Tag: Mopar

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TESTED: Armorlite Flooring System

OEM’s should be using Armorlite flooring. But they’re still putting carpet in new 4×4 trucks and SUV’s for the 2022 model year. Which makes perfect sense >insert sarcasm here< for vehicles marketed and sold to people like us who intend to take them off the beaten path in search of all of the things that are inherently wet, sandy, and muddy.

Background

Imagine if you will an aftermarket flooring system that exactly replicates the size, shape, and contour of the OEM carpet flooring kit while enhancing acoustic and thermal insulation properties. Now imagine if that kit was super water resistant with built in drain plugs to hose it out after a long weekend outdoors. Then, what if it was actually easy to install in your driveway with hand tools?

Well, someone finally filled this important niche with a MUCH better option than carpet or even spray in bed liner. Available for Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators (for now), this new solution is called ARMORLITE.

Armorlite was developed and built by Auria, a leading global supplier of automotive acoustics and fiber-based systems. Formed in 2017, Auria is built on a 100-year transportation industry heritage and has produced more than three million Jeep® Wrangler factory floors. Auria’s first foray into the direct-to-consumer automotive aftermarket, Armorlite is designed and manufactured in Old Fort, North Carolina, USA.

Before this product came on the market, I had considered Rhino or Line-X for the tub of my new Gladiator because wet and sandy is a weekly incident here in Florida. But once I looked a little deeper under the OEM carpet I quickly changed my mind. For the “I’d rather Line-X the floorboards like my dad did on his old CJ” crowd, below you can see how ugly the unfinished floor pan is. Note the HVAC and various electrical runs visible throughout. You would be putting bedliner OVER those potentially serviceable items and that would not only be short-sighted, it would look terrible.

Bedliner would also provide NO noticeable sound deadening and no real insulation from the heat of the typical V6 exhaust which is 3-4 inches directly under the floorboards on both sides. Armorlite addresses all these issues well.

Materials

Made from nonwoven thermoplastic material, Armorlite’s layered design appears to be extremely durable (easily twice as thick as the OEM flooring it replaces), and features a patented water-drainage system with heat and noise insulation and a laser-measured fit. I know it’s tough because I almost destroyed a nice pair of trauma shears when I tried to cut a small hidden corner of this dinosaur hide. Here’s a quick dissection of the material composition:

  1. The tough top layer is resistant to scratching and marring, and offers excellent grip and water protection.
  2. The middle structural layer bonds the topcoat to the dense thermal insulator and provides the stiffness to achieve exact vehicle fit.
  3. The underlayment material is made of durable polyester fibers that do not absorb water and eliminates the issue of smelly, moldy OEM carpet. This layer also provides thermal protection for the entire floor surface, with the added benefit of sound management.
Details of Armorlite’s layered design

Installation

This part is really straightforward. The front seats don’t even need to be removed all the way from the vehicle which saves time and effort, and the rear seats just flip up out of the way during install. Removal of the OEM carpet is a breeze once the center console is loosened via four 10mm bolts, then it’s just a few light snaps once the seats and bins are out of the way. The hardest part of the Armorlite install is the door sill trim, they just snap in and out so take your time and make sure everything is fully seated upon reassembly.

Below you can see the driver’s side before bolting the seat back up up. You can see the full coverage under the seats here and the large, protected seam area between the front and rear floor panels. This seam also creates a way for moisture to escape if by chance it somehow became trapped under this layer. A single piece of cab flooring would be damn near impossible to handle during install or future maintenance so this modular design works well.

Here you can see the driver’s side all buttoned up. No more need for floor mats or the pegs to locate them. And no more sand or hair permanently ground into the carpet. No chance of drama with muddy boots, dogs or spilled coffee.

  • Gladiator rear flooring
  • Gladiator front flooring

Drain Plugs!

The floor drain plugs are available in different colors and are what really makes Armorlite unique. The water-repellent floor is designed to channel water directly to the existing factory drain holes in the floor of the vehicle and this plug design lets water out, without letting it in.

Now water, sand, and mud can be easily hosed out of the vehicle, and the flooring material also appears to be impervious to staining from the red clay mud found here in the deep south. Just wipe it down with soap and water and hose out the gunk! If you’re interested, you can see my full build thread on our forum HERE.

  • Drain plugs!
  • Water in. Water out.
Drain plugs are deep and “snap” into place for a watertight cab seal
  • Rear door jam detail
  • Front door jam detail
Armorlite provides great peace of mind in extreme environments

Conclusion

Armorlite flooring is a game changer for me here in the hot, wet of the Deep South. I’m no longer worried about what (or how much) I drag in on my boots because it hoses right out. And if you forget the top is off when the rain hits overnight that’s cool, just pop the drains.

Surprisingly, I feel like I actually GAINED some room up front by removing the factory floor mats and their annoying anchor pegs. Sound and heat are noticeably reduced as well. My daughter likes to kick off her flip flops in the Jeep and had commented on how hot the floor would get. This is no longer an issue as she says she can feel the difference in insulation compared to the OEM carpet with her bare feet.

Weight difference between the OEM carpet and rubber floor mats is negligible, and it LOOKS way better. More important than looks is the fact that the added functionality of the drain plugs isn’t just some marketing gimmick. It’s a robust, well thought out flooring SYSTEM that actually works as advertised. It’s not cheap at just over $600 for the front and rear system, but the fact that Armorlite is actually made right here in the USA and not by some cheap Chinesium peddler makes it easy to recommend to you.

FULL DISCLOSURE: The Armorlite flooring system featured here was provided at no cost to the author for the purpose of this independent product review.

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Keweenaw Peninsula

In May we had the opportunity to take a long awaited 4-day trip to the western portion of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula aka the UP (or “Yoop” in local slang). It was an amazing trip that did not disappoint, and really spiked our interest to see more of this vast region!

First place we headed was to the Porcupine Mountains.  We did a quick drive around the Wilderness State Park and cruised through to the other side to see the Lake of Clouds.  Unfortunately, it was getting late and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet (which meant hangry was right around the corner for me), and we had a fussy baby on our hands. Then we realized there was a fee to get back there, so we decided to see it another time.  I’m sure we missed an incredible picture op and view from all the descriptions and the pictures that we have seen.  But, it gave us something to have to go back for!  Headed out of the park towards Houghton, we stopped along the coastline to feed Kaylee and make some lunch in the form of carnitas tacos. They were delicious and the view was incredible!!

The one thing we noticed about Lake Superior was that it reminded us of the ocean.  It is HUGE, has the waves of the ocean, the breeze of the ocean, but lacked the smell, the salt, and crabs scurrying around.  We decided instead of pushing through we had better find somewhere nearby to camp.  We came across the Ontonagon Township Park where we were able to camp right on the beach. I highly recommend the campground if you are in the area.  We walked around, explored the beach and after making dinner, we settled by the fire and watched the sun go down.  We ended the night with smores before headed to bed. We slept like babies to the sound of the ocean lake. We didn’t even need the sound machine for Kaylee.

Lake Superior Fun Facts:

·  Lake Superior contains 10% of all the fresh water on the planet Earth.
·  It covers 82,000 square kilometers or 31,700 square miles.
·  The average depth is 147 meters or 483 feet.
·  There have been about 350 shipwrecks recorded in Lake Superior.
·  Lake Superior is, by surface area, the largest lake in the world.
·  It contains as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined, plus three extra Lake Erie’s.

The following morning we had some bacon and eggs cooked on our trusty Tembo Tusk skottle and then packed up to continue up north.  We drove through the town of Houghton where we stopped at the Suomi Café, known for Finnish food, and tried their famous Pasty and Pannukakku.  They were both scrumptious (write up of this café will be under our Good Eats section soon on our site at Lone Star Adventurer).

After stopping for our snack, we hit up the Quincy Mine across the river from Houghton in Hancock, MI, before continuing our journey to High Rock Bay.  Once again, pressed for time, we only perused the outside of the mine.  The Quincy Mine was founded in 1846 and was the country’s leading copper-producing mine from 1863-1867.  Mining operations have been closed since 1945.  On the premises, you could see remaining hoist houses, shaft houses, and even able to look down one of the mining shafts.

We left the mine and were given a tip to check out the Gratiot River County Park located off Gratiot River Shortcut Rd in Allouez, MI.  It is was trip down a couple mile long dirt road trail that suddenly opens up to a beautiful view of Lake Superior’s 8,489ft sand, slate, and cobble shoreline.  There are several dispersed campsites back here if you are lucky to nab one.  We walked the beach and found lots of interesting rocks.

After checking out the area, we backtracked to the US-41/I-26 and towards Eagle Harbor where we checked out their lighthouse.  The red brick Eagle Harbor Lighthouse sits on the rocky entrance to the harbor and is a working lighthouse as it still guides mariners across the northern edge of the Keweenaw Peninsula.  The original lighthouse was built in 1851 and was replaced in 1871.  It is said that you could occasionally see the northern lights displaying their beauty from here.

Following this, we stopped at the Jampot (a must see stop if you are in the area) which is a Catholic monastery of the Byzantine Rite operated bakery.  They offer a variety of jams, jellies, preserves, fudge, and baked goods including giant muffins, lemon cakes, delicious peanut butter & jelly brownies and one of the best fruitcakes we had ever had.  I could literally eat this every day!

 

We came across a few waterfalls on our travels, one of which was right before the Jampot on the right.  Leaving the Jampot, we headed even further north.  Refueling in the quaint village town of Copper Harbor, we hit the dirt trail to High Rock Bay.

With no cellular service and going off of Gaia maps and friends’ gpx tracks, we went down the trail for what seemed like over an hour until we reached the stop sign at the end of the trail.  We were going to camp right at the point, but because the wind was strong and cold off the ocean lake, we chose to go a little further back, but did manage to take in a photo op first.  We had some dinner and watched a movie on our good old iPad (peaking out the window at the beautiful view due to the freezing wind chill) and set out in the morning to walk around and explore.  Before leaving the next morning, we worked our way down another very tight trail to check out the Keweenaw Rocket Range.

The Keweenaw Rocket Range is an isolated launch pad located in Michigan’s Keweenaw Peninsula.  It was used between 1964 and 1971 for launching rockets for meteorological data collection.  NASA, along with the University of Michigan, conducted the project to collect measurements of electron density, positive ion composition and distribution, energetic electron precipitation, solar X-rays, and Lyman alpha flux.  The collected data was later to be compared to five other sites in the US.

We knew our trip was coming to an end, but we still had one more night and we didn’t have a set plan for it.  We stopped by to check out the Gay Bar in Gay, MI that people were telling us to visit. When in Gay, you go the Bar.

We decided to work our way closer to home so that we could get back home in Illinois semi-early the next day.  We ended up stopping in the Ottawa National Forest nestled along the Sturgeon River before hitting the pavement for good.