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outomyelement
Well-Known Member
Hell all, just completed my install. Wrote a detail/tutorial. Enjoy! 
-------------------
background: I wanted a quieter ride. I do sales so it gets too loud to hear my speakerphone on the road.
ETA: if you're efficient - 8-13 hours
It took me about 2 days, the first day removing and cleaning, the second installing and re-installing.
included: floors, doors, and rear panel
materials: 50 sq feet of FatMat -- great prices on eBay!
tools:
Prep notes:
Disclaimer:
I'm an amateur at this. I'm sure there are places that can and could be done better!
I'm also sure there's official terminology that I’m not using correctly. This isn't for a 'sound competition' vehicle -- I just want to be able to talk on my speakerphone or listen to my music without losing my hearing.
Thanks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Step 1: Clean out truck (duh)
Step 2: Removed my seats.
Each seat has 4 bolts, two in front, two in back. My bolts came out fairly easily with a 1/2" socket. I recommend doing the rear bolts first for both seats. If you have trouble reaching the rear bolts, slide your seats as far forward as they go. Try not to gag from the crap that's fallen through your seats since 1995 (especially since you've only owned the truck since 2005).
Yes, that's a mini-bungee around my center console.
Step 3: Remove trim on the floor and associated trim in the kick-panel (under the dash).
There should be 4 screws on the step-trim at each door. Make sure the kick panels are clear from the rest of the door paneling (i.e. pull them out from under). The kick panel on the driver's side will have a fastener to pry out.The passenger side will probably just pop out.
Step 4: Pull out any stock/aftermarket fuzz
Shown in the photo, was fastened by a single screw between the seat belts, and glued down. It had a plastic backing, but did leave some fuzz behind.
Step 5: Remove cup holders around the shifter
This is where pre-soaking could or could not have helped. I don't drink sodas, but whoever had the truck before me clearly did. And they missed their mouths. Frequently.
There was a hard thick buildup in the 4 holes holding the piece on and I could only get the 2 front screws out. The rear screws a) couldn't be reached by a drill or long screw driver and b) wouldn't budge even after soaking in wd-40 for 30 minutes. It looked like the WD-40 was sitting above the hardened soda product.
Solution? Hacksaw!
First I pushed down on the boot to pop it out from its fasteners (there are nubs on the underside of the cup holder that hooks into the boot). Then I pulled the boot up. I didn't remove the shifter or the boot.
Then I slid in a hacksaw behind the rear screws and hacked away (being careful to not damage the plastic on the top front). I did one screw at a time and it worked like a charm. I ended up cutting through the plastic underneath (the sheet that the screw sits in) in order to cut the screws although the piece is still usable.
Step 6: Remove carpet/flooring
Easy enough held on by two trim fasteners. Both broke on me. Who really cares? They're going to be positioned into place with the 4 front bolts of the seats and the screws from the trim in the door area anyways.
Step 7: Remove door paneling
I started with removing the screw in the arm rest and at the bottom outside corner of the door. Then I popped out the trim around the handle by pressing down with a flat head where the clips are (see photos). Next I removed the window handle cover and used the star screw driver to remove the handle. Easy peazy.
With everything removed, you have to pull up (from the bottom of the panel inside the door) for the panel to slide off. You'll know when you've gone far enough. The panel is fastened by a bunch of plastic hook-like things. I should have taken a photo, but I didn’t. Sorry!
Remove any under-door foam/plastic paneling. I had the paneling in my passenger door but not my driver's door.
Unscrew speakers (2 screws). In my case, disconnect and discard.
Unscrew metal bracket (the arm rest screw screws down to it). I left the clips behind them in, and made sure they were clipped all the way down in the holes.
Step 8: Remove rear paneling
Ok, for this step, I just removed the 2 fasteners so I could move the rear paneling aside. If I wanted to completely remove it, I would have had to remove the seatbelts. No thanks on that one.
NOTE: I DID NOT REMOVE THE SEATBELTS! I didn't feel like dealing with torque specifications and safety stuff. Like I said, I’m an amateur, and I can just fatmat around those things. It doesn't really make it much more difficult, even behind the rear paneling.
Step 9: THE FUN PART! CLEANING! YAY!
Just kidding.
before & after
I started off by cleaning the doors -- it was the easiest thing to start with thought it'd be good to ease into something like this. I removed any residual plastic I could pull off that was left from the foam/plastic paneling. I used a wet rag to clean off all the dirt, and then vacuumed for any excess. I then used a dry rag to dry off the panel. Repeat for other door. It may take a couple of wipings to get things clean. Easy.
Next were the floors. These were freaking disgusting.
Dirt, mud, coke, other un-identified sticky things (not those kind of sticky things). Coins, pens, lighters, starburst, just to name a few.
I started the floors by removing anything I could pick up by hand that wasn't suckable by a vacuum. Then I vacuumed. This was the first of many vacuuming sessions. I then used the wire brush to clean under the dash sections and along the edges of the doors.
Vacuumed again. More scrubbing, more vacuuming. I think you'll know when the dirt is off, so I won’t give you the details. Once the easy dirt is off and vacuumed, wipe down with a wet rag. This usually removed large pieces of caked-on dirt as well as dirt and debris from those places that I couldn't reach with the brush. Vacuum again.
On the driver's side door, there's the main wiring run that goes from the firewall to under the carriage. I popped this puppy out of the fastener and cleaned underneath it as well.
Step 10: Install fatmat!
Is there a reason why I started on the floor? NO!
Is there a better place to start? Probably!
Do I care? Not at this point!
So I started on the driver's side, by rolling out the fatmat under the dash section. I decided to start in small sections to be careful at first. I started using the roller, then I leaned on it and it broke. I used my fingers from here on out. I made sure that it was adhered in the grooves and worked from the center-line outwards. If you know there's going to be grooves, you may want to roll it out slowly by folding back the paper backing partially. I found this makes form-fitting easier. Once completed on each piece, I applied heat and did a general push over the whole piece. If you heat it up enough the adhesive will stick out the edges. I don't know if that's good or not.
Roll, cut, apply. I didn't use a ruler or tape measure, just estimated it by eye. Note where your seat mounting holes are and cut holes around them. If you forget, its ok; you can find them easily later, as long as you do a good job of pressing the mat down and contouring it to floor.
Order of install not necessarily required:
drivers side, from top of firewall to back panel
passenger side, from top of firewall to back panel
behind shifter
in front of shifter
sides of shifter
center floor & around seat belts
(some custom fitting required, pretty easy though) I cut out the section where the wires go down under the carriage. Just in case.
door panels
Stay inside the door trim area, it makes for less cutting later. also, I cut the door handle and door vents as I was rolling it out. Obviously not a beautiful job, but it works. The window lever nub was cut out ex post facto (once it was laid down).
rear panel
The rear panel was a little bit of a pain because I didn't remove the rear trim pieces completely. I would recommend removing the speaker grills so you don’t get cut up by the screws sticking out the other side. I just pulled it out far enough to get it all the way to the edge and applied it from the edge inward. Again be careful when doing the rear panel to roll it out and fasten it as you go. Otherwise you'll have a pain in the neck when trying to form it to the grooves.
I started off by cutting thin pieces to do the top and to form around the lip (see photos). Then I finished it off by putting a larger piece to the grooved panel, molding as I went.
I had some extra fatmat, so I put an extra panel on the flat part of the driver and passenger floors as well as in front of the shifter boot. Why? Because they were flat and the easiest place to put it. I also put an extra layer over the speaker holes in the doors. I didn't cut the speakers out -- I'll do that when I install new ones.
You might want to vacuum again from dirt from your shoes. Maybe not.
Completed product.
Step 11: Reinstall trim
Order I did it:
Doors (2 screws, a bracket with 2 more)
Carpet, Flooring - went right in (no screws, trim fasteners if you like)
Kick panels (1 trim fastener, 1 built in)
Door floor trim (4 screws)
rear panel fasteners (4 trim fasteners)
cup holders/shift boot (4 screws)
seats (8 bolts)
I cleaned everything inside and pre-re-install.
Note the photo of the door. I cut out 3 sides of where the door panel hooks go and poked them through and folded them down. Easy, no problem, especially again, if you've done a good job molding the fatmat to the door. They're the rectangular holes. I also just drilled the armrest mounting screws right through the fatmat no problem. This is where my photo came in handy because I couldn’t remember where they were. Once I located one on one door, I could see it on the other door.
Once the door trim was on I had to trim a couple of sections that stuck out behind the trim. For the most part I did a pretty good job of keeping it within the trim area.
When I reinstalled my seats, I had to make sure the carpet lined up and I put in all the bolts before I tightened it down (I learned this by tightening them down one by one, which didn't line up right).
Everything should go in reverse of how they came out.
Conclusion:
Congratulations, you're finished!! Pat yourself on the back, go get some Neosporin.
Results:
Great!! I drove up to 80mph for an hour and a half and my fiance and I definitely noticed a significant difference. My next project will be the ceiling because there's definitely a lot of road/wind noise coming through the roof. I'd have to reupholster it if I did, or get it done. Fatmat is also supposed to keep the car cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter also.
I had change for my dinner. Awesome!
Final thoughts:
Don't rush and pay attention if it's forming to the panels. If not, use heat & massage.
It wasn't too bad of an install. It also gives me piece of mind there are no more 15 year old French fries lying underneath my seats.
All and all I think once the roof goes in, it'll be a good investment. Unfortunately the rear panel can be seen from the windows so it looks like I have a transformer sticker in back. I hope that's what people think it is. I guess I could get something to cover it if I wanted.
I've read you can also add an extra layer of insulation pad underneath the floor to help keep it warmer/cooler and insulate more. If I had had something new and cheap, I may have done that. That would have required more cutting...
If I had more time, I may have insulated some sections twice (although I don't know which ones). I bought a 100sq ft pack and only needed 50 -- even having extra.
Newbie thoughts:
I probably should replace my cup holder console, but even with the cut off screws, it's still on there pretty securely. I think I’ll hold off for a while. Can I drill through the cut off screws to remove them and install new ones? It won’t get caught in anything will it?
Questions? Post in the forum or send me a PM.
Kevin
handle: outomyelement
Note: My car now stinks vaguely like dirty armpits 2 days later. I hope the smell goes away. It must be from the adhesive...
-------------------
background: I wanted a quieter ride. I do sales so it gets too loud to hear my speakerphone on the road.
ETA: if you're efficient - 8-13 hours
It took me about 2 days, the first day removing and cleaning, the second installing and re-installing.
included: floors, doors, and rear panel
materials: 50 sq feet of FatMat -- great prices on eBay!
tools:
- short handled phillips screwdriver
- long handled phillips screw driver or a drill w/ phillips bit
- star screw driver (for window handle)
- flat head large/small (for prying out fasteners)
- heat gun (if you're in colder weather) - I was in 40-60 degree F
- razor blade -- my shipment came with one
- roller - my shipment came with one as well, but it broke
- (I ended up just pushing everything with my fingers, and now have cuts everywhere)
- 1/2" socket & socket wrench (to remove seat bolts)
- light (for working at night)
- Wd-40 or equivalent
- wire brush
- a few towels/rags
- cleaning solvent -- although I just used water
- bucket with water
- trash can
- shop vac/vacuum
- additional equipment fasteners
- coin jar
- Be careful when using the heat gun. Always place the heat gun away from your body when not in use, with the blower/heater side facing away from you!
- Watch out for sharp edges when everything is removed!
Prep notes:
- Before starting off, you may want to soak your center console screws with Wd-40 or screw remover to let it work until you get to it. More on this later.
- Don't throw away any scrap pieces. I reused the majority of the scrap pieces to fill spaces, which can be seen in the photos.
- I don't see that it makes a difference where you start, since 50 sq feet of the material was more than enough.
- Good news! There's not a lot of hardware to remove just make sure you have a place to put all the screws and fasteners so you'll know what goes where. I took pictures which helped later.
- It's easier to cut smaller pieces in odd corners and turns than to try and stretch large pieces to fit. I ended up cutting slits in areas that couldn't directly adhere to corners because it wouldn't stretch enough.
- If your fatmat isn't sticking, apply heat!
Disclaimer:
I'm an amateur at this. I'm sure there are places that can and could be done better!
I'm also sure there's official terminology that I’m not using correctly. This isn't for a 'sound competition' vehicle -- I just want to be able to talk on my speakerphone or listen to my music without losing my hearing.
Thanks.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Step 1: Clean out truck (duh)
Step 2: Removed my seats.
Each seat has 4 bolts, two in front, two in back. My bolts came out fairly easily with a 1/2" socket. I recommend doing the rear bolts first for both seats. If you have trouble reaching the rear bolts, slide your seats as far forward as they go. Try not to gag from the crap that's fallen through your seats since 1995 (especially since you've only owned the truck since 2005).
Yes, that's a mini-bungee around my center console.
Step 3: Remove trim on the floor and associated trim in the kick-panel (under the dash).
There should be 4 screws on the step-trim at each door. Make sure the kick panels are clear from the rest of the door paneling (i.e. pull them out from under). The kick panel on the driver's side will have a fastener to pry out.The passenger side will probably just pop out.
Step 4: Pull out any stock/aftermarket fuzz
Shown in the photo, was fastened by a single screw between the seat belts, and glued down. It had a plastic backing, but did leave some fuzz behind.
Step 5: Remove cup holders around the shifter
This is where pre-soaking could or could not have helped. I don't drink sodas, but whoever had the truck before me clearly did. And they missed their mouths. Frequently.
There was a hard thick buildup in the 4 holes holding the piece on and I could only get the 2 front screws out. The rear screws a) couldn't be reached by a drill or long screw driver and b) wouldn't budge even after soaking in wd-40 for 30 minutes. It looked like the WD-40 was sitting above the hardened soda product.
Solution? Hacksaw!
First I pushed down on the boot to pop it out from its fasteners (there are nubs on the underside of the cup holder that hooks into the boot). Then I pulled the boot up. I didn't remove the shifter or the boot.
Then I slid in a hacksaw behind the rear screws and hacked away (being careful to not damage the plastic on the top front). I did one screw at a time and it worked like a charm. I ended up cutting through the plastic underneath (the sheet that the screw sits in) in order to cut the screws although the piece is still usable.
Step 6: Remove carpet/flooring
Easy enough held on by two trim fasteners. Both broke on me. Who really cares? They're going to be positioned into place with the 4 front bolts of the seats and the screws from the trim in the door area anyways.
Step 7: Remove door paneling
I started with removing the screw in the arm rest and at the bottom outside corner of the door. Then I popped out the trim around the handle by pressing down with a flat head where the clips are (see photos). Next I removed the window handle cover and used the star screw driver to remove the handle. Easy peazy.
With everything removed, you have to pull up (from the bottom of the panel inside the door) for the panel to slide off. You'll know when you've gone far enough. The panel is fastened by a bunch of plastic hook-like things. I should have taken a photo, but I didn’t. Sorry!
Remove any under-door foam/plastic paneling. I had the paneling in my passenger door but not my driver's door.
Unscrew speakers (2 screws). In my case, disconnect and discard.
Unscrew metal bracket (the arm rest screw screws down to it). I left the clips behind them in, and made sure they were clipped all the way down in the holes.
Step 8: Remove rear paneling
Ok, for this step, I just removed the 2 fasteners so I could move the rear paneling aside. If I wanted to completely remove it, I would have had to remove the seatbelts. No thanks on that one.
NOTE: I DID NOT REMOVE THE SEATBELTS! I didn't feel like dealing with torque specifications and safety stuff. Like I said, I’m an amateur, and I can just fatmat around those things. It doesn't really make it much more difficult, even behind the rear paneling.
Step 9: THE FUN PART! CLEANING! YAY!
Just kidding.
I started off by cleaning the doors -- it was the easiest thing to start with thought it'd be good to ease into something like this. I removed any residual plastic I could pull off that was left from the foam/plastic paneling. I used a wet rag to clean off all the dirt, and then vacuumed for any excess. I then used a dry rag to dry off the panel. Repeat for other door. It may take a couple of wipings to get things clean. Easy.
Next were the floors. These were freaking disgusting.
Dirt, mud, coke, other un-identified sticky things (not those kind of sticky things). Coins, pens, lighters, starburst, just to name a few. I started the floors by removing anything I could pick up by hand that wasn't suckable by a vacuum. Then I vacuumed. This was the first of many vacuuming sessions. I then used the wire brush to clean under the dash sections and along the edges of the doors.
Vacuumed again. More scrubbing, more vacuuming. I think you'll know when the dirt is off, so I won’t give you the details. Once the easy dirt is off and vacuumed, wipe down with a wet rag. This usually removed large pieces of caked-on dirt as well as dirt and debris from those places that I couldn't reach with the brush. Vacuum again.
On the driver's side door, there's the main wiring run that goes from the firewall to under the carriage. I popped this puppy out of the fastener and cleaned underneath it as well.
Step 10: Install fatmat!
Is there a reason why I started on the floor? NO!
Is there a better place to start? Probably!
Do I care? Not at this point!
So I started on the driver's side, by rolling out the fatmat under the dash section. I decided to start in small sections to be careful at first. I started using the roller, then I leaned on it and it broke. I used my fingers from here on out. I made sure that it was adhered in the grooves and worked from the center-line outwards. If you know there's going to be grooves, you may want to roll it out slowly by folding back the paper backing partially. I found this makes form-fitting easier. Once completed on each piece, I applied heat and did a general push over the whole piece. If you heat it up enough the adhesive will stick out the edges. I don't know if that's good or not.
Roll, cut, apply. I didn't use a ruler or tape measure, just estimated it by eye. Note where your seat mounting holes are and cut holes around them. If you forget, its ok; you can find them easily later, as long as you do a good job of pressing the mat down and contouring it to floor.
Order of install not necessarily required:
drivers side, from top of firewall to back panel
passenger side, from top of firewall to back panel
behind shifter
in front of shifter
sides of shifter
center floor & around seat belts
(some custom fitting required, pretty easy though) I cut out the section where the wires go down under the carriage. Just in case.
door panels
rear panel
I started off by cutting thin pieces to do the top and to form around the lip (see photos). Then I finished it off by putting a larger piece to the grooved panel, molding as I went.
I had some extra fatmat, so I put an extra panel on the flat part of the driver and passenger floors as well as in front of the shifter boot. Why? Because they were flat and the easiest place to put it. I also put an extra layer over the speaker holes in the doors. I didn't cut the speakers out -- I'll do that when I install new ones.
You might want to vacuum again from dirt from your shoes. Maybe not.
Completed product.
Step 11: Reinstall trim
Order I did it:
Doors (2 screws, a bracket with 2 more)
Carpet, Flooring - went right in (no screws, trim fasteners if you like)
Kick panels (1 trim fastener, 1 built in)
Door floor trim (4 screws)
rear panel fasteners (4 trim fasteners)
cup holders/shift boot (4 screws)
seats (8 bolts)
I cleaned everything inside and pre-re-install.
Note the photo of the door. I cut out 3 sides of where the door panel hooks go and poked them through and folded them down. Easy, no problem, especially again, if you've done a good job molding the fatmat to the door. They're the rectangular holes. I also just drilled the armrest mounting screws right through the fatmat no problem. This is where my photo came in handy because I couldn’t remember where they were. Once I located one on one door, I could see it on the other door.
Once the door trim was on I had to trim a couple of sections that stuck out behind the trim. For the most part I did a pretty good job of keeping it within the trim area.
When I reinstalled my seats, I had to make sure the carpet lined up and I put in all the bolts before I tightened it down (I learned this by tightening them down one by one, which didn't line up right).
Everything should go in reverse of how they came out.
Conclusion:
Congratulations, you're finished!! Pat yourself on the back, go get some Neosporin.
Results:
Great!! I drove up to 80mph for an hour and a half and my fiance and I definitely noticed a significant difference. My next project will be the ceiling because there's definitely a lot of road/wind noise coming through the roof. I'd have to reupholster it if I did, or get it done. Fatmat is also supposed to keep the car cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter also.
I had change for my dinner. Awesome!
Final thoughts:
Don't rush and pay attention if it's forming to the panels. If not, use heat & massage.
It wasn't too bad of an install. It also gives me piece of mind there are no more 15 year old French fries lying underneath my seats.
All and all I think once the roof goes in, it'll be a good investment. Unfortunately the rear panel can be seen from the windows so it looks like I have a transformer sticker in back. I hope that's what people think it is. I guess I could get something to cover it if I wanted.
I've read you can also add an extra layer of insulation pad underneath the floor to help keep it warmer/cooler and insulate more. If I had had something new and cheap, I may have done that. That would have required more cutting...
If I had more time, I may have insulated some sections twice (although I don't know which ones). I bought a 100sq ft pack and only needed 50 -- even having extra.
Newbie thoughts:
I probably should replace my cup holder console, but even with the cut off screws, it's still on there pretty securely. I think I’ll hold off for a while. Can I drill through the cut off screws to remove them and install new ones? It won’t get caught in anything will it?
Questions? Post in the forum or send me a PM.
Kevin
handle: outomyelement
Note: My car now stinks vaguely like dirty armpits 2 days later. I hope the smell goes away. It must be from the adhesive...
Last edited:
