ABS vs. Fiberglass vs. Urethane vs. Duraflex

[CabC2]

I am thinking on upgrading the standard look of my 99c2 cab with front and rear bumpers, and possibly side skirts. After searching for the usual suspects, I did not find any clear comparison between materials. I have found the following materials for after market pieces:

- ABS

- Fiberglass

- Urethane

- Duraflex

ABS being the cheaper one, and the other 3 oscillating depending on maker etc.

What are your thoughts on what route to go? Obviously looking for the right balance expenditure/result/car is not worth much this days. Planning to keep it for 2 or 3 years, very happy with it.

I am gearing towards a gt3 setup, similar to what alter_schwede has (lookup registry). Very nice. My car is Artic Silver and boxter red.

Cheers all.

[phillipj]

Only thing I have heard is that some plastic's can be very heavy and cannot be fixed if damaged. The fiberglass is very light and can be repaired. I guess this all depends on the type of plastic used.

I have had both on previous cars. I found them both to look great (they were done by previous owners.) I'm sure some other members here can give more detailed feedback.

Good luck!

[JeTexas]

I had aftermarket urethane ground effects (Saleen) on my 87 Mustang, and they still looked great 8 years later when I sold the car.

IMO fiberglass usually arrives the mostly poorly formed, needs the most prep work and has a tendency to crack. But on the other hand, it's not too hard to cut and modify and can be repaired.

[violaGT3]

I am thinking on upgrading the standard look of my 99c2 cab with front and rear bumpers, and possibly side skirts. After searching for the usual suspects, I did not find any clear comparison between materials. I have found the following materials for after market pieces:

- ABS

- Fiberglass

- Urethane

- Duraflex

ABS being the cheaper one, and the other 3 oscillating depending on maker etc.

What are your thoughts on what route to go? Obviously looking for the right balance expenditure/result/car is not worth much this days. Planning to keep it for 2 or 3 years, very happy with it.

I am gearing towards a gt3 setup, similar to what alter_schwede has (lookup registry). Very nice. My car is Artic Silver and boxter red.

Cheers all.

Well you have to decide first what you need from the lot. Myself I would lean towards duraflex or eurathane as they flex the most and my car is very low and in flood states (KS) all the roads have a channeling effect. But they have their drawbacks as PJ mentioned for the most part they cannot be repaired as they flex more than the repair and will break again. and well ABS should never be used IMO tough yea, heavy yea, warps in season change and heat Yea. Fiber again as mentioned by PJ unless bought from a reputable manufacturer usually envolves 3-6 hours fit and prep time, but it is solid state, it'll go 20 years, no prob. but in time 20+yrs. it will spider web a little under the paint, now that is an easy, easy, fix at the time of repaint and it does not do it so much as in the past. Lastly it can be repaired, to as good as new in most cases, but sometimes the repair time make it a new case as it would cost more to pay for the labor. But all that being said Look at the TOP ie $$$$$ manufacturers and see what materials they use. Eurathanes and the other plastic variations were put into place as a money saver for mass production, a good mold and gel coat and your ready to paint, for track purpouses fabulous, turn and burn. They have improved the durability and warping with variations like FRP which takes a good plastic clean finish and gives it light rigidity by coating the back in fiber. Also with molds you have lines, even fiber molds, but with the plastic ones you have discrete warps around them and it is costly to have them smooth/erased, fiber it is 1,2,3.

Now with all this knowledge forsaken just go buy something that looks really cool to you! HTH

[phillipj]

Thanks Viola,

Now I learned something as well! :D

Edited December 11, 2008 by phillipj

[CabC2]

I am thinking on upgrading the standard look of my 99c2 cab with front and rear bumpers, and possibly side skirts. After searching for the usual suspects, I did not find any clear comparison between materials. I have found the following materials for after market pieces:

- ABS

- Fiberglass

- Urethane

- Duraflex

ABS being the cheaper one, and the other 3 oscillating depending on maker etc.

What are your thoughts on what route to go? Obviously looking for the right balance expenditure/result/car is not worth much this days. Planning to keep it for 2 or 3 years, very happy with it.

I am gearing towards a gt3 setup, similar to what alter_schwede has (lookup registry). Very nice. My car is Artic Silver and boxter red.

Cheers all.

Well you have to decide first what you need from the lot. Myself I would lean towards duraflex or eurathane as they flex the most and my car is very low and in flood states (KS) all the roads have a channeling effect. But they have their drawbacks as PJ mentioned for the most part they cannot be repaired as they flex more than the repair and will break again. and well ABS should never be used IMO tough yea, heavy yea, warps in season change and heat Yea. Fiber again as mentioned by PJ unless bought from a reputable manufacturer usually envolves 3-6 hours fit and prep time, but it is solid state, it'll go 20 years, no prob. but in time 20+yrs. it will spider web a little under the paint, now that is an easy, easy, fix at the time of repaint and it does not do it so much as in the past. Lastly it can be repaired, to as good as new in most cases, but sometimes the repair time make it a new case as it would cost more to pay for the labor. But all that being said Look at the TOP ie $$$$$ manufacturers and see what materials they use. Eurathanes and the other plastic variations were put into place as a money saver for mass production, a good mold and gel coat and your ready to paint, for track purpouses fabulous, turn and burn. They have improved the durability and warping with variations like FRP which takes a good plastic clean finish and gives it light rigidity by coating the back in fiber. Also with molds you have lines, even fiber molds, but with the plastic ones you have discrete warps around them and it is costly to have them smooth/erased, fiber it is 1,2,3.

Now with all this knowledge forsaken just go buy something that looks really cool to you! HTH

Thanks a lot! This answers a lot of the questions I had. Basically, Fiber if I want to go through the trouble/expense of fitting and such. Otherwise, urethane serves fine too.

Regarding the look, I am looking for an updated look, more than a "heavy" look. In my humble opinion, many of the kits make the cabs "bottom part heavy", although they work very well on coupes.