EB Aluminum Body Tub Interest

[ddrass]

Strength.

Are glass tubs that weak?

 

[Tuck]

Not necessarily, but it doesn't hold up well to abuse. I'm sure if you used a fiberglass tub you'd get many years of use out of it, but aluminum is stronger than you might think. You can beat on it & drop things on it with no ill effects (again, with the right alloy & thickness). Aircraft aluminum is great stuff.

Aluminum is easy to smooth out if you scratch it up too. In an effort to make jets look better than the ones next door, crew chiefs will buff out some parts to a high-gloss shine. You'd never know there were imperfections in the metal prior to buffing. The parts don't corrode even with no protection, but if you stop buffing every few weeks it will eventually catch up. If these tubs are produced, I can see someone doing this to their entire rig for total bling %) %) %)

 

[ghostwriter]

Id be in so long as it was in line or better than fiberglass tubs price wise. I think fiberglass tubs sell because we need em. But many are worried about the strength issue. Tubs are only going to be harder and harder to get if it works out economically many I think would take the aluminum over the fiberglass if for no better reason than they have to get one somewhere. HMMM lets see they would be stronger, just as corrosion resistant and look the same? Seems a no brainer. A new tub in fiberglass is $3000. if the manufacturer came in under that and they looked the same outside Im pretty sure they would steel (pun intended) a large share of the fiberglass market. Hope it goes through.

 

[thesnake]

I'm interested.

 

[Case]

i would be interested. i have nothing against fiberglass i just dont want it on my bronco. fiberglass is alot harder to repair than steel or aluminum.

 

[bax]

changed my mind some from my last post. I said make it look stock and let the owners change it. Well I feel that there are a few places that some mods would help. The mods I would want would not change the outside look of the truck. I would like to see work done on the wheel wells inside the bed and under the hood. Make the rears longer allowing more room to stuff a tire up into. From the outside the fender would look the same but from inside the bed the wheel tubs would be longer and moved up for more clearance. This would not change the look of the truck. Same with the front inner wells, raise and make them longer. Might as well push them to the firewall. The front mods are if the company makes the front clip. All i have heard is about a tub only.

Bax

 

[Madgyver]

Very interested. Hawaii=rust.

It would be sweet for the interior body parts but for the exterior I still wiil choose steel over aluminum. Steel is alot more easy to work with and at the rate I'm smashing my rig on the trails it's good to know that I can easily work out all the dents.

I may change my mind after getting a TIG welder..
Plus an aluminum shell would be expensive.........

 

[scotch]

I'll take two.
Thank you very much.

 

[va bronco]

I'd go for it but I couldn't afford the alimony & child support the wife would slap me with! I would gladly use and agree an Aluminum tub needs to be on the market. For those of us who ride the mud and sand holes, it would be great. But the rock climbers will have problems knocking the dents out perfectly. It depends on your type of riding if this would be sell worthly. On the east coast to the mid west I would agree. But the guys out west like to level out rocks( which could be fun too!).

 

[bax]

well lets see, 3 days on this site, 648 views and 28 posts. some of the posts are a "no" and some are "yes" and some think it will cost too much. The potential builder is looking at these postings and thinking????? "Yeah right I would be lucky to sell one hundred units total."
I just dont think it will happen. I would like one, but I am one of the hundred.

Bax

 

[stlkikn]

Coming from someone that has assembled some 2 dozen or so aluminum CJ5 & CJ7 and a smattering of FJs... and also having asked the major supplier of aluminum aftermarket tubs this same question many years ago.....
PLEASE make it come true!!
Aluminum J**p tubs are approx 1/3 less weight than their steel counterparts, and are 3x the thickness of material. They accept nearly every factory and aftermarket component with very little modification needed (if any) They take a hell of a lot of abuse, and come back for more!!

To those monitoring this thread.... call me at the shop sometime this week
Modern Motors... 403 253 0664 ask for Drew,
(p.s. did you know that Sonny has retired???)
Here are a couple pics of one of last years aluminum projects.... it has since been through one heck of a wreck, requiring replacement of all metal body components, but only needing one "tweak" to straighten out the left rear 1/4....

 

[70EB]

well lets see, 3 days on this site, 648 views and 28 posts. some of the posts are a "no" and some are "yes" and some think it will cost too much. The potential builder is looking at these postings and thinking????? "Yeah right I would be lucky to sell one hundred units total."
I just dont think it will happen. I would like one, but I am one of the hundred.

Bax

Bax,

You bring up a good point. I initally emailed the manufacturer and asked if they were considering the Early Bronco. They responded that they had thought about it but did not know if the market supported the amount of effort to get the product out at a decent price. The members of CB.com have voiced their opinions on Aluminum tubs before and I suggested to the manufacturer that I post the question on here and look for comments/interest, so that they could get a feel for the level of interest.

Would this be cheap? Probably not as cheap as fiberglass (more buyers + more produced = cheaper cost). Is an aluminum tub for everybody? No.

I would like to see one produced to compete with fiberglass. Steel ones that are in decent shape are fading fast. Aftermarket steel parts are questionable at best (ask people who have replaced tailight housings and rear quarters) my own "new" front fenders split at the seam by the door openings.

 

[va bronco]

Does anyone make a complete steel aftermarket tub? I haven't seen one so far.

 

[bax]

How cool would a polished tub be? Just the outside. What would be the weight difference of a steel tub vs an alunimum tub? I am thinking of a few advantages the lighter weight tub would have. The lifted EB's would have a lower center of gravity, this would help body roll, also a lighter truck would also wheel better over most conditions, not all but most. You might see some better gas mileage, not too sure about that. Rust, duh we all know that one. anyone else got any input here?

70EB. Thanks for your efforts on this idea. The dollar is the key, lets look at a jeeps body, flat sides with large radius ends,90 degree bends and not much style. Now look at a bronco, there is more detail in the tail light section than the entier jeep. I dont know what it takes to stamp out parts but I think the bronco would be twice as complex as the jeep. What does an aluminum jeep tub cost? I bet a bronco would almost double. That makes sense because they are twice as good as jeeps.(Jab) I would like to have an alunimun bronco.. It would be a stock uncut rig that I would but good parts into the frame it and keep it till I am gone. I would also like an aluminum AC Cobra too. My .02

Bax

 

[Potshot]

FWIW, I'd buy alum over fiberglass if the price were similar or even somewhat more. Does anyone know (off the top of their head) what the price difference might be for any existing model that is sold in both formats? -R

 

[70EB]

I cannot go into pricing as we still have to convince the manufacturer to look at producing it. I am going to continue to pursue this until the concept either goes forward or is killed.

For comparable pricing (found on internet):

Aluminum:

Jeep CJ-5 - Bobbed CJ-8 $2,600 - 2,800
Land Crusier Tub $2,250 - 2,600 + $2,200 for cowl/windshield.

Fiberglass:

Bronco Tub (JBG-WH) $2,995 - 3,150 tub only

Steel:

Bronco - no complete tubs currently available. Most parts available from aftermarket to construct your own steel tub but not the same OEM quality. Believe JBG had a steel body kit that you had to weld together yourself utilizing all thier aftermarket panels. Can't find it on their website anymore for pricing. Ebay had a full steel bocy being sold by someone putting them together a while ago. About $7,000 - 9,000 if I remember correctly.

 

[SteveL]

If I needed a tub, I would definately like the aluminum option. The only question here is at what price. I wouldn't pay more $ for just a tub than I could get a complete bronco for. If it climbs into the 8k range you could buy a pretty nice bronco for that

 

[Tuck]

The last catalog I have from Jeff's has the tub kit starting at $3700.

If you're looking to persuade the potential manufacturer to produce the aluminum tub, make sure he understands that although Broncos are getting harder to come by, there are still many frames out there with no tubs. If he produced the aluminum tub, folks might want to build on those frames. I suspect there would be as much interest in that as replacing rusted tubs.

 

[bax]

The last catalog I have from Jeff's has the tub kit starting at $3700.

If you're looking to persuade the potential manufacturer to produce the aluminum tub, make sure he understands that although Broncos are getting harder to come by, there are still many frames out there with no tubs. If he produced the aluminum tub, folks might want to build on those frames. I suspect there would be as much interest in that as replacing rusted tubs.

Good point Tuck. I have enough parts laying around to build another bronco including the frame. But no body, I live in fla. So what are the chances I have in finding a good rust free body around here. The truck I am building now I went to CO to get. Still some rust but not a basket case. There could be potential sales with those of us just waiting to find that good tub in the next town, lord knows we have already looked all over the town we live in.
$3700. for the steel parts and now lets get out the welder and spend a couple hundred hours welding it together. I know our labor is free but we are on earth for a limited time. Fiberglass is 3150 for just the tub , with my luck I would catch it on fire welding or something like that and it would burn to the ground. I have no problem with fiberglass it just seems like it is always cracking, or the jell coat is chiping or it needs reinforcing here and there. Fiberglass is a lot of work too., How about aluminum repair panels after we crash this aluminum tub? Oh crap here we go again. I am going to start saving my cans.
Bax

 

[broncomanbrad]

My dad would most likely get one if it was near fiberglass costs and maybe a little more. Once I'm done my fiberglass one and move on later in life I would probably get one too. I hate steel.