Aftermarket Floor Mats / Liners

[chuckl1218]

Awesome, thanks so much and great writeup. Into the garage I go!

 

Bw the way, for those who have WeatherTech liners...there is a snap keeper that comes with them. It is a device that snaps around the stub before you place the liner on top. I just found this in the bottom of my liner box mixed in with paperwork. Duh...

[PMattras]

So i wasn't able to tackle this yesterday but i got it done this morning. Just an FYI, the factory clips (And the Aries clips for that matter) are a pain in the @ss to get out... Be prepared to fight with it for 30 min or so lol

 

Sadly i didn't take a picture of the factory clip apart (too busy fighting with it lol) but i can describe it. The factory clip snaps together. If you flip the mat over and look at the back of the clip you will see that the back snaps into the front half of the clip. On my first clip i wedged a small flat-head screwdriver between the mat and the clip and worked the mat out from the clip and around it to where the clip came out as one. I then spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out how i would separate them (It isnt easy..). I tried pulling, wedging the flat-head between the two and prying etc. I almost gave up but then started to make a slight headway. I wedge the screwdriver between the two and started to pry. This was bending the inner snap that holds them together and slightly damaging it, but i was determined to split them. I finally separated them but it wasn't easy and left me with a slight cut on my finger from the sharp plastic edges.

I then turned to the Aries mat to take one of its plastic guards off. The plastic trim on the Aries mat consists of two pieces. These screw together and are not easy to get a part either...

 

The side with the two small holes is the bottom piece and the other thread half is the top. from the bottom side, I used a small pair of pliers to hold the inner ring of the top (threaded) half and a pair of very skinny needle nose pliers to insert into one of the small holes and tried turning the bottom cap. This will take some time as they are not easily unscrewed. After a few minutes i began to make some headway and was finally able to unscrew the bottom half from he top half.

 

On my Aries mat i have to trim the hole ever so slightly (very very small area) to insert the factory clip's protruding piece. I then snapped the back on and walla! I turned the mat over and then realized i had just installed it in the mat backwards.....

 

I removed it (same way as before) and reinstalled and everything looked great.

Now on the second factory clip, i found a somewhat easier way to remove it. I used a small flat-head to wedge between the two halves from the back side of the clip. If you look from the back side you will see that there are 3 pieces of split ring that hole the back halve in place. I wedge it between one of these rings and the back half of the clip. I then used a larger screwdriver and placed it on the top half piece from the backside and pushed hard. I was able to push the top half thru the clips and separated them. I then installed this into the Aries mat after i removed the Aries clip (Same unscrewing process as before).

 

Once i had the factory clips installed i placed the mat in the truck to test the clips to see if they would reach and snap to the post and they do!!!

 

So all in all it took me right at 45 min or so of aggravation and fighting but it paid off. The factory clips are installed in the Aries mats and i think it looks 10x better.

 

I installed the Aries clips on the factor mat so i wont lose them.

It seems to be a lot of work where the manufacturer/company should have worked out these problems to make it just a drop in installation. This is not for me. Too much work for my money.

[Tim99GT]

It seems to be a lot of work where the manufacturer/company should have worked out these problems to make it just a drop in installation. This is not for me. Too much work for my money.

In all honesty it isn't too bad. It took so long for me bc I had nothing to go by or reference when trying to separate the factory clips. If I had to do it again I could do the whole swap in ~10 minutes with a lot less headache.

 

I do agree with you as far as the company could have put the right clips in the mats, but hey, you can't please everyone as a company. If they did put the clips in sure there would be a few who would complain about it so it's six one way and half a dozen the other way.

[Tim99GT]

Awesome, thanks so much and great writeup. Into the garage I go!

 

Bw the way, for those who have WeatherTech liners...there is a snap keeper that comes with them. It is a device that snaps around the stub before you place the liner on top. I just found this in the bottom of my liner box mixed in with paperwork. Duh...

Thanks chuck! It wasn't the greatest write up but hopefully it gives some insight to those wanting to to this swap.

If you have any questions about it PM me and I'll do my best to help you.

[chuckl1218]

Got 'er done. 10 minutes now that I know how to do it. I was afraid of breaking the OEM snaps, but it was easy. For those that are interested in Aries, my mat didn't go anywhere. In fact they do not slide at all, I was just being picky.

I do agree that the manufacturer should of made the hole more snug or a snap ring fit.

Voila...

 

 

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[Mad Max]

WeatherTechs on order for the '14 crew cab - tan for coco dune. Should be in soon. I had the rear underseat tub installed at the dealer at sale, so I will probably have to remove the mounting screws or plates and stuff it unterneath and reattached the tub making removal for cleaning more difficult. So that is probably where it will stay forever. But that's what vacuums are for. Hopefully it won't shim the tub up too much. If I ever hopefully get another dog and flip up the rear seats hapefully that will help keep things cleaner. I live up north and snow, sand and salt get everywhere so that's why I choose the WeatherTechs

[chuckl1218]

Thickness of rear seat mat should't be a problem. My under seat storage went right on top of my WeatherTech when I had it installed. The WeatherTech liner is very thin.

[Tim99GT]

Got 'er done. 10 minutes now that I know how to do it. I was afraid of breaking the OEM snaps, but it was easy. For those that are interested in Aries, my mat didn't go anywhere. In fact they do not slide at all, I was just being picky.

I do agree that the manufacturer should of made the hole more snug or a snap ring fit.

Voila...

ImageUploadedByTapatalkHD1398036956.923138.jpg

 

 

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Looks great chuck!

[chuckl1218]

Thanks Tim. I also sent Aries an email to let them know what we did to make the mats fit the studs. The original holes are just a little too big to be snug. I really like these mats and now they are complete. They really don't slide at all, even the passenger side. And now the drivers side is snapped in just like OEM.

[scoobyd3w]

Tim well played sir I damn near took my hand off with a screwdriver doing this haha..

Chuck lets hope Aries takes your advice..

That's how we make great products better

[chuckl1218]

Aries responded quickly..."I want to thank you for your feedback on the retention post clip. We are working on developing a better clip to better hold in place the liners. Thanks again for your feedback."

[Tim99GT]

 

Tim well played sir I damn near took my hand off with a screwdriver doing this haha..

Chuck lets hope Aries takes your advice..

That's how we make great products better

 

 

Thank you sir! I almost did the same when trying to separate the factory clip lol. I highly recommend wearing gloves to those that are going to do this haha The last thing someone needs to do is run a screwdriver into their hand

[Mad Max]

Put the WT mats in today and the tan looks OK with the coco dune. Could match better of coures but acceptable untill they get it right and by then my mats will probably be brown with dirt and mud anyway! Heck I live on the beach so I can just sprinkle some real dune on 'em to make 'em match better. The front right was bent out of shape a bit in shipping as was someone elses here who already posted with the same issue. Maybe I'll try a heat gun or some velcro to get it to sit into place better.

And the Z71 emblems are still showing on the kick plates. That's a plus.

I also used the screw in clips on the passanger side to help keep it in place.

After removing te rear tub screws and the tub, the full size mat dropped right in place and I screwed the tub back in and the seats do close with no problem as chuckl1218 mentioned.

They do look and feel a little cheeper being vinal but they should keep the rugs looking good for years to come.

All in all satisfied for now

[Rewillia]

I purchased the Weathertech F&R Digital Floor liners direct from WT for my '14 Sierra Denali crew-cab after calling them directly. I wanted a rear mat that would work with the dealer installed GM OEM rear bench seat cargo storage compartments. The WT sales person that helped me advised me to order/purchase the rear mat for the extended cab truck expecting that it would fit the flooring up to the face of the storage compartments. It didn't and I called them back only to learn from another WT rep that they should have not suggested the ext-cab rear mat and further that as of the time (Jan-2014) they are not making a rear floor liner that will work with the storage compartments. Hence they credited me for the rear mat and shipping and I returned it (keeping the front set which fit and work perfectly).

 

I wanted a rear mat that would be easy to remove and clean w/o having to pull the storage compartments up or out each time. For now I am using the factory rear rubber mat but am on the look out for a rear weather liner type mat that will work without having to pull the storage boxes.

[Stex]

Rewillia: You can get the CC rear WT and use a sharp knife and board to trim the mat to just fit under front of the under seat bin. I am trimming mine to remove the side turned up lip that gets in the way. WT really should offer the rear with an edge that turns down to the door sill to protect that carper area.