Fiberglass or Urethane [Merged 7-9] polyurethane poly

[Redpest850]

Alright, i don't want this to be a flame war thread. But I want to change the look of my DSM, also, my bumpers are a little messed up as is- and i don't really like the 2ga front smiley face. I'm just curious which would be the better choice. I know the good things about fiberglass is that it's lightweight, easy to shave to make it fit perfect on the car, and variety of kits to choose from bodykit makers. Bad thing is fiberglass can break or shatter easily- i don't plan on wrecking into someone, but i'm afraid if someone hits me. As for polyurethane... it is really strong, won't break as easily, and usually is made to fit perfectly when shipped- without having to shave anything. Bad things are it's heavier than fiberglass, and there isn't many different kits to choose from that are polyurethane- only like 3. The weight of the kits doesn't really bother me. It's just i don't want the bumpers to break if something or someone were to hit it and also i like some of the fiberglass bumpers that are made, but only if they were made in polyurethane. Also, i HAVE been thinking about getting the 97-99 bumpers, but i want something that'll stand out a little. So... I like the durability of polyurethane...but i like the selection for fiberglass. I don't know what to get, a little help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[HighPsi92GST]

the good and the bad -

urethane - not many kits, still not garunteed to fit and if they dont fit, your screwed pretty much, when they crack, they are harder to fix, and they cost alot
however, they DONT break as easy as fiberglass

fiberglass - sure it might break easier, but its real easy to work with and fix being you can just glass it back together, they are cheaper, easier to find, and more of a selection

id personally go with fiberglass just because of the "easy to work with" idea. iv had experience with both types of kits, and fiberglass was much more user friendly

 

[greyforestgst]

i vote urethane, since front bumpers bottom out a lot on dsms (especially with a drop), and fiberglass bumpers do not hold up to that.

 

[paranoidTSi]

fiberglass..yes it might be a pain in the ass to angle everywhere you go, but the price difference would make me want to go with fiberglass anyway.

 

[eclipse0508]

i am looking to buy a kit soon, and i want good fitment from the factory..........i wanna try and do this install myself...........can someone explain these two materials to me...........

thanks..........

 

[igopoopy]

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=138110&highlight=fiberglass+urethane
http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137848&highlight=fiberglass+urethane

 

[river]

hey man, ive done both urethane and fiberglass now and i would much rather go with fiberglass. they do crack if you hit something, but you just get a "repair kit" and take your time with it and it will look brand new. urethane is much harder to work with and much more expensive to fix. it is harder to match lines up with and no possible way to trim it and make it fit perfectly on your car. i would for sure suggest going with a fiberglass kit myself. just make sure that if you have a fiberglass kit that you dont lower your car too much and hit speed bumps and driveways and all. that becomes a pain and makes it look crappy too. the worst thing about fiberglass is that if you hit something and put pressure on the fiberglass piece, the paint will spiderweb and you have to sand it all down and gel coat it again, or use alot of sandable filler/primer. urethane just tears, cracks, whatever...you fix it and dont have to sand the whole piece down again to avoid the spiderwebbing. hope this makes sense to you. just go do what you want without regret, its the only real way to learn things! later man.

 

[eclipse0508]

thanks for all your input river..............it helped alot. I am going to go with fiberglass. What do you think about the blitz kit??? I know alot of people have it, but it just looks so sweet..............

 

[river]

i have a blitz kit now that you mention it! i love it! actually, i used blitz side skirts and a buddy club/blitz rear cause i love the whole "diffuser" look on the rear! check it out man! check ya later bro.

 

[Eclipsemblue]

i beg to differ, urethane blitz had popped right in for my car no problem, drilled holes painted it and was done within 1hr 30min. I tried fiber glass and it was hell i had to shave the thing sand it, melt it, mold it. I eventually burned it i got so pissed at it. Fiber Glass maybe easier to mold and work with but Urethane can take a harder beating, its like the stock front bumper plastic on the eclipse.

 

[lasteclispe]

i beg to differ, urethane blitz had popped right in for my car no problem, drilled holes painted it and was done within 1hr 30min. I tried fiber glass and it was hell i had to shave the thing sand it, melt it, mold it. I eventually burned it i got so pissed at it. Fiber Glass maybe easier to mold and work with but Urethane can take a harder beating, its like the stock front bumper plastic on the eclipse.

yea it can take a harder beaing but what happens when it cracks? ...thats the prob i have right now with my stock bumper. it cracked and i cant find ANY info on how to fix it. i will just have to buy a new bumper it looks like.... if i was u i would go with fiberglass because these is not way to fix that urethane sh!t.

 

[river]

well, it can be repaired, almost as easily as fiberglass...look at the link

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99912

its all just preferance and budget. i prefer fiberglass and i have had both. urethane is more durable, yet less variety. fiberglass will always be cheaper and have a bit more pieces available. its up to you man. do whatever you think is best. you cant really go wrong either way. i suggest the full blitz kit tho! peace man.

 

[Thomas91169]

after doing a little glassing myself, i would suggest fiberglass. id like to take a figerglass mold of the stock front bumper and add a little to it to make it even with the times but not ricey, just even more agressive look to it. you can repair fiberglass if you have some sandpaper and patience.urethane you need one of those plastic melters/welders that add a bead of melted plastic/urethane to the crack to "weld" it together. you will still have to sand that.

 

[jessebenner]

I've had both on my car (front bumpers), and will not buy another fiberglass kit. But it's just a preference. Urethane repair can easily be done as well. It is much less likely to break, but of course it can be damaged just like anything else. I think it also has to do with the roads in your area, how low your car is, and how much you really drive it.

 

[HighPsi92GST]

iv had both, and kitted cars with both types, and my customers that go with urethane usually say they wish they would have gone glass.

urethane of course is less likly to break, but if the kit doesnt fit when you get it, your looking at a bit of work to get it to fit and most likly work you will not be able to do yourself.
fiberglass on the other hand is a much more user friendly material, and anyone who wants to argue that most likly never did much body work.

 

[jessebenner]

Yea, 'glass is easier to work. My urethane bumper fit like a glove, whereas my fiberglass bumber had a million pin holes in it and needed a lot of prep work before it was painted. It just depends on who you get your stuff from and the quality of the pieces. But all else being equal (fitment and all), I'd take urethane over fiberglass any day.

 

[broox]

I've got some serious bumper issues... but for now let's start with my front fiberglass blitz bumper. About a year ago I was backing up and clipped a snow covered curb (picture: http://derek.broox.com/?pictures&album=34&pic=844). Obviously broken pretty good. Then this past Fall, my mechanic hit the curb in front of his office (picture: http://derek.broox.com/?pictures&album=34&pic=845). THEN a few weeks later a lady backed into me in a parking lot - crunching the side of the bumper (picture: http://derek.broox.com/?pictures&album=34&pic=660). So now I've got a bumper broken in 3 places and stress cracks EVERYWHERE.

Insurance paid for a new bumper - I decided to get urethane. My urethane bumper came in and it's all torn up. I mean, it's seriously bad. The company wouldn't do anything about it, they just turned it into DHL and I got a check for the cost of the bumper (minus shipping). Here are the pictures:

http://derek.broox.com/?pictures&album=34&pic=846 - chunk broken off
http://derek.broox.com/?pictures&album=34&pic=847 - tear under missing chunk
http://derek.broox.com/?pictures&album=34&pic=848 - tear below the headlight
http://derek.broox.com/?pictures&album=34&pic=849 - big tear underneath

So now I've got 2 really busted up bumpers. I'd like to try to fix the urethane one because I don't really trust anyone else to send me a quality product (plus I've got nothing to lose). I've even done some research finding that people are using epoxy, urethane filler, fiberglass (which is weaker than urethane), dura-mix (which requires an expensive gun), and also air welding (which also requires an expensive gun). Resource Links:

http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153169 - melting, fiberglass
http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99912 - fiberglass fix
http://dsmtuners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=127890 - duramix, epoxy, filler

I just don't know what to do now - I'm getting so frustrated. Your opinions/suggestions/comments would be great.

 

[GeneralChaos]

Fiberglass isnt that hard to fix usually, but everyone says urethane is a PITA


bumpers arent that expensive are they? seems like you could buy a new one for a decent price, especially since you got the money back.

 

[broox]

Yeah, I just don't think I want to buy another body kit part again. I have had terrible luck with them. If I can't make this bumper work, I'll probably try to find some 97-99 OEM eclipse bumpers and skirts or something.

 

[Sic95gst]

what r u worried about if you got a check from DHL just either buy a new one or find a used OEM from a 97-99. Don't worry about fixing those other 2 just get one that is fine.

 

[GeneralChaos]

what r u worried about if you got a check from DHL just either buy a new one or find a used OEM from a 97-99. Don't worry about fixing those other 2 just get one that is fine.

I kind of agree here.

You are just having some bad luck dude. Back in the day when I was into body kits and stuff I had one on my cavalier with no problems for a year, then some idiot pulled out infront of me and totaled the car. just watch where you park and where you are going.

As for the urethane coming cracked...that really surprises me. That stuff bends like crazy I dont see how that happened.

If I was you id either order another urethane kit from a different company, or if they are available try finding a blue class kit, you can almost twist those 180 degrees sometimes without damaging it.

 

[JST2FST]

you may also wanna try selling your busted bumpers on ebay, im sure someone will buy them and fix them, that way you have a little extra money so you can pay for the shipping of your new bumper.

 

[n0c7]

With a 2 inch drop on my car and a very low kit, I have to anually touchup my kit as its banged to shit after the summer season of daily driving. I have an entire fiberglass kit. It's really not that hard to fix.

1) Use some coarse grit sand paper and clean up the damaged area
2) Get some fibreglass(hair strand style) and a can of resin
3) Lay the fibreglass where you want to rejoin or rebuild, mix your resin, take a paintbrush that you don't need and dab the resin into the fiberglass and let it absorb.
4) Put enough layers until you are happy (2-3 seems to work for me)
5) Wait and wait and wait for it to dry
6) Putty it
7) Sand
8) Spot putty
9) Sand
10) primer
11) sand
12) paint


It's really not alot of work and its fairly inexpensive. This is just a broad description of what to do. I havent tackled a urethane bumper before, but I would assume the process would not be alot different except for the rejoining part.

 

[broox]

Yeah I can't figure out why the urethane cracked and tore like that. What would ever cause urethane to tear???

Even if I do fix it, I'm almost worried it'll happen again. Like I said, I'm also worried about ordering a new one, the aftermarket body kit quality just isn't anything near OEM. I've seen a lot of urethane bumpers sag underneath the headlights, etc.

 

[420a16g]

Basically i just dont think your car is meant to have a body kit. its not in your cards. you should just go with a stock 2g bumper. I know its not as flashy but they are super durable and it takes a shit ton to break one.

p.s. i would be getttin a new mechanic if i was you... :thumbdown