by Terry Pritchard
Staff Writer
One of the eventualities of Jeep ownership is at some point you’ll want the hardtop off, or recline that soft top down as much as possible. And when that happens, sooner or later the weather will catch you off-guard.
At least, that’s been my experience. And I know I’m not the only one.
What starts as a perfectly gorgeous afternoon will suddenly turn into a driving rain that stealthily slides in with little to no warning. Suddenly, the Jeep’s interior is a soupy mess of water, dirt and whatever else is embedded in that carpet. Then, if you can’t dry out the flooring in a reasonable time, an interesting smell of mildew mixed with sadness and top off regret develops and fills your interior.
Or, how many times have you stepped out from your jeep into a mudhole or otherwise covered yourself in dirt and grime only to get back into your jeep and drag all the muck in with you?
No matter how well your floor mats hold liquid, there will always be over splash on to your carpets. Always.
The solution I found is the Armorlite flooring system.
Armorlite offers a three-layer structural design perfect to provide protection from all the elements I tend to drag in on the bottom of my shoes, including mud, rocks, sand, and salt.
The top layer is a thermoplastic polyolefin (TPO) material perfectly formed to fit the interior of your Jeep. It offers a textured finish with ridges for a solid grip in most conditions. These ridges also act as part of the water channeling features to lead moisture to built-in drainplugs, which to me are the real heroes in this product. It is really quite easy to drain any deep mud and water. And with a little soap and water, the flooring looks almost new.
I spend at least one weekend a month off-roading in various conditions. In Pennsylvania’s coal regions, the mud created from years of anthracite coal dust stains everything it touches. It can be a real mess. With the Armorlite system installed, I have complete confidence that every time I get in and out of my Jeep, I will do so without slipping and not worrying about keeping the interior clean.
First-time installation can be slightly tricky, but simply setting enough time aside and not rushing really helps. For me, helping a friend install his Armorlite kit before mine really gave me some insight and I learned a few tricks to try when it came time to put in my system.
The beauty of Armorlite is how perfectly it fits into the Jeep’s interior. But that same trait can make it a bit more difficult when doing the installation. The precision fit under the seats and around the trim requires strength and patience to get the flooring into the correct location. With my install, I removed some trim pieces and loosened all the seat bolts. These little adjustments made the install feel easier and quicker. The installation videos for the JL and JT systems from Armorlite include removing trim pieces and seat bolts.
Heat protection is a very welcome benefit from installing the Armorlite system. I was not expecting to actually feel a difference in discernable way. The heat would normally radiate from the floor, through the carpet and even the floormats. My feet, especially my right foot closest to the transmission wall in the floorboard, remained cool even on hot summer days out on the trail.
The same layer that protects from the heat also helps with deadening sound. I have the Pypes high clearance exhaust which has the muffler mounted directly under the driver’s seat. I do not hear my exhaust coming from below me when I am driving. I hear the aggressive sounds from the back of the jeep where you would normally expect that noise.
Armorlite is so much more than just throw in mats. As a matter of fact, Armorlite eliminates that need. Its products are manufactured in the United States in Old Fort, North Carolina. The flooring comes in two colors, Mesa Smoke (Black) and Desert Khaki. It can be ordered for Jeep Wrangler JK and JL, two and four door versions and the Jeep Gladiator JT.