Ali Mansour
Brand Manager, 4WD & Sport Utility
Elsewhere in this issue (page 18), we gave you the ins and outs of buying a used ’97-’06 Wrangler. As is often the case with the Wrangler platform (or any open top rig for that matter), the interior is often more vulnerable to damage from the elements. The area that seems to get the most punishment is typically the carpet. From dragging muddy boots to old parts, we’ve had more than one Wrangler’s stock carpet turn into a moldy and tattered mess.
Many Wrangler owners opt to remove the carpet entirely in favor of a more durable bed liner. For a trail-oriented vehicle, ditching the carpet is completely agreeable. However, for something that continues to serve as a daily driver, we like a little more padding beneath our feet. This brings us to the ’04 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited we recently purchased.
The previous owner had ditched the carpet and installed a low-buck DIY bed liner. To say the least, it was looking pretty rough. Years of dragging parts, people, and sitting in the elements had taken its toll. With the hardtop on, the Jeep had a hollow drone that was more noticeable on highway jaunts, and the floorboards radiated more heat than we cared for. There was no way we were scraping off the deteriorating bed liner, so we needed something to cover the worn floor.
We knew that we didn’t want to go back to OE carpet for the reasons we mentioned earlier, so we decided to give BedRug a call to test out its new-to-market BedRug kit for the ’04-’06 Unlimited. While the BedRug kit may simply look like replacement carpet, it isn’t carpet at all. It’s actually a lightweight 1⁄4-inch-thick polypropylene foam. This allows the kit to be 100 percent waterproof, along with being mold and stain resistant.
Even better, the kit is custom-molded to your Wrangler’s tub, which means you don’t have to trim or modify anything in your Jeep to make it work. We didn’t even have to remove any interior pieces to fit the BedRig in our Unlimited. We spent more time scrubbing our old floor than actually installing the new BedRug system. Overall, we were incredibly pleased with the difference this made-in-the-USA kit did to the aesthetics and function of our Jeep.
Our ’04 Unlimited was fit with a DIY bed liner, which had seen better days. Using some Simple Green and a brush, we scrubbed and vacuumed the inside of the Jeep to prep for the new BedRug.
The Jeep TJ/LJ BedRug systems can be ordered as front only, rear only, or both. The front kit is a three-piece setup. The kit is designed to work with an assortment of center consoles, so be sure to specify which type your Wrangler has.
To combat heat radiating from the transmission tunnel, BedRug supplies adhesive-backed heat shields. In combination with the 1⁄4-inch-thick material, it helps insulate the radiant heat very well.
While the kit is molded to fit to the Jeep, BedRug uses hook-and-loop 3M adhesive fasteners to keep everything in place. BedRug sent along some adhesive promoter for our kit, which helped tremendously in getting the strips to adhere to the old spray-in liner.
We’ve had carpet kits in the past that didn’t fit well, so we were initially skeptical at how well the BedRug would fit. After we got the kit in place, all of our fears went away. While it takes a little nudging to get it snug under the seats and center console, the end result is a stock-like fitment.
To secure the rear portion of the BedRug behind the front seats, you will need to remove the two bolts that attach the rear portion of the center console. Doing so will allow you to more easily fit the BedRug in place.
We got to guinea-pig BedRug’s new Unlimited LJ kit and were stoked that it fit without any issues. The sides of the rug install first and simply slide behind the seatbelts. All necessary notches and openings were already in place.
BedRug knows that many Wrangler owners choose to remove their rear seats, so they offer the kits with or without access openings for the rear seat. We move our rear seat in and out frequently since we have a kiddo in the mix. This means we prefer to keep the stock seat brackets in. We opted to have the seat belt openings as well as the seat brackets cutout from BedRug. The fit was spot-on.
While the BedRug is designed to handle the elements with ease, a set of floor liners are a lot easier to hose off after a day in the trail. We picked up these form-molded liners from Quadratec. Like the BedRug, the Quadratec liners are formed specifically for the Wrangler’s tub. Another plus: The liners are made in the USA!
