Hey Rbuddy. Welcome to the next addiction! I say "next" because you say you already have been into Mustangs so you know how most of it goes.
Seems like much of the trouble had with any old vehicle goes double for Broncos sometimes.%)
Most of us vendors sell other people's product, such as Dynacorn and others, as well as stuff we have made specifically for us due to some lack in the other companies offerings.
I don't even know if Dennis Carpenter owns their own stamping plants in China for the basic stuff, or just contracts to whoever has the best price. But some of their products at least are actually made from original Ford dies. That's one of their claim's to fame in fact. Unfortunately neither guarantees anything, like you were already discussing. We've even had members here with NOS front fenders that did not fit for crap.
There's good and bad enough to go around.
Some of us have some sheet metal panels made for us custom by small shops in the US, and even imported from overseas too I by now would imagine. We have our thicker floor panels made for us here because we weren't happy with the fit or robustness of the standard stuff. Not that ours always fit perfect either (and a simple floor panel at that!) but sometimes it's actually the inconsistencies in the Broncos themselves to blame.
Not always of course...
But often enough to take the heat off of us now and then.;D
Can you say "stacked tolerances" here? We sure run into those more often with Broncos than we should.
Most of our body panels (the ones we don't have made specifically) are just sourced from who we've had the best luck with, quality-wise. We'd love to base it on price too, but can't afford to. Body panels are not cheap to ship, or re-ship back to us if they are junk, so we stick with who is most consistent and gives the best feedback from our customers when they go to install the part.
Which is why we have quite the eclectic mix of vendors for body parts.
Sometimes that's a Scott Drake part, other times it's a Dennis Carpenter part, and others it's a Dynacorn. And still others it's some relative unknown that has a good product.
Interestingly enough, in the non-body part category, a part that we get from Dynacorn instead of the usual parts suspects are the door latches of all things!
We tried the others and found them lacking. But Dynacorn's were the best, at just slightly higher cost and we just stopped using the others.
As with anything sourced from mysterious unknown sources from overseas, eventually we run into parts that may seem like they come from a known vendor, when in fact they get them from several different factories themselves!
We keep trying to narrow it down, but may never get every single source nailed down to the one and only that will always send out a perfect part.
But we keep trying!
Anyway, keep doing just what you did here, and for just about every purchase you make ask other members just who's had good (or bad) luck with any particular part. Worth it for most stuff these days.
That practice should serve you well for your project.
Good luck. And have fun!
Paul
