Floor mats and liners add protection to the Ford Transit factory floor and prevent permanent damage from spills, excess moisture, mud and snow. We’re proud owners and floor mats help maintain the aesthetical appeal and resale value of our van, so we consider them an investment rather than an expense. As we’re writing these lines, we just took possession of our second Transit van and we’re on the hunt for the best floor mats to keep our van like new (better sooner than later!). Keep reading to find out which one we tried and preferred 🙂
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1- Contenders
After researching online forums and discussion groups, we decided to review and compare the most popular and well reviewed brands: Husky, WeatherTech, Smartliner, and Ford’s OEM:
Husky Liners
Smartliner
Ford OEM
MODEL | BUY LINK |
---|---|
For carpet flooring, but works with vinyl | eBay (or order them from your local Ford dealer) |
2- Floor Mats & Liners Benefits
First things first: are floor mats and liners worth it? Here are a few things we can think of:
Excess Moisture
- Source: rain, snow, beverage spill.
- Damage: Excess moisture and liquid can accumulate in the body and create electrical and mechanical damage. It can also promote microorganism.
Stain
- Source: mud, drink, food, etc.
- Damage: Aesthetical (especially with carpet flooring)
Salt
- Source: road salt (more/less severe depending on your region)
- Damage: Aesthetical (it creates rock-hard agglomerations in carpet) and corrosion (if it infiltrates the body)
In short, floor mats & liners keep your vehicle in good mechanical and aesthetical condition, and help maintain the resale value as well. Therefore we think they’re a good investment and it’s one of the first upgrade we did in our new Ford Transit!
3- Mats vs Liners Difference
OK there’s a bit of confusion about mat vs liner terminology, let’s clear that up!
Floor Liners
Floor liners are custom molded to fit tightly every curve, corner and contour of the floor. They are produced from a digital scan of the floor, and therefore only fit the vehicle model they are intended for. As a result, their tight fit prevent them from moving and completely protect the floor.
Floor Mats
Floor mats are usually not custom molded and often fit several car models. As a result, the fitting and protection is not as good as floor liners.
Now that it’s out of the way, we use both terms liberally in this article and we honestly don’t really make a distinction between the two!
4- Decision-Making Factors and Review
4.1- Floor Type
The Ford Transit comes either with vinyl or carpet flooring, and it’s important to choose floor mats that matches the flooring type.
Carpet Flooring
Floor mats and liners intended for carpet flooring normally feature small “hooks” that grip into the factory carpet, keeping them in place.
Vinyl Flooring
Floor mats and liners intended for vinyl flooring might, or not, feature a retention device to keep them in place. Retention device or not, the custom tight fit of floor liner is generally enough to keep them in place!
Husky (Carpet)
The Husky liner has been installed in our Ford Transit van since 2016 and has excellent grip on the carpet floor. We never have to relocate it. No issues here!
WeatherTech (Vinyl)
The WeatherTech liners come with a retention device that has to be stick to the Transit vinyl factory floor (see installation instructions), so they’re not going anywhere.
Ford OEM Mats with Vinyl Flooring
The vinyl flooring in the Transit has not built-in floor mat retainer, so here is a little hack we did to plug the holes in the Ford OEM floor mats:
1- Get Floor Mat Retainers
2- Trim Flush
3- Snap them on!
4.2- One vs Two-Piece Design
Floor mats and liners generally come either in a one-piece or two-piece design.
One-Piece Floor Mats
One-piece design covers the center “hump” of the Ford Transit, and as a result offers more protection. The drawback is that a one-piece mat is much harder to remove because it’s so cumbersome, so you might have to vacuum first before removing it from the van (otherwise dirt falls on the factory floor).
Two-Piece Floor Mats
Two-piece design does not cover the center “hump” of the Transit (with the exception of the Ford OEM mats!), and as a result offers less protection. On the upside, they’re much easier to remove and clean.
4.3- Fit
A good fit means better protection and look. Please note that the fit out-of-the box is not great for most models, but might get better after the material is given some time to “relax” (especially under the influence of heat).
4.4- Material
We don’t know the exact material composition for each models, but let’s focus about what we care: the rigidity and feel of the mats. We prefer mats and liners with a “rubbery” feel (over hard “plastic” feel), but with some “core” to support themselves. Too soft will make it hard to contain dirt during removal; too rigid will affect the fit (doesn’t conform as well with floor curves).
Husky (Carpet)
In our opinion our Husky mat has a good balance between rubbery vs plastic feel (it leans more toward the former). As a result it conform pretty well to the floor curves.
WeatherTech (Vinyl)
The WeatherTech is definitely more on the “hard plastic” feel. It’s very rigid, and therefore it does not conform as well to the floor contour and curves.
SmartLiner (Vinyl)
The Smartliner are very similar to the Weathertech. They are very rigid, but they don’t conform to the floor curves as well as the Weathertech.
Ford OEM
Of all the liners we tried, the Ford OEM are those who felt the heavier and more rubbery, while still having a good core. We like that a lot!
4.5- Look
In our opinion, all the contenders in this review are looking good! Nothing to say here 🙂
4.6- Easy to clean
The Husky, Weathertech and Smartliner are all doing equally good in that department. But with its tightly spaced ribs, the Ford OEM mat will most likely need a pressure washer to get the stuff out of there.
4.7- Cost
At the time of writing this, all options listed in this review were within roughly $30 from each others, so we don’t consider the cost a determining factor. However if budget is a priority, the Smartliner are the less expensive.
4.8- Durability
Husky (Carpet)
We had the Husky mats since 2016 and they still look pretty much like day 1 (except they’re a bit more dirty!). No complains here!
WeatherTech (Vinyl)
We only tried them for this review, so unfortunately we don’t have long term data. However, we definitely think they would pass the test of time.
SmartLiner (Vinyl)
We only tried them for this review, so unfortunately we don’t have long term data. However, we definitely think they would pass the test of time.
Ford OEM
These are the liners we kept for our 2021 Transit following this review, so it’s still too soon to tell. We will update this in a few years!
5- Summary and Conclusion
Floor Mats In Ranking Order
1- Ford OEM
Best performance overall in our humble opinion. These are the one we’re keeping in our new Ford Transit 2021!
MODEL | BUY LINK |
---|---|
All | eBay |
2- Husky
These are the one we have in our Ford Transit 2016 and we’re 100% happy with them.
3- Weathertech
The contour is what prevented them on ranking better.
4- Smartliner
The curve fit over the humps and bumps is what made them rank so low. Still a good budget buy though.
That’s it for now, thanks for reading!
Hello,
It would also be helpful to have information on carpeted floor mats. All your options here (whether for vinyl or carpeted floors) are rubber or vinyl. What about nice, soft carpeted mats?
I’ve not been able to find information anywhere on good solutions for this.
Thank you.
Great review, we appreciate the work you put into your website. We’d like to order the Ford OEM floor mats but the eBay link is for the 2017-2020 Transit vans. Like you, we have a 2021. Does this floor mat fit properly like in your review?
Great article! Do you guys have opinions on the rear mats?
We haven’t tried any, sorry!
Thank you for the comparisons and details. Only RV users seem to care about the details, so customer service folks cannot be helpful in making selections. I really appretiate the fact that you took the time to share!
Thx
Glad we could help!! 🙂
Thanks so much for doing this. Was wanting more information about the OEM mats. There were very few photos or reviews of them online. I ended up getting the Husky ones but was very tempted to get the OEM ones!
As long as you don’t mind the hole cutouts on the OEM mats (which you can plug with tape if you don’t have the carpet floor. We’re about to order floor Ford’s pins & clips, we’ll report back when we install them), they’re great!
Any thoughts on 3D printing these pucks? Seems like a very simple option with just a few dimensions.
Thank you for all the effort you put in this site. It’s a wonderful resource!