Are all fiberglass tubs created equal?

I am of the understanding that all of the steel tubs available for Jeeps come from the same place, it's just a matter of the level of finish that you get depending on the vendor. What is the situation with fiberglass tubs? How many different manufacturers are there? Are there any that should be avoided? As much as I'd like to put a brand new steel tub on the '55, I'm leaning in the plastic direction, due to cost.

 

Yes there are diffs in the fiberglass tubs.
Read up on them and look at the comanys that make them.
Look for one that uses inserts for the mounts instead of wood that you drill through and go for the thicker (comp) bodies.
Also try to stay away from the ones that use plywood inbtween the sheets resin.
Are you thinking 'glass cause of cost or other issues?
Always though Kevlar or Aluminum would be cool.

 

I've had the 4WD hardware glass on mine for 10 years now with no trouble, It has proven to be quite worthy, yeah I'd prefer the cool factor of steel but mine came that way and It has worked well for me.. (it's a lot lighter too) and it NEVER RUSTS!

BUBBA

 

Predominantly cost. Living in a part of the country where you can hear automobiles rust on a quiet night is another reason.

 

I bought my Jeep in Maine, the PO put the glass body on for that reason the old one FELL off...

BUBBA

 

There are fewer choices in fiberglass these days.

4WD hardware used to make them, but they have gone into the hard parts business and have farmed the glass bodies out to a sub contractor.

I've been told, but have no first hand experience, that the farmed out tubs are not as good as the ones that 4WD used to make. I was also told that 4WD hardware has realized this and is doing something about raising the quality level.

I suppose Shell Valley is still in business, but I was always under the impression that they were near the bottom in the quality department.

AJ Industries, who made a very nice body tub, has closed shop and sold their assets, so they are no longer an option.

I have been told that the guy that owns Kentrol bought the AJ molds, and what he plans to do with them is anyone's guess..

But I doubt that they will sit and gather dust...

kamel

 

We rolled a glass body 74 '5 at windrock and the body took it fine but the steel windshield frame had a real good trapezoidal shape to it..


BUBBA

 

It sure did. R)
I was going to put that in my post.
Now granted it was not a hard roll but the body still took a good shot. No damage to the glass at all.

 

I am very happy the AJs glass body I have, nicely built.

 

There's a guy I know here in Vt. that'll only use AJ's stuff. He was a boat builder and repairer so he knows ''glass in and out. His best trick I saw was on a double wall CJ-7 tub he had. He fills the cavity with non-expanding boat flotation foam and lets it set up. Doesn't add much weight, but adds tons of rigidty!!. Gave it a huge smack on the side and let me tell ya, IT DON"T FLEX AT ALL!. Thought I broke my hand. He got a chuckle out of it though :evil: Proved his point too. Suppose you can buy the stuff at any decent boatyard/marina. AJ's "did" list their tubs with a colored gelcoat at one time. No rust and painted to boot if you like their colors. Food for thought. HTH

 

I had a glass body on my CJ-7 that was made by a local builder. There are pros and cons to both glass and steel bodies. You have to make a list, gather info about each type and see which list you can live with the best. The whole grounding issue is not a nig deal. A CJ has a simple wire system and you only need a ground wire in one or two places. (I think I only had to ground the tail lights,horn,starter relay and the dash board on my 84 which is much more complicated than a 55). Using a steel grill and dash make this easy.

No matter which one you by other than the willys repli tub your going to have to drill holes. As mentioned there are a number of glass body builders here in the states. As far as I know all the metal bodies come from the phillipeans or something like that. Yes they look nice but I feel the steel is of poor quality compared to the original.

BTW what happened to the guy on E-bay who had like a 100 CJ-5 bodies in GA?

 

I thought I would chime in. 4wd Hardware has never built their own bodies in Columbiana. I know because I have worked for them for seven and a half years and know people who have been here more than 20. The designs were done and owned by 4wd and assembled at one of several(over the years) fiberglass shops. For the next couple of months 4wd bodies will be unavailable as they are in the middle of finding a new manufacturer because the one that has been used as long as I have been here is closing up shop.

AJs is now owned by Kentrol as was mentioned. At one time many moons ago Kentrol was part of 4wd and when they seperated they took the Scout and early Bronco bodies that had been sold in the 4wd catalog and they have been making them since so they have experience.

Shell Valley always seemed to make a solid tub but the fit and finish was never very good. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

 

Thanks for all the great info folks.