I cut down a 12"x24" sheet of 0.025" aluminum diamond plate to reinforce a new floor mat. I'm not a handy guy, and don't have an ultimate set of tools at my disposal to make my vision super professional but overall I'm happy with the result. Finished product first:
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I must have sharp heels because I wear through floor mats like it's my job. It's so bad that I've worn through the carpet too:
I finally got sick of it and instead of buying yet another set of mats to eventually throw away, I decided to make a reinforcement plate to fix the issue once and for all. I took the plate and laid it over my old mat and marked the approximate dimensions. I bought a pair of aviation snips and used them to trim the aluminum down to size. The floor mat isn't perfectly square so I marked the approximate curves and trimmed them too.
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Then I marked the spots on the back of the mat where I'd drill through and fasten the two together. I settled on some small metric carriage bolts, wide washers, and capped nuts so the bolts wouldn't damage the carpet underneath.
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I put washers on both sides of the mat and plate to sandwich the two together and help distribute the clamping force.
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I went back and forth before deciding which way I wanted the bolts to go. Once I did, I tightened everything and installed the mat in the car. You can see how bad the old mat is next to the new one.
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I drove around and ran a couple errands after putting it in and it's great so far. My heels slipped just a touch but I'm sure I'll get used to it. It's a small price to pay for not grinding my heels through another mat.
View attachment IMG_2554.jpeg
I must have sharp heels because I wear through floor mats like it's my job. It's so bad that I've worn through the carpet too:
I finally got sick of it and instead of buying yet another set of mats to eventually throw away, I decided to make a reinforcement plate to fix the issue once and for all. I took the plate and laid it over my old mat and marked the approximate dimensions. I bought a pair of aviation snips and used them to trim the aluminum down to size. The floor mat isn't perfectly square so I marked the approximate curves and trimmed them too.
View attachment IMG_2536.jpeg
View attachment IMG_2535.jpeg
Then I marked the spots on the back of the mat where I'd drill through and fasten the two together. I settled on some small metric carriage bolts, wide washers, and capped nuts so the bolts wouldn't damage the carpet underneath.
View attachment IMG_2537.jpeg
View attachment IMG_2538.jpeg
View attachment IMG_2539.jpeg
I put washers on both sides of the mat and plate to sandwich the two together and help distribute the clamping force.
View attachment IMG_2545.jpeg
View attachment IMG_2546.jpeg
I went back and forth before deciding which way I wanted the bolts to go. Once I did, I tightened everything and installed the mat in the car. You can see how bad the old mat is next to the new one.
View attachment IMG_2548.jpeg
View attachment IMG_2551.jpeg
View attachment IMG_2554.jpeg
I drove around and ran a couple errands after putting it in and it's great so far. My heels slipped just a touch but I'm sure I'll get used to it. It's a small price to pay for not grinding my heels through another mat.
