Grunt

I'm replacing the rotted floorboards on my (Michigan) 99 4-door. The carpet is backed with a thick padding that looks like it was designed to hold water. Any drawbacks to just getting rid of this stuff and putting the carpets back in without it? I need my Jeep to be as quiet as I can get it within reason. I have a fair amount of money in stereo equipment and it's a pretty good drive to where I wheel so I don't want it loud. A relaxing road trip with good tunes is a big part of my vacations. I plan on covering the floors with Dynamat after the new pans are welded in. Will the heat from the floorboards melt the tar in the Dynamat?

Thanks in advance for any help.

dmoe69

That carpet backing will definitely hold water - and for a long time. It is not so much a sound dampener, although it does play a minor role that. The backing helps the carpet lay in the car without wrinkles and puckers. A carpet without the backing, although much easier to install, will not look as good as backed carpet. If you do install a carpet without backing, I would suggest gluing it down with a 3M spray adhesive. I'm afraid I don't know about heat and Dynamat. I think the only place the floorboards can get hot are above the exhaust, particularly above the CAT.

robsjeep

Dont glue the carpet down as that will make it difficult to remove. why remove the carpet?
1. Say a bunch of water got in the jeep and now between the floor and carpet, you gotta pull the carpet to get the water out as the carpet has a water trapping plastic underside that water wont be able to evaporate through, youll have trapped water!
2. Carpet gets filthy, some thing spills on it. you may wish to remove so you can clean it, hose it off, and such
Thus dont glue carpet.

You say sound is a concern, well you will want sound deadening pads under carpet, period!

You are concerned with water damage of floors, well you will want to prevent the ingress of water, all of it, period!

If you care about looks, yes, the carpet will look bad if not padded, the indents in the body will show through, get worse with age as carpet is worn into them.

Having a water absorbing pad or even a water trapping pad is NO Problem IF you prevent water from getting in, so find the leaks and fix them. These jeeps did not leak when new, figure out what went wrong and fix.

a..Stop the leaks
b install the cushy sound pad, no glue
c.install carpet, no glue.

Yes you too can sound good AND stay dry

They have that dyna matt stufc, glues down, and it will trap water, id not put on floor where there is likely to be water, or a spilt drink or such, as liquid can get trapped between mat and floor pan. This material is better suited for doors, quarter panels, roofs and such where water ingress between them and metal is very unlikely

Just my free advice, it is worth every bit you paid.

good luck in a great sounding jeep.

Saudade

According to Dynamat: https://www.dynamat.com/products/faq/

" When properly installed, Dynamat Xtreme or Superlite will not run, drip, smell, melt, or come loose. Both products will tolerate temperatures of + 300 degrees F."

Roler

Well it shouldn't! If your floorboards get so much heat that it starts melting stuff, there is something not right.
For what it's worth: the biggest reduction in 'floorheat' that I experienced, was renewing my transmission fluid. It actually made a HUGE difference, feeling how warm the carpet between the two front seats would get before and after the change. So that might be something to consider.

dmoe69

Did the vet just marginalize me? If I had an opinion...You can have wrinkled arid carpet if you want. And if you want to remove the carpet to keep it arid all you have to do is remove the kick panels, side moldings, driver and passenger seat, seatbelts, and the console. Most carpet, once installed is there to stay because removing all that is a PITA. It is conceivable that to make it easier to keep your carpet arid you could leave those things out so you can get to the carpet easier. Or, in the rare occasion that the carpet gets wet one might just grab a wet/dry vac and a fan and leave the windows down for a few days. If you have the carpet custom installed locally it will be glued down, that's how they do it. If you purchase a molded carpet kit you can get it with or without backing. I believe "without backing" will still have backing in some areas. You can install it and see if it fits to your liking. If it doesn't fit well, it can be glued in place with 3M spray glue, which will separate in time, but the carpet will keep its memory. In most instances where glue is needed it is around the transmission mound, not the floorboards or out to the side panels.