Under-carpet pad

Been searching old threads, and see a variety of options, but no real consensus on keeping the carpet but discarding that annoyingly absorbent material that sits under it.

In working on removing the carpet in my '92 to install wiring for power mirrors, I discovered my underlayment pad is once again damp (bloody thing caused half the passenger side floor to rot out, which I had fixed a year ago). I'm seriously considering throwing it away and just keeping the carpet itself, but am concerned about melting/igniting the rubber backing.

The old threads I found seem to suggest a few of you run like this (carpet, but no pad), and I'm interested in how it's worked out long-term. Any problems/issues with laying the rubber-backed carpet directly on the floorpan?

Thanks,

Rob

I yarded my padding out last year when it got wet and started to mildew. The only issue since then was when my wife put her purse down on the floor. She had just bought a Palm phone ($450). The heat caused the screen to warp and not work. Thank you phone insurance! She no longer puts her purse on the floor!

There was a guy named clunk on here replaced it with something else, try a search

check the tube that comes out of the blower moter housing it might be clogged it drains the ac moisture it solved my wet carpet

The Tribe - while I do plan to check the AC drain, I have had issues with flooding due to extremely heavy rains when the vehicle was parked such that it leaned to the passenger side. I've since cleaned the door seals up, but haven't really tried to duplicate the scenario.

If memory serves, didn't Clunk use rubber truck bed liner sheets? Interesting, but I'd like to retain the original carpet.

XJumpmaster - that's the sort of thing I'd be worried about. Knowing me, I'd forget about the extra heat transfer and either I or a passenger would cook something without realizing it. Can I assume the rubber backing itself has not melted?

An idea I had last night was to apply to the underside of the carpet something akin to dynamat - a flexible, adhesive-backed heat reflective material, but I haven't turned anything up yet with Google that looks promising. Probably I haven't looked in the right place yet.

Keep the ideas coming!

Do a search and you will run into a great many posts on this.

I ripped my carpet out a couple months ago and haven't been happier with the results. No more "week old wet towel" smell, as well as I clean up some of the rust that had accured.

Once rust was gone, I painted the floor with rustoleum in preperation for the Herculiner treatment. I still haven't done the herc yet, and my paint is scuffing off due to the sand from the beach, but all is still holding well.

poorboy_616 said:

Do a search and you will run into a great many posts on this.

I ripped my carpet out a couple months ago and haven't been happier with the results. No more "week old wet towel" smell, as well as I clean up some of the rust that had accured.

Once rust was gone, I painted the floor with rustoleum in preperation for the Herculiner treatment. I still haven't done the herc yet, and my paint is scuffing off due to the sand from the beach, but all is still holding well.

Click to expand...

Oh, I did search - lots of stuff, but not much on long-term results of OEM carpet without underpad, which is why the post.

I'm sorely tempted to Herculine inside too to really slow down future deterioriation. Just watch yer hootus!

:gee:

Rob

I Herculined mine but I still plan to put a floor covering back over the passenger area. Like you I'm trying to figure out a good option for insulation. I am leaning towards some kind of foam, with some of the reflective material attached to the bottom of it. I won't use fibers or diapers like the factory--that stuff just soaks up water and holds onto it.

Well i Herculined mine over a year ago, so far ok, i also undercoated above the trans & exhaust under the front side to insulate and protect the welded in patch i had on my passager side. I have a 2 door 99. I will say that the floor gets a bit hot but my biggest complain is on the driver side my boots wore though the herculiner from rubbing. The herculine in nice, but would rather have something thicker and rubberized. I am thinking of putting diamond plating the front areas, maybe aluminum. As for the carpet I got rid of it.