After Market body parts opinions

[quilbilly]

Well, the saga continues. My truck has been in the frame shop and is nearing the point where I take over again. I am going to be needing stock body parts, fender, valance, grill, bumper, light surrounds, trim, etc. and haven't had much luck getting them used. They are either not available because they want to sell the whole nose complete or they aren't available because the truck is in the wrecking yard from being wrecked, duh. In any case I have heard there is a wide range of non-MOPAR quality in such parts. I have been told many are very light weight and poor fitting. Does anybody have any preferences in non dealer body parts. Thanks Todd

 

[HBarlow]

quilbilly:



I damaged the tailgate of the 1994 Ford F250HD I owned before my Dodge Ram. I couldn't find a salvage yard takeoff so let the salvage yard talk me into purchasing an aftermarket replacement. The price was right and the salvage yard assured me it was of the same quality as the OEM.



It turned out to be a mistake. The aftermarket replacement was thinner, weaker metal and some of the parts that were transferred from the original didn't fit correctly. The replacement easily bent when heavy objects were placed on the tailgate when in the open or horizontal position. It was probably stamped out in Communist China.



My experience occurred about six years ago and quality could have improved but I probably wouldn't do it again on a truck I intended to keep.



Harvey

 

[jrobinson2]

I have a cheap aftermarket hood on my 92 F250, the fit is fine but it is a little thinner than OEM and dents quite easy. I would not use the cheap steel parts on a nice truck. My brother has installed quite a few of the cheap fenders and hoods on older trucks that guys are cleaning up with a cheap paint job for basic work or hunting rigs and they work fine in that application. The cheap tailgates I've seen have not been worth using in any application, total junk. All the cheap plastic parts I have used have been great quality, I have installed tail light lenses, headlight Assembly's, grills, headlight doors, Ect, and they all looked and fit like OEM at about half the price.

Jared

 

[quikshft]

Most repro sheet metal seems to manufactured offshore, fit and finish are questionable, and as has been noted the material may be lighter guage than stock.

Another thing to consider is that the chances of getting the stuff to you without damage by the delivery gorillas is minimal. Don't ask me how I know. Actually my brother and I ordered some piecses from JC Whitney for an old GMC pickup... . they didn't even want the damaged fender back, just sent another one. Finally the third one arrived with just one small dent and we figured we could tap it out and fill it with less strife than another attempt at bringing in an undamaged piece. What a pain!

 

[RDBuck]

new door

Bought an aftermarket door. Fit was bad and door was much lighter than original. Took it off and bought original door from Chrysler. Fit perfect! Well worth the extra $100.

 

[Scot]

I would go with good used stuff if available. Diesel and gas fit back into the early '80's. The core support is unique to intercooled trucks and quite rare. With the price I was quoted, I just spent the hours and worked it out. I did use an aftermarket valance and it was thinner. The aftermarket grill seemed to be more brittle than it should be. I cracked it around one of the screws.