jc whitney fiberglass jeep body

any body have any issues with jc whitney fiberglass cj5 tubs any idea who supplies them

I've seen them, and they aren't the best quality. Single wall, little reinforcement (cardboard) in the floors, no reinforcement in the firewall where the pedals attach. They are cheap because they are cheap. I have no idea who makes them.

My 'glass body is from 4WD Hardware, all the sides are double wall with foam between, the floors and fenders are reinforced with marine grade plywood, and there's a steel plate in the firewall on the drivers side for the pedals. I've had it since 1985. The only 2 issues I've had were that the front body mounts needed reinforcement (sagged after a couple of years), and one leg of the drivers seat pushed thru the floor (after 20 years of hard 'wheeling). A little glass mat and resin, and a small steel plate fixed that.

Like anything else, you get what you pay for. Everyone pays about the same for materials, so the added expense is more materials and time, giving you a better fit and finish, and a longer lasting product.

Bob
tufcj

thanks for the input do you think it would be over redundant to mold in some metal panels underneath in the body mounting areas and up top in the seat mount areas? I also will be cutting the the stock firewall plate and graft that on for added strength in pedal areas

That's what I did with the front mount on mine. On the seats, I added 2 extra crossbars to the frame, and bolted the seats to those, along with a 1/8" plate about 3"x3" on the inside. If you do anything that may produce a violent roll, you want the cage, seats, and seat belts tied to the frame. You can tie the seats and belts to the cage if it's tied to the frame. My CJ is a rockcrawler, so everything is tied to the frame. It's survived one easy upside down roll with only scratches to the paint, and a broken windshield and windshield frame.

Bob
tufcj