Fiberglass Side Skirts with Urethane Bumpers

I was wondering if it's ethical to get fiberglass sideskirts with urethane bumpers. I know urathane is more durable but also more expensive and I figure chances are, you probably wont bump into anything from the side. Would there be a dramatic difference intexture or appearance? or fitting? Was thinking about getting the Bomex kit btw.

[cficare68]

No you wont be able tell the difference. And good luck finding a bomex kit that is urathane i have searched for one and all i can find is fiberglass. The only kit that i found in Urathane is the blitz kit

[Shpyder]

Get urethane. If Bomex only comes in fiberglass, forget the kit altogether. Its really not worth the hassle by going with fiberglass, if all it takes is a single mistake to screw it up. Fiberglass side skirts and rear bumpers are still okay, but its a much better idea to have a front that urethane. I have a urethane front lip (see sig) that bends a 180 degree angle, just like rubber, and easy fitment...

[cficare68]

Yeah urethane is really flexible. My buddy bought a urethane front bumper for his GTS Celica and when it arrived it was in the shape of a barrell. After he cut the strings i popped out and looked exactly how it was suppose to

[Shpyder]

The only potential downside to getting urethane, IMO, are:

1) Getting urethane painted may be slightly more expensive than fiberglass. This is because a flex agent may need to be added to the paint mix for the paint to withstand the bending and flexing of the urethane material. I sprayed off-the-shelf Kragen paint ($3 a can) with a clear coat on my plastic side mirrors, and the paint has held up excellent since the past 2 months, through rain and shine. I also sprayed the lip (in the sig), though the absence of a flex additive and a few scrapes caused the red to flake everywhere, so I currently have a red and black front lip. lol. Fiberglass is so easy to paint.

2) Waves. Strong sun causes waves to form along a flat and thin surface of the urethane. Though noticable only up close, larger pieces may become riddled with ripples of distortion over time, and that never looks good. Not much of an issue with most body kits though, because most are so busy with vents and cuts, that there really are no large, flat pieces for waves to become rather obvious over. Fiberglass stays pretty much the same.

3) Molding. You can go nuts customizing and molding fiberglass to fit to your exact specs. Urethane is so bendy, that molding /cojoining it to a non-moving body will still leave the two as separate identities. One flex from the urethane will split the mold / bondo at the seams. This is only a concern if you plan to "shave" stuff, etc, because a "bolt-on" kit item made of urethane is flexible enough to give you slack wherever you need the bolts to go.

Fiberglass is the best option for certain things, such as custom system enclosures, prototype body kits, etc. However, the front of the car gets into trouble the most...from pot-holes to parking lot dips, OEM bumpers take a beating because of their plastic material. Fiberglass is extremely unforgiving, and all its takes is one miscalculation, to send a hairline fracture throughout the length of its material, minimum. Side skirts and rear bumpers often see little action, so taking a risk with those is easier, but for a fron bumper, urethane is the only way to go for, especially if the ride is lowered.

Ok, this is what I want to do, urathane Torque front, Bomex rear with Razzi sides. Would fitment be a big issue?

Also, what is your opinion on Polyfiber?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...RK%3AMEWA%3AIT

[Shpyder]

Fitment for the urethane front should be easy. And I've never heard of polyfiber before. If its anything like fiberglass, itll require some molding to fit.