jesse J]

I have an auto so that's not a huge issue

[gogmorgo]

3 hours ago, Jesse J said:

I have an auto so that's not a huge issue

It’s a bigger issue with an auto. Especially at low speeds when the torque converter is unlocked.

 

Manuals don’t generate anywhere near as much heat, but there’s still some. When your interior is at -25, if the tunnel is sitting around freezing, it feels pretty darn warm. My ax15 ZJ gets warm in the trans tunnel area when towing, too. The constant pressure on the gear teeth does heat them up some. Heavy trucks will even have coolers on manuals to deal with the heat.

[Jesse J]

huh ok.

[Minuit]

And among automatic transmissions the AW4 has a reputation for generating a lot of heat, or more correctly, wasting your engine's power as heat. Insulation on the transmission tunnel area is worth thinking about, but extra cooling for the transmission fluid is especially worth thinking about for a variety of reasons.

[Jesse J]

6 hours ago, Minuit said:

And among automatic transmissions the AW4 has a reputation for generating a lot of heat, or more correctly, wasting your engine's power as heat. Insulation on the transmission tunnel area is worth thinking about, but extra cooling for the transmission fluid is especially worth thinking about for a variety of reasons.

mine came with a tranny cooler (idk if thats normal for everyones or a dealer optiom)

[89 MJ]

36 minutes ago, Jesse J said:

mine came with a tranny cooler (idk if thats normal for everyones or a dealer optiom)

I believe that was part of the Metric Ton option.

[Jesse J]

1 hour ago, 89 MJ said:

I believe that was part of the Metric Ton option.

that would make a lot of sense

[gogmorgo]

An external trans cooler was an option, but it may also have been added by a previous owner if they used it offroad or for heavy towing or hauling.

Every AW4 came with the heat exchanger in the radiator, but it definitely gets a workout when the radiator is also struggling to cool the engine. On the other hand, that heat exchanger is great to have in cold climates.

11 hours ago, Minuit said:

And among automatic transmissions the AW4 has a reputation for generating a lot of heat, or more correctly, wasting your engine's power as heat.

I’ve always wondered about this, more specifically, what the yardstick is. Most people talk about the “running hot” aspect pretty subjectively, mostly based on how hot the trans tunnel is. Shoehorning the 4.0 into an engine bay not designed for it pushes the bellhousing back a lot further under the firewall compared to a lot of vehicles, meaning the torque converter, where most of the heat is made, is in the trans tunnel. The mj/xj also has the trans sitting pretty high up in the tunnel compared to other vehicles, and the floors are notoriously thin which will both also contribute to in-cab heat. Then there’s the usage case. Driving slowly offroad with the torque converter continuously at or near stall builds a ton of heat with minimal airflow, compared to cruising around at higher speeds in less demanding terrain where you won’t build so much heat and you shed it better. And again, the xj/mj platform wasn’t really designed for seriously heavy work on the standard cooling system, and came out in a time when there weren’t that many people running automatics offroad.

 

I’d be interested if the Toyota variants have the same reputation for heat but I’m not really in the right circles to have picked up on that. And also we’re getting pretty far into the weeds on floor coverings...