Vinyl/rubber flooring

[derf]

I didn't want to add this to the recent carpet thread. 

 

I'm working on my next build and I'm pretty sure I don't want carpet.  It's going to be a trail/work rig.  I want a more durable material on the floor, one that won't trap dirt like carpet would.

 

I know from reading the carpet thread that the ACC vinyl has fitment issues.  As in, it doesn't fit.

 

Are there any other viable options?  If not, what would I need to do to get the ACC vinyl to fit?

 

I suppose I could just coat the floor with bed liner, but that isn't my first choice.

[89 MJ]

My truck very rarely gets cleaned inside, but I've noticed that the carpet actually cleans up better than the ACC vinyl did too. The dirt will vacuum out of the carpet. The dirt would not vacuum out of the vinyl. A damp rag wouldn't get it out and even a tire brush wouldn't touch it.

 

I would do a spray in bedliner on the floor before another vinyl floor. The vinyl floor had a texture very similar to a very rough bedliner. Say for example you were removing one of the nuts for the seat. If the stud was fairly rusty and you were pulling on the wrench pretty good when the nut broke loose or the wrench slipped off of the nut or whatever and it caused you to drag the back of your hand across the flooring quickly, its rough enough that the flooring will draw blood. 

 

If you set the vinyl flooring out for an entire hot day in direct sunlight all day, you might be able to get it to almost fit. Mine sat in the sun for hours and I still spent hours with a heat gun trying to get it to fit and was never happy with it. The shape is too small around the front of the transmission tunnel and too large at the rear of the trans tunnel (well, closer to the front of the seat, behind the shifter), so you get wrinkles in the front and then terrible looking fitment at the rear. It also will not conform around the floor braces at all. If you cut the flooring right down the middle to widen the front of the trans tunnel and then narrowed up the rear of the trans tunnel, you might be able to get it to fit.

 

I would look for an OEM one in good shape, but I think we both know about how likely that is.

 

If I were you, I would either do a spray in bedliner instead of carpet or a carpet kit with rubber floormats on top, depending on how fancy you want to be. 

[derf]

I'm going to do rubber floor mats regardless.  I may be leaning towards just a smoother bedliner.  If I found an OEM vinyl, I'd probably snag it.  But that's probably right next to the winning lottery ticket...

[89 MJ]

That's exactly what my dad did in his YJ that was a mix between a trail rig and a street rig. It honestly didn't seem any louder with the bedliner and floor mats than it was with just the carpet, but it also went through other substantial changes at the same time (4cyl to LS, 235/75R15s to 35s, etc.) so its hard to give an apples to apples comparison.

 

He did a Raptor kit in that and I have a Raptor kit in the bed of my MJ. You can spray that stuff pretty smooth.

[Salvagedcircuit]

I installed the ACC black vinyl flooring in my MJ in 2023. It needs a lot of trimming, just like the carpet, but the vinyl does not contour to the floor that well. You will always have air pockets underneath the vinyl. I just decided to live with them. I did not use any spray adhesive or adhesion promoter. I did not use the included underlayment. I used 1/2in thick gym mats as a flooring mat. None by the pedal area because it interferes with pedal height.

Ironically, the neoprene foam molds very well to the metal floor with a heatgun. 

The vinyl is nice though when its snowing or there's poor weather conditions. Your floor will clean up easily with a shopvac.