Body Kit Materials ... What's the difference?
 

I was looking at various body kits and I noticed that almost all the kits are made of fiberglass, polyurethane, carbon fiber or FRP. What are the advantages/disadvantages of each? What material would be best for a daily driver?

Urethane will be the best for an everyday driving car because it is much more flexible. Carbon fiber and fiberglass will crack much easier.

Urethane is also heavier, will flex a lot, and can become brittle in the cold, and very soft thus becoming very prone to warping in the heat. Which also can lead to paint chipping. It can be broken, and once it's broken, it cannot be repaired.

FRP (fiberglass) is lightweight, and is somewhat flexible, however it depends upon the manufacturer, as there are many various grades. It is repairable, and can even be fixed yourself. It is easier to break compared to Urethane.

Carbon Fiber is just like FRP. Except if you break it, you might have to paint over the carbon fiber, once you repair it.

If your going for a full bumper replacement then get FRP. If your going for an aesthetic enhancement such as a lip, then go for Urethane.

My car is a daily driver that is parked outside most of the time. How do I tell if a fiberglass kit is a good kit. I realize that anything hit or scaped hard enough will break, will a fiberglass bumper survive daily life on the street or will I be worried about someone sneezing on it and breaking it?

How bad does urethane warp? I'm thinking that might be a problem out here in CA.

Looked at CF also, but don't know if my car will look ugly with a CF body kit.

Go with urethane. Urethane is not neccessarily heavier than fiberglass. There are more chance that you will need to get your kit repainted or replaced if you go with fiberglass. Some manufactuers use different grades of fiberglass. If you compare a Cwest FRP bumper to a Kaminari urethane bumper, I guarentee you the Cwest bumper will be a lot heavier. I work at abody shop and trust me, stick with urethane. If you do decide to go with FRP, dont go with replicas or knockoffs because the quality is such a big difference, for FRP stick to big names like Veilside, CWest, Amuse, etc.

ProjectAlpha,

Would a body shop charge more to work with urethane vs fiberglass? I'm expecting the cost of prepping, painting and installation to be about $1200.

Al

If its a fiberglass, full bumper replacement, yea, expect about 1200 but if the kit doesnt fit right and they have to modify it just to fit(every single replica or knockoff kit Ive done did not fit and had to be modified to fit) they will charge a little more. A urethane bumper replacement kit will probably run you a couple hundred more depending on which shop you go to. Working on urethane depends on the shop. We charge a little more working on urethane kits because we send them out to a thrid party for part of the preperation.

Fiberglass is a flaming pain for daily driving man. I got an INGs kit Hybrid Aero. I've already cracked it in a few places and having it repaired. The thing is the cracks were caused by garbage on the road or simply curvy intersections. And on a side note revival of dead threads is fun.

I do love talking about things that were talked about 5 years ago. :icon14:

I only rock body kits made of aluminum siding.