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Truck and Auto Carpet KitsI’m sure you have a bunch of questions about truck and auto carpet kits. Costing around $150 to $300 these kits are a great alternative to a messy, smelly and dirty car. Auto carpet kits significantly enhance the appearance of the interior of your vehicle and help improve your vehicles self image! So here’s some questions you need to consider and answer before you go to the effort of installing replacement auto carpets in your car, truck, van or SUV.Why replace your vehicles carpet? : Three groups of people replace auto carpets. The first group are the “Restorers”. These people spend lots of time looking for an old vehicle to rebuild and then spend even more time and a lot of money restoring the old vehicle of their dreams to like new condition. 
You “Restorers” replace car carpeting because the vehicle you are restoring doesn’t have carpeting or the carpeting has rotted away and you need everything to be new and shiny. The second group is made up of people who replace car carpets because the old carpets are rotted, permanently stained, faded, burned or so full of mildew, mold and allergens that you sneeze yourselves to death every time you get in the car. This second group may be trying to get rid of their vehicle and a new carpet can improve the resale value. The third group is made up of people kinda like me. Every once in awhile I just get a hankering to mess with the car and do something to change it.
Carpeting is a simple job and doesn't affect the mechanical operation of the vehicle. So if I mess something up, I have to look at it, but I can still use the car. No matter which group you belong to an auto carpet replacement job is a good fun way to spend some time and bucks.
What’s included in auto carpet kits? : The truck or car carpet kit you buy usually comes with the carpet, either “Cut and Sewn” or Pre-Molded , and installation instructions. Make sure to ask the merchant you are buying the carpet kit from if the kit includes front and back areas and any cargo areas that are currently covered by carpet in your vehicle. For example, does the SUV carpet kit you want to buy include carpeting for the cargo area. If you are restoring a vintage auto you most likely are going to get a “Cut and Sewn” carpet kit. Make sure the kit includes carpet to cover all the floor areas you want to cover. Just in case the kit doesn't include carpet to cover all the areas you want to cover, make sure you can buy same color carpet pieces to match the auto carpet kits uncovered areas.
What tools do you need? : Well you might have to remove door sills, seats and seat belt anchor posts so you usually need an array of screwdrivers and/or sockets and a Torx or Star bit may help when you go to remove the seat belt anchor post. 
If you are buying additional padding for extra insulation and sound deadening you may want to use an adhesive to anchor the extra padding to the floor. A really sharp pair of scissors and a box cutter or utility knife will help you trim the excess carpeting. And of course, my favorite, a 12 pound sledge hammer just in case you need to make some minor adjustments or need to vent as you’re adjusting the carpeting to fit.
What decisions do you have to make? (1) Color. Do you match the existing color? Do you pick an Xtreme color? Request samples to help you make the color decision. (2) What style and type of carpet do you want, loop or pile, nylon or polypropylene? Request samples to help make a good choice. (3) What kind of backing – latex, polyethylene or mass back? (4) Extra insulation layer and sound deadening layer? (5) Use an adhesive to secure carpet to vehicle floor? (6) Do you want to replace door panels, sills, kick panels or floor mats at the same time? Who makes these kits and who do you buy them from?
There are 3 primary manufacturers of truck and auto carpet kits in the USA. Auto Custom Carpet (ACC), Newark Auto and Nifty. ACC sells
auto carpet kits
direct to the customer and through a network of dealers and installers like autobarn.com
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