Jersey,
I replaced the god awful carpet in my '01 with a 6"x36" lap glued planked vinyl (trade name Traffic Master) from home depot. It was a big job removing the carpet, must have has a ton of staples in it. Took me about two week working two to three hours a day. Where there was already sheet vinyl, I left it in place just trimming and cleaning the edges and used a cement base leveling mix and feathered it out about a foot. It is a tough vinyl that seem to be standing up to the slide. I do try to put something under the slide to help it along. I don't think I would put wood or laminate, or sheet vinyl under the slide because if a little rock or such gets under it it would gouge the wood or sheet goods.
After all said and done, it turned out great. Best upgrade I could have made. Wish I had had it while full timing but tools and a place to live while working on it were not available.
I could post a photo if I only knew how.