Question for those who have used bedliner on their interior

I am leaning towards using bedliner (such as herculiner or raptorliner) on my entire interior. Whats holding me back is the fact that I have no idea what it will be like until it is all said and done. For those who have done it: is there any rattling anywhere, such as the center console? My center console fits tight against the carpet but if the carpet is gone Im afraid it will rattle on there. MUST you use the roll-on type on the interior?? I like ratptor liner but fear the though of sraying to spray the interior in all the tight areas
Also, the roll-on herculiner, how thick can you make it with 2-3 coats???

overall, what are the downsides of this mod? did you guys drill holes in the floor to let water drain out?

Thanks guys

I herculined mine, used 3 coats. I kept my transmission hump carpet to help with the heat, so my console isn't directly on the floor.

If I were to do it again, I'd probably get the professional stuff, at least in the rear cargo area. Even with 3 coats applied thin with appropriate prep and drying time, it peels in some areas. Not bad, but I can tell.

I herculined mine, 3 coats. Has been great with no chipping or peeling, etc. Just make sure you prep properly and sand down to bare metal and clean before you apply it. Yes, it is a little noisier, and there are a few rattles here and there.

And yes, the floors do get hot around the tranny. All this is to be expected though. As far as drain holes, I just painted right over the factory ones, the rubber plugs still pop out, though, so it's fine. I like it. Actually looks pretty cool.

I just did the front and rear passenger areas. I left the carpet in the cargo area. After a few wheeling trips and seeing just how dirty the floor gets, I can only imagine how much crap was in my carpets!!!!

Another benefit is it allows you to spot any problem areas with rust and remedy them.

What about winter time? Under the carpet is insulation, can you keep the cab toasty?

Hallo, I think it over. But I like the idea. There is in my mind always a doubt or everything under the carpet isn't wet or rust on the metal.
Often in winter my windows of the jeep are misty and maybe that is leakwater from under the carpet.
There are so many stupid plastic panels to remove before you can have a look under the carpets. :twak:

Jeepster 259. can you show some pics? I like to see the drain holes.

I think the heat you'll be getting of your transmission tunnel and exhaust will offset the lack of insulation.

smccollamjr said:

I think the heat you'll be getting of your transmission tunnel and exhaust will offset the lack of insulation.

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that's a good point. I'm in florida, so I don't know what it's like in the winter. Jeep heaters are pretty good though, so i wouldn't worry about it.

Basically, if your jeep is a daily driver and you don't swamp it all the time, I'd prob. leave the carpet in. I might herculine the floor still and just reinstall the carpet.

I only did mine, because the floor is constantly getting soaked and dirty and it makes for easier cleaning and access to the drain plugs.

I'll try and get some pictures soon.

I had the carpet out of my passenger side floor back in September when we took a short trip. My wife said the heat was unbearable (she's a little dramatic sometimes). I layed a towl over her side of the transmission tunnel and she said it was a lot better.

wim hoppenbrouwers said:

Hallo, I think it over. But I like the idea. There is in my mind always a doubt or everything under the carpet isn't wet or rust on the metal.
Often in winter my windows of the jeep are misty and maybe that is leakwater from under the carpet.
There are so many stupid plastic panels to remove before you can have a look under the carpets. :twak:

Jeepster 259. can you show some pics? I like to see the drain holes.

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mine has natural brown metal train-holes....

actually, my floor plugs are out, and i drilled small (3/16's) holes in the fluteing in the floor. it is easier to know where to drill when there is water on the floor. it helps when your door wipes/seals don't work correctly. rust took care of the other holes to keep the floor dry

i only have carpet on my tunnel, and am waiting until it is warm out to line it.

The Carpet has been gone for a while in mine. For drain holes I just dumped a gallon in the driver area, shotgun, and the two passenger rears and drilled in the center. I have rubber plugs in there now but am looking for something better. possibly the plugs from the back of a boat.

It stays warm enough for me and thats in Washington. The tranny has never bothered me being too warm. In the winter its like free heat. Its a little bit louder but I dont notice any rattles anywhere. The hole in my exhuast is more noticable now though.
The one thing I dont like is the wires running from under the seat to the console area,I dont know how everyone else took care of this but I just wrapped it with wire loom and zip tied it into place. It doesn't get bothered much, but I also don't usually carry passengers. And when I do he can't reach them from his car seat

If you want you can always put the carpet back in.

When you pull the carpet out, there will be a small gap around pretty much anywhere the plastic parts meet where the carpet was. The center console is probably the most noticeable. However, assuming the plastic mounting holes inside the console haven't broken yet, (They often do, if you get people on either side leaning on it in winter when the plastic is brittle, or making out in the front seat) it is still pretty rigid.

The other area you will notice the gap is the trim around the bottom of the doors. If any of that bothers you, you can track down some of that clip on weatherstripping and run a strip of that around the bottom of the console before you reinstall it.

Assuming that you don't break any of the mounting points, there shouldn't be any new rattles once you pull the carpet. At least not in my case. I did notice it getting a fair bit warmer without it, but once i added the bedliner, it became completely comfortable again. It still added heat, but not enough that it couldn't be overcome by turning the vents a little colder, or opening a window. It actually helps a fair bit in winter. At least on the passenger side, since that is where the exhaust runs. I didn't notice it getting any COLDER in winter either, but most of my heat loss is because I removed the plastic door liner, and didn't replace it.

I did do my cargo area as well, in addition to underneath the rear seats. Not sure if that was a good idea, because cargo likes to slide around now. Once I get a rubber mat, it should be okay. The biggest worry for me though, is the wires from underneath the console. Now they are exposed to trampling feet. But, like what was said earlier, some wire looming and zip ties should make that a non issue. Hopefully.

why can't you line the floor and then put the carpet back in? I would think that would take care of 2 problems at once, 1. stop any rusting problems and 2. keep the heat down. I can understand not wanting to put the carpet back because it's easier to clean if you run trails alot, put I would think the carpet being in place would be better for someone that DD's their Jeep. This is what I'm thinking of doing, line it and then replace the carpet, any thoughts?

I have no problem getting my interior hot in winter, its been crazy cold in the NE the past couple weeks. In summer, the A/C makes it nice and cool. My biggest complaint is its gets dirty insanely easily and doesnt look all that great. Once I fix all my seal leaks in spring I'm laying down some indoor/outdoor carpet from end to end.

you won't have a problem keeping warm in the winter, the XJ heaters crank out some serious heat. I'll be sweating if I leave the heater on high for too long, I usually have to turn it down to around 20% heat. That's with no carpet and bare floors. Pulled the carpet 2 years ago to dry them and never got around to putting them back in.

When it gets warmer, I've got a can of POR15 I'll use to coat the floor after I fix a rust problem above the muffler, then put the carpet back in. I cut the carpet in sections so I won't have to pull the seats to reinstall the carpet. Definately a bit noisier, but I just crank up the radio.

I Hurculined after having to deal with a rotted pass side floor caused by not being able to get all of the moisture out of the carpet after 5 water incidents off-road. I figured that as long as the carpet had to come out, it would stay out

X 1000 on Prep. You clean the interior good. Then I used Zylol and a metal brush to buff up the paint and degrease the floor. Then I put on two coats. At first, the way the plastics don't quite reach the floor bothers you, then you realize that you never have to worry about the interior again, and you stop suffering

I put 2 regular floor mats up front, and two in the back seat step wells. That makes it appear normal, and provides some insulation in the Winter.
The truck heats nicely in the Winter, and cools reasonably in the Summer.

I don't regret it.

Whatevah> I was originally thinking of sectioning the carpet, but then I found I had to rebuild my pass side seat mount which had rusted though, and decided to dump the carpet completely.

I had a parts 97 that was Herculined.. (done pretty sloppily) right down near my right foot that shit got reallll hot.. and the stuff got tacky... and all the dirt and grim gets stuck in there and was hard to clean... I wouldnt do it on a daily driver! just beef up your door seals haha

I used the duplicolor roll on kit and hated it in my daily driver. I would never do it again if I had to drive the damn thing every day. The cleaning/maintenance benefits and the fact that I had some swiss cheese floors to patch are what lead me to do it and though clean up and touch up are easy, its slippery when its the least bit damp so getting in and out, I got some pretty bruised shins from bashing the pedals while getting used to it. My passengers hated it. the pass side floor got hot enough to cook an egg which lead to the liner getting tacky, meanwhile, I had to drive around with the drain plugs out of the floor on the driverside while it was snowing or else snow meling off boots turned into a lake. The worst part though was that I went from commuting in a fairly quiet jeep (well as quiet as you can get with mudders) to driving a squeaky, rattly POS. I might be exaggerating a bit but without the carpet and sound deadening, you hear EVERYTHING.

Anyways, that jeep got written off 2 weeks ago and I have a new one with full interior and you can bet there's no way I'm bedlining the whole thing again while I have to drive it every day.

Never had a problem with mine, and I daily drove it to school every day, and to other various places.

This was 4 years ago, and I haven't had a problem since. The heater does fine, never found the stuff slippery. I did manage to knock off one of those metal hole patch things right above the exhaust when taking the dynamat stuff out. Not a big problem, but it has allowed some water to get in when going through deep stuff, or when I'm stuck up past my doors. I still haven't patched that hole.

One thing I notice in the winter, and I'm not sure if this is cause of the hole, or herc, or whatever, but my Jeep constantly fogs up.

I plan on herculining it within the next couple weeks

benulis55 said:

I am leaning towards using bedliner (such as herculiner or raptorliner) on my entire interior. Whats holding me back is the fact that I have no idea what it will be like until it is all said and done. For those who have done it: is there any rattling anywhere, such as the center console? My center console fits tight against the carpet but if the carpet is gone Im afraid it will rattle on there.

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Mine doesn't rattle

MUST you use the roll-on type on the interior?? I like ratptor liner but fear the though of sraying to spray the interior in all the tight areas

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You don't have to do anything you don't want to. I would not spray the inside of the jeep though, very hard to control and overspray could be very bad.

]Also, the roll-on herculiner, how thick can you make it with 2-3 coats???

Click to expand...

Herculiner isn't like Line-X or the industrial stuff that goes on 1/4" thick, it is just paint with pieces of rubber floating in it. It's very thin. It will tear and peel like oil paint if you don't prep properly.

overall, what are the downsides of this mod?

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increased road/engine noise and drivetrain/exhaust heat are the biggest issues, but you can resolve both of those by reinstalling carpet and inulation

the upside is that you don't care if you spill something. I hauled a transfer case in mine for a week and only realized it was leaking fluid after I took it out. Washed it off and looked like new.

Also I can see rust formations in the floorpan through the herculiner, so I know to strip down to metal and fix those spots.

did you guys drill holes in the floor to let water drain out?

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I kept the original drain holes, just removed the body plugs before applying the herculiner. I plan to get some boat plugs at some point, but you can get body plugs cheap at various online places.