AmorLite Floor Liner

[Wolf Island Diver]

I’ve had WeatherTech floor liners since I bought the Jeep and they’re great. However going to OBX a lot has really highlighted their limitations. Sand will always get between them and the carpet. You have to remove them to clean them and I always dump stuff onto the floor when I do that. You can’t easily remove the rear liners especially with all the stuff I have in the rear. If you have a dog, hair still accumulates everywhere the liners aren’t and getting hair and sand out of the carpet is basically impossible. Also the carpet retains moisture from the leaky top drains and starts to smell. It also retains smells from camping, e.g., wet dogs, campfire smoke, etc. The Jeep really shouldn’t have carpet if used for camping, driving on the beach, etc.

I just installed the ArmorLite full set I got from @Northridge4x4. This is the floor the truck should come with from the factory. I don’t have to worry about wet carpet, sandy carpet, mildew, . I don’t have to worry about dog hair accumulating in the carpet. I don’t have to take out floor mats or liners to clean them. I don’t have to take out carpet to wash it or the floor. I can now just quickly vacuum or hose down the floor. I also didn’t have to strip the vehicle, take it to a bed liner place and pray they don’t get overspray all over, nor do I have to deal with cans of the DIY stuff and make a mess.

Stuff to note:

• This is way heavier duty, thicker and more insulated than the stock carpet.
• ArmorLite claims it works with floor insulation like Sound Assassins. Technically this is true but it makes it a PITA to get the front in so the drains line up. I got it but it was a struggle. Not having the drains fully penetrated would be a deal breaker so I’m glad I could get it.
• The ArmorLite has a lip under all the interior trim so water or dirt can’t run under the liner if it hit the trim or runs under the trim.
• I recommend removing the front seats to install. It made things far easier and it’s not particularly difficult. Just disconnect the battery first or the truck will throw a bunch of codes.

This is after my last trip to Ocracoke with the dog who was excitedly jettisoning hair the whole trip and after I vacuumed it once I got back. You can’t easily get under the rear box or under the front seats to scrub the dog hair out of the carpet. This is nasty as hell. Never again with I have carpet in an off roader or vehicle where I routinely carry the dog. With the ArmorLite I don’t even have to remove the rear @813 Fabrication & Design locking storage box. I can literally hose off the floor through the molle bottom of the box now.

Hotheads Sound Assassin liners will fit under the ArmorLite. I can’t wait to test out the noise reduction with both in place. The Sound Assassins already do a good job of reducing road and tire noise.

This the poor alignment of the drain. The trick is to install the drain before securing the studs and you have to force the liner into place, secure the drain and then release. There were no issues rear liner and drain plugs aligning.

Finished product with red-ish (certainly not Firecracker) drains.

This liner doesn’t interfere with my extinguisher mount and it extends back under the seat to the subwoofer and back slope. It’s way up under the center console and overlaps the front liners like the carpet did.

Sponsored

 

[Beowulf]

Excellent feedback

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

Quick update and final thoughts:

I actually drove it for the first time since the floor went in. It’s kinda lame not test driving it immediately but life happens. Subjectively, the truck is noticeably quieter. I like the noise of it off road (I now have a Sy-Klone prefilter whooshing 12” from my head), but let’s face it, most overland trips are a lot of highway driving. If I can make that part of the experience more comfortable I can arrive to my adventure destination less fatigued. This seems to cut out most of the remaining road and tire noise left from the Sound Assassins, which is awesome.

I also was a little concerned that it would feel/look odd. Like the truck had no floor mats, which…. it doesn’t ?. And it honestly does look and feel little odd with the semi-slick plasticky flooring. However, it’s a clean and well done look. Honestly any feeling that it’s a bit unrefined is easily overcome knowing I have this easy maintenance solution. It seems with so much overland stuff, I’m always adding more to the plate in terms of complexity, maintenance and storage requirements. This just sits there and actually makes my life a little easier.

 

[MojaveLawyer]

I’ve had WeatherTech floor liners since I bought the Jeep and they’re great. However going to OBX a lot has really highlighted their limitations. Sand will always get between them and the carpet. You have to remove them to clean them and I always dump stuff onto the floor when I do that. You can’t easily remove the rear liners especially with all the stuff I have in the rear. If you have a dog, hair still accumulates everywhere the liners aren’t and getting hair and sand out of the carpet is basically impossible. Also the carpet retains moisture from the leaky top drains and starts to smell. It also retains smells from camping, e.g., wet dogs, campfire smoke, etc. The Jeep really shouldn’t have carpet if used for camping, driving on the beach, etc.

I just installed the ArmorLite full set I got from @Northridge4x4. This is the floor the truck should come with from the factory. I don’t have to worry about wet carpet, sandy carpet, mildew, . I don’t have to worry about dog hair accumulating in the carpet. I don’t have to take out floor mats or liners to clean them. I don’t have to take out carpet to wash it or the floor. I can now just quickly vacuum or hose down the floor. I also didn’t have to strip the vehicle, take it to a bed liner place and pray they don’t get overspray all over, nor do I have to deal with cans of the DIY stuff and make a mess.

Stuff to note:

• This is way heavier duty, thicker and more insulated than the stock carpet.
• ArmorLite claims it works with floor insulation like Sound Assassins. Technically this is true but it makes it a PITA to get the front in so the drains line up. I got it but it was a struggle. Not having the drains fully penetrated would be a deal breaker so I’m glad I could get it.
• The ArmorLite has a lip under all the interior trim so water or dirt can’t run under the liner if it hit the trim or runs under the trim.
• I recommend removing the front seats to install. It made things far easier and it’s not particularly difficult. Just disconnect the battery first or the truck will throw a bunch of codes.

This is after my last trip to Ocracoke with the dog who was excitedly jettisoning hair the whole trip and after I vacuumed it once I got back. You can’t easily get under the rear box or under the front seats to scrub the dog hair out of the carpet. This is nasty as hell. Never again with I have carpet in an off roader or vehicle where I routinely carry the dog. With the ArmorLite I don’t even have to remove the rear @813 Fabrication & Design locking storage box. I can literally hose off the floor through the molle bottom of the box now.

Hotheads Sound Assassin liners will fit under the ArmorLite. I can’t wait to test out the noise reduction with both in place. The Sound Assassins already do a good job of reducing road and tire noise.

This the poor alignment of the drain. The trick is to install the drain before securing the studs and you have to force the liner into place, secure the drain and then release. There were no issues rear liner and drain plugs aligning.

Finished product with red-ish (certainly not Firecracker) drains.

This liner doesn’t interfere with my extinguisher mount and it extends back under the seat to the subwoofer and back slope. It’s way up under the center console and overlaps the front liners like the carpet did.

Thanks for sharing this! This is so freaking cool! I'm definitely doing this now!

 

[Blitzinger]

I love mine. So easy to clean. PITA to install as others have noted. I never quite got my trim aligned back though. I would probably have to remove the seats and spend another few hours working on it to do it. I’m just not finding myself in the mood and it’s been 7 months.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

I love mine. So easy to clean. PITA to install as others have noted. I never quite got my trim aligned back though. I would probably have to remove the seats and spend another few hours working on it to do it. I’m just not finding myself in the mood and it’s been 7 months.

Yeah my passenger rear trim piece still sticks out from this and the wiring job for the cell booster. I previously cracked the passenger front kick panel and just got a new one to install. The big issue for me was having to manhandle the ArmorLite until the drains lines up but I’ve got those SoundAssassins. Overall though this whole job really quiets the truck down a lot.

 

[Winstead887]

@Wolf Island Diver @Blitzinger - Just picked up our 23 JTO (used <10k miles!). Wet/muddy dogs & beach are always a part of our lives, so want to install the ArmorLite. Want to believe I can install it myself & watched the video a couple of times. Do you think, since you've done the installs, that it's manageable for a 50-something to do on HER own? (Husband just wants WT floor mats, etc. but no way w our lifestyle & I'm the detailer in the fam!) Thinking the headache of lining up the drains & installing the Sound Assassins may outweigh the pros of including it? Thanks for all of the previous info & taking a second to weigh in.

 

[Blitzinger]

@Wolf Island Diver @Blitzinger - Just picked up our 23 JTO (used <10k miles!). Wet/muddy dogs & beach are always a part of our lives, so want to install the ArmorLite. Want to believe I can install it myself & watched the video a couple of times. Do you think, since you've done the installs, that it's manageable for a 50-something to do on HER own? (Husband just wants WT floor mats, etc. but no way w our lifestyle & I'm the detailer in the fam!) Thinking the headache of lining up the drains & installing the Sound Assassins may outweigh the pros of including it? Thanks for all of the previous info & taking a second to weigh in.

Adding the sound assassins isn’t something I did but does add a small layer of complexity to the project.

Lining up the drains isn’t the problem, it’s lining everything else up and being able to smack the plastic from the pillars back into place. I am too lazy to make a second run at it, They’re close to being closed so “good enough” is a pass for me.

If you have patience, I think you’ll be fine. Might need a little muscle to really get everything in place. TBh, if I had to do it over again, I’d probably just pay a shop to do it, assuming it was a reasonable price. I started off super patient. After the 4 hour mark I started to care less about perfection.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

@Wolf Island Diver @Blitzinger - Just picked up our 23 JTO (used <10k miles!). Wet/muddy dogs & beach are always a part of our lives, so want to install the ArmorLite. Want to believe I can install it myself & watched the video a couple of times. Do you think, since you've done the installs, that it's manageable for a 50-something to do on HER own? (Husband just wants WT floor mats, etc. but no way w our lifestyle & I'm the detailer in the fam!) Thinking the headache of lining up the drains & installing the Sound Assassins may outweigh the pros of including it? Thanks for all of the previous info & taking a second to weigh in.

I guess it depends on you. My mom dug out a huge koi pond in her back yard in her late 60s. Of course, she never lets us forget it. My dad’s in his 80s and gets up on ladders and is always doing chainsaw stuff in his yard running a log splitter, etc. I’m in my 40s now so I’m no spring chicken either. We all suffer from “why pay someone to do it when I can do it myself” syndrome. Besides, If 60 is the new 40, then you’re in your 30s ?. But these installs are somewhat tedious even if not too physically demanding.

Getting the front drains to line up with the Sound Assassins was a real nightmare. If you don’t get Sound Assassins it’s probably easier. I basically bent the ArmorLite until the holes lined up, installed the plugs and then let the ArmorLite go where it needed. That was physically easier than foolishly trying to stretch it into place. No amount of strength would make that work. The other trick with the Armorlite is getting it up under all the trim. Lifting up the center console helps (file that under smarter not harder) and you have to remove the side interior trim. You need trim tools.

https://www.harborfreight.com/trim-and-molding-tool-set-5-piece-64126.html

Be really careful the front driver and passenger lower kick panel that’s under the dash. It breaks easily. I just ordered a replacement for the one I cracked and immediately broke it to like a gorilla. The side panels along the rockers also never want to go back into place all the way. I’ve given up so mine stick out about 1/8 of an inch. I don’t think that’s a strength thing. It’s more of finesse thing.

ArmorLite says you can install it without removing the front seats but I still removed them. Remove the head rests first and absolutely the 2 wiring connectors and Christmas trees underneath the seat or you’ll kill the seat Airbag functionality. They’re really heavy so I would enlist help. You will have to remove the front seats to get the Sound Assassins in. Also disconnect the cloth front door tether so it opens a little wider. You don’t need to take off the doors. Removing them is an awkward motion that requires strength to prevent scratching everything up. You also may need a specialty “E-torx” (female torx) socket to remove the seat bolts. They seem to be different from truck to truck. These obviously need to be extremely tight.

https://www.harborfreight.com/14-in-38-in-drive-impact-e-torx-socket-set-7-piece-67898.html

I also removed the rear seats when I did the Sound Assassins, but I think that was for adding poly fill to the sub. You absolutely can’t do that without 2 people. The rear seats are an origami mangler nightmare from hell. I don’t recommend removing them. I don’t think you need to for the Sound Assassins and definitely not for the ArmorLite. But do ratchet strap or bungee the bottoms of the seats back against the rear door catches so they don’t fall on your head when crawling around in the truck.

You need a 10mm socket (of course) to loosen the center console. You can use ratchet straps around the rear base and the sport bar to lift it up a little bit off the floor so you can get the Sound Assassins and ArmorLite under it.

So, if you remove the front seats, carefully remove the interior trim that Armorlite says remove (same for the Sound Assassins) and lift the center console a few inches up out of the way, the installs will be fairly straightforward. Obviously the underseat box comes out but thats straight forward. If you’re thinking about doing both, I’d definitely recommend doing it at the same time. Give yourself the whole weekend and pace yourself. The Sound Assassins only give you insulation and sound deadening. ArmorLite gives you that the easy cleaning, etc. Its debatable whether anyone needs both.

 

[TheOpa]

@Winstead887 First, I see you are new so welcome to the forum!
Everything said here by @Wolf Island Diver and @Blitzinger is very good advice. I recently installed the Armorlite floors also and it is indeed a pain in the ass. I completely unbolted the front seats and the console and found that to be enough, I didn’t need to take the front seats out. It’s probably easier to do that but I just didn’t want to dive into it that far. The tough part is that the flooring is so thick it is tough to just bend it and pop it into place. That being said, if you are comfortable unbolting the seats, popping off the trim panels, etc., you should definitely be fine. Give yourself a whole day to do it so you have no time pressure and can walk away and calm down when it puts up a fight in a couple places and I would think you will be happy with the results.
Also, I did not do the sound assassin stuff, just the Armorlite, and there is a noticeable difference in sound and even floor temp. One of the best upgrades I have done.

 

[Winstead887]

@Wolf Island Diver @TheOpa @Blitzinger -- First, THANK YOU, not only for the advice, but for the warm welcome. I have to admit I was hesitant to post, but you guys have proven that this is truly an awesome community! I feel lucky to be a part of it (and yes, we keep asking ourselves why it took us so long to buy the best vehicle we've ever owned!)....

All of your advice will be heeded and will no doubt prove absolutely needed. But you've given me the confidence to tackle it (I'm patient & really good at finesse projects - plumbing, drywalling, painting, tiling, etc.) and not afraid to make a mistake! Worse case scenario, I end up ordering new trim pieces like @Wolf Island Diver I had ordered the trim tool set yesterday when I ordered some weather strip to go between the fender & body so hopefully won't botch the interior too much (Those freakin' tiny seeds & pine needles stuck from just 2 off road days last week were driving me nuts!). I'll update you when I've lost my mind installing the Armorlite later this month!

Thanks so much again!

@Wolf Island Diver - See you on Ramp #63 or #72 sometime!

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

@Wolf Island Diver @TheOpa @Blitzinger -- First, THANK YOU, not only for the advice, but for the warm welcome. I have to admit I was hesitant to post, but you guys have proven that this is truly an awesome community! I feel lucky to be a part of it (and yes, we keep asking ourselves why it took us so long to buy the best vehicle we've ever owned!)....

All of your advice will be heeded and will no doubt prove absolutely needed. But you've given me the confidence to tackle it (I'm patient & really good at finesse projects - plumbing, drywalling, painting, tiling, etc.) and not afraid to make a mistake! Worse case scenario, I end up ordering new trim pieces like @Wolf Island Diver I had ordered the trim tool set yesterday when I ordered some weather strip to go between the fender & body so hopefully won't botch the interior too much (Those freakin' tiny seeds & pine needles stuck from just 2 off road days last week were driving me nuts!). I'll update you when I've lost my mind installing the Armorlite later this month!

Thanks so much again!

@Wolf Island Diver - See you on Ramp #63 or #72 sometime!

Always glad to help ?. I’m actually going down to OI this weekend hoping to avoid the storms ?.

Another thing to check... I’ve noticed that water sometimes pools under the rear carpet on my passenger side. In my case it’s above the Sound Assassins, so I’ve never been particularly concerned about rust. The ArmorLite solves the issue of musty carpet. Regardless it’s worth checking your top drain (red circle) when you pull the B-pillar trim.

I
Those wires are for my cell phone booster

I suspect that water is running down the outside of this tube in my case but it’s never been a big concern. Hardtop Jeeps tend to leak, more so than soft tops. Just be aware of this area, and check the tube and floor penetration to make sure it’s still seated,
undamaged, etc.

The green circle is one of the clips that holds the bottom side trim in place and don’t seem to work very well.

Other gotchas:

• Take note/pictures of the wiring under the seat before removing it if you take the seats out. If you run that wiring incorrectly it will hang on the fore-aft seat adjuster
• The front trim, which Mopar calls a wiring cover is flimsy and long. It’s held in place with white plastic clips, those grey side clips in the picture above (those are actually a wiring loom) and the aft most portion connects to the b-pillar trim with a white plastic clip. But there’s also a single 10mm nut attaching the trim piece to a stud on the side of the body. You’ll see it when you remove the door connector cover.
• Take note of how the door wiring connector fits relative to that front trim piece
• That door wiring connector is supposed to be designed to make it easier to disconnect to facilitate taking off the doors. I find it to be a pita. Like most of the electrical connectors (the ones under the seat are the same in this regard) it has a red locking clip. The white bar pivots up and pushes out the connector. I can never get this to work without using a little flathead screwdriver to gently break it free. This wiring connector attaches to the body with a Christmas tree that breaks easily so use a split end trim tool to remove it
• There’s a trim piece around the center mounting plate for the rear seat. It attaches with torx screws so you need some small 1/4” drive torx bits. I don’t remember what size T-15 maybe ?
• You should only need to remove 4 bolts under plastic covers on the center console, but this will only allow you to move it up a small amount. You have to pull off all the shifter trim, wiring, etc to remove the console. You shouldn’t need to do that for either the Sound Assassins or ArmorLite. Just be aware you’re limited on how much the console can go up
• The ArmorLite instructions don’t make this clear, but where they tell you to remove the plastic carpet studs, you don’t need to remove the metal spot welded studs they screw onto. However these metal studs will make moving the ArmorLite more difficult once you’ve placed it
• The interior aux switch wiring is located in the passenger footwell if your Jeep is so equipped. While you’re down there it may be worth noting where it is or even running some wires under the armor lite and just leave the excess coiled up for future accessories you may want to install later under the rear seat, e.g. compressor, cell signal booster, etc.
  
  
  
  Good luck!
  

 

[TinkeringTurtle]

I did this recently and fully intend to write up a review of my own experience. With a recently built 2023 model Gladiator, the only thing truly painful was the trim. After a total of 7 hours, I gave him trying to get all of the trim panels to snap back in properly. I did a LOT of cutting/trimming on the plastic and liner too, but it simply does not fit perfectly in a 2023.

I must be an outlier too, or the Mojave factory carpet got improved this summer when my truck was built, but I did not notice any sound difference between the two.

I did not need to remove the seats and think that's an unnecessary step if you aren't doing sound mats too.

I love the floor liner look and practicality, but I'm on the fence whether I'd do it again right now. After more time has passed, I'm sure I'll forget the pain and recommend it. ?

 

[Forum Crawler]

Anyone going to run the ArmorLite?

https://goarmorlite.com/collections/pre-order/products/front-flooring-jl-jt

I have it. Easy install. Zero regrets.

 

[Wolf Island Diver]

I got a chance to really test out the ArmorLite this weekend at OI (ramp 70 and 72, mostly)

For beach use this and a pressurized water tank like a WaterPort are must have mods and a killer combo. Being able to put wet stuff on the floor, wash out the sand that gets tracked in, spray off gear, and yourself and your sandals is a game changer.

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