Best interior carpet for sandy soil.

[Remos69]

I live in SW Florida, my bronco is a garage queen I drive around. I've been living the last 6 years with a bare floor and floor mats. I drive it much more now and the noise is getting to me. The problem here is sand. It's Everywhere and I would like input on carpet type that is easy to vacuum when needed. Not going hard surface/vinyl/rubber. It's going to be custom since I've got the 3spd offset hump in the floor. I am also going to take input from the upholsterer, but wanted bronco opinions.

 

[Jdgephar]

I would look at a marine solution. My friends boats all use the adhesive marine flooring, something like this:

Diamond EVA Foam Boat Flooring - Grey with Blue Lines

Features High Quality - Made of high quality EVA foam boat decking materials, Good cushioning boat flooring and shock resistance, heat insulation, non-skid, shock absorption, good waterproof, moisture resistance and chemical corrosion resistance as well as good anti-UV. EVA is good tensile...

foceanshop.com

Should help with the sound, provide some cushion for your feet, and really easy to clean up.

 

[ntsqd]

That's some interesting stuff. I've seen it used on one Utoob channel for aft decking and wondered about it.

 

[.94 OR]

Maybe put something like this over whatever carpet you opt for.
https://tomsoffroad.com/products/4-piece-rubber-floor-mat-set-for-early-broncos

 

[DirtDonk]

Or go to the original route, and use the factory “sport” model full coverage floor mats.
Easier cleanup than carpet, looks cool, and is a factory option.
I prefer the parchment color myself, but it depends on what color combo you’re looking for.

If you stick the carpet, I’ve always had good luck with the old-fashioned loop-pile type. Perhaps not as durable or easy to clean as short hair or marine carpets, but the pile vacuums very easily and thoroughly in my experience.

 

[Remos69]

Or go to the original route, and use the factory “sport” model full coverage floor mats.
Easier cleanup than carpet, looks cool, and is a factory option.
I prefer the parchment color myself, but it depends on what color combo you’re looking for.

If you stick the carpet, I’ve always had good luck with the old-fashioned loop-pile type. Perhaps not as durable or easy to clean as short hair or marine carpets, but the pile vacuums very easily and thoroughly in my experience.

I would love to do an original, but the 3spd hump prevents me from doing that without modification and haven't figured out a good look for that. As for color, it will be most likely black. For reference, thi is the color of the bronco. (Color changes a bit, depending on the light)

 

[Remos69]

I would look at a marine solution. My friends boats all use the adhesive marine flooring, something like this:

http://[URL]https://foceanshop.com/...g-grey-with-blue-lines?variant=49841242931459

[/URL]

Should help with the sound, provide some cushion for your feet, and really easy to clean up.

That looks very interesting, but what i have been reading, it doesn't hold up wll to heat, and the floor gets hot. Both the adhesive and foam degrade with heat. Im still digging though.

 

[.94 OR]

I suppose you have already ruled out expanded metal floor boards?

 

[DirtDonk]

Ha ha! That’s actually a good one. Would be great too, if it wasn’t for the fumes that invariably come off of Bronco’s undersides.

So black mat it is, with your color combo. It would look great. And I don’t think the manual shift is a big stumbling block. I had carpet in mine for all the years with my three speed floor shifter, and it worked perfectly fine in different iterations. Whether bare fiberglass, painted black fiberglass, carpet glued to fiberglass, or any other coating you can think of.
In today’s world, you could probably use the black floor mat, and glue some padded upholstery to the shifter cover. That would give you both insulation from sound and heat, and a nice finish look.

The mat alone isn’t enough for what you want however. You would put a layer of typical insulation underneath. With the perimeter hold-downs, moisture underneath would not be a big issue unless you have lots of leaks in the Bronco to begin with.

 

[ntsqd]

Maybe?

CocoMats.com - Custom Car Floor Mats. Hand-Made in USA

Custom Made floor mats Hand Crafted using the Highest Quality material. Made in America, by American Workers. Coco Mats Hide Dirt, while adding a Classic Style to any vehicle. Available in 20+ Colors

www.cocomats.com

 

[Remos69]

The CocoMats look great, but I'm going with a local upholstery guy that did my seats, dash pad and center console pad. More interested in types of low nap carpet or even the coconut materials. He is semi-retired but will do smaller jobs. He use to do large boats/yachts a few years back! He has some suggestions, but I like to see what others have done here. Waiting for the trim kit to come in before I bring it over. Also going deer hunting for a couple of weeks.

 

[BigB]

I think a tight weave/more solid will be easier to vacuum. The type that most modern vehicles have. The older type with the long or twisted weave is always difficult to get everything out of. I have that style in all my older vehicles and they look clean after vacuuming, right up until you get back into it

In my 2010 Ram I have weather tech mats that contain a lot. I kite foil (sand) and even just having mud/dirt on my boots from around my property, I still have crap that bounces all over the place. But it mainly all vacuums up fairly easily with my shop vac.

With a lot of sand and being meticulous it is still a constant battle to keep carpet sand/dirt free. Add in being a soft top and you will have your work cut out for you, if you want it to look 100% clean. It's just the nature of the beast.