Vinyl floor = more heat than carpet?

[olsen_karl]

Not really sure where to put this thread... so I'll try here.

For those who have owned both: do trucks with vinyl floors have more heat coming up into the cab than those with carpet? I know carpeted cabs have padding underneath the carpet, so there's more insulation for sound and heat there.

I don't know what's underneath the vinyl in my 2000 GMC Sierra, but it doesn't feel like there's much (if any) padding. It seems to radiate quite a bit of heat up through the floorboards of the cab. It's an "SL" work truck trim. I don't have any floormats either.

Just curious if this is normal, or if I have some mechanical issue to track down. Truck is a 6.0 gas V8, 4L80 automatic transmission. No known overheating issues with engine, trans, etc. No codes on OBD-II readout, so I assume the catalytic converter(s) are not clogged.

 

[unrealtrip]

I put Durabak on a Jeep Cherokee I had that got some water damage to the carpet. Without question, it got a lot more heat than when it had carpet. I had to fab up a bunch of heat shields for the exhaust to help mitigate it. I assume it would be similar for a vinyl flooring.

 

[ExpoMike]

The work van I used to drive had vinyl floor and they always seemed hot to the touch where vehicles with carpet never did.

 

[Desert Dan]

You could put some more insulation underneath the vinyl mat.

I think the same amount of heat will come thru it is just vinyl may conduct more heat to the touch?

You could also put in some carpeted floor mats on top of the vinyl.

 

[olsen_karl]

Thanks all - sounds like this is normal for a vinyl floor.

I'm not looking to get rid of the heat (doesn't really bother me; the A/C works well). I just didn't know if this is normal or if it is a symptom of something going wrong elsewhere.