I rarely get the chance to have the Jeep fully naked, but today was one of those opportunities. I've had the rear floor mats flop around and almost fall out, so with this change to get the Jeep naked I thought "I'll just fold the back seat down and that will solve that problem"...I don't recommend it...that carpet is a pain to get tucked in under the plastic around the roll bar in the back

 

I'm bedlined now, but I ran around topless/doorless a lot in the past when I had carpet, both with the rear seat up and down. My wheel well carpet never did that to me. I had a quadratec center mat across the middle....that would typically flop around a bit, so would just pull it out while the doors were off.

 

I want to take my carpet out...but I'm having a hard time committing. I'm worried about the exposed wiring harnesses, Heat, and noise. But one of these days I'll do it.

 

When I committed to bedlining, I cut off the couple pegs in the middle (rear) section that routed the wiring inward a bit. I bought some nice braided wire loom (no that cheap corrugated junk), and I routed the wiring right up against the side of the body. There is a little lip there where the b-pillar plastic molding stops in the rear....then it is tucked tightly right up to under the rear cargo rails. IMO, it's not very noticeable at all. I have a buddy that bedlined and left those pegs in, and thewiring indeed stands out. Not sure why he didn't address that. I think it's an eye soar. I just got some zip tie anchors and epoxied them where I wanted them....then used zip ties to hold the loom in place.

In regards to heat, I can't tell a big difference. Scrapped all that sound deadening crap up. There is no doubt that the floor can get warmer in certain places, but it's not like the entire jeep warms up cuz of it. Honestly, I just don't notice it unless something is left sitting on the floor and you pick it up and it's warm. That said, I'm also in Texas. It's just hot in general.

I will say, it is louder and less refined without carpet. I'm usually top off, so noise is not an issue then. With a top on, it is a bit louder in general.

I drove for a bit with no carpet prior to bedlining. Not a whole lot different, but did get tired of looking at the sound deadening stuff on the floor. Problem is, if you scrape all that stuff up, you're down to raw metal, so you either have to live with it as/is, prime and paint it, or commit to bedlining.

Fortunately, removing and reinstalling the carpet is pretty easy....so you could always try it without and then put it back in if you didn't like it.

 

I haven't looked back. I took my carpet out the day after driving doorless through a super storm or hurricane or something. I routed all the wires rear of the B pillar through the body (and out the taillight cavities), scraped off all the sound deadening and bedlined. Yes, it's louder. It's super hot because of my long-arm-mandated exhaust. But I don't care. I can hose it out when it's dirty, I don't worry about floor mats, don't worry about rust. I think it really comes down to what you want out of your vehicle. I really like the zero maintenance, easy-clean tin can.

 

I read once that you have to cut the carpet to get it out, wouldn't that make it difficult to reinstall? With two kids under 2, and doorless off-roading, the carpet is not in the best of shape between the crumbs and dirt. I just don't want to give my wife another reason to hate the Jeep. Right now her only complaint is that it's too tall and hard to get in and out of...I don't even have a lift.

 

Your profile says you're in NJ, what's winter like carpetless? Is it colder in the Jeep? Does it take awhile to warm up?

 

I had the same experience my 1st time with the JKU naked. Almost lost the rear floor mats. My solution at that time was that I typically keep a 2in receiver hitch and a pair of jumper cables under the rear seat. So I set those items on top of the rear mats. My solution now is that I ride with slush mats on top of the carpeted mats year round, where the weight of the rubber slush mats don't tend to become airborne and hold down the carpet mats under them.

 

You do have to "cut" just a bit.....but not like really cutting the carpet. You have a couple spots, mainly around the seat bolts where you snip 1/4" or so. They're almost "pre-cut" with just a little perforation that holds em together. The cut just allows you to remove it from around the seat bolt without having to uninstall the seat to remove it. Upon re-install, you just wrap it back round and tuck it in place. If I recall, if you lift the front wheel well carpet right under the front seats (where it overlaps the middle carpet), you can see one of the spots you have to snip. It's been a while, so can't remember exactly. Seems like snipping tiny spots ahead and behind the front seats.

Would add......removing the carpet also makes it easier to clean if you ever need to do that.....like a full on pressure wash clean.

Oh y, was going to add.....I originally tried removing the carpet and just using the slush mats to cover up all the sound deadening stuff.....but once the carpet is removed, "formed" slush mats don't fit well at all. That was a failed idea.

 

I haven't noticed any difference during the winter. The only thing I did notice was that the footwells would get warm if I was driving barefoot. Now it's a different story with the rerouted exhaust, but stock was fine.