Body Kit Buyers Guide

Body Kit Installation Information All body kits should be test fit on the vehicle prior to any painting or paint preparation.  When dry fitting the parts your installer will be able to gauge the fitment and whether or not any additional labor will be required.  Once fitment has been confirmed as paint ready the parts can be pulled off the vehicle to be prepped for color and clear coat.  Once the items have been painted they can be installed on the vehicle for final installation.  On complete bumper replacement kits we suggest that the installer fabricate some additional support brackets to better support the bottom of the bumpers as they are lower than a stock bumper and not all of the original bumpers hardware will be compatible.  Keep in mind when purchasing a body kit that the parts are not OEM from the vehicle manufacturer and may require slight modifications to achieve an OEM quality installation.  When selecting a body shop to do your installation and paint work make sure to shop around and find which shops in your area are doing the local area custom car work.  Collision repair shops are often the last place to contract to do this type of work as they are accustomed to OEM parts and use strict labor time guidelines allocated per job.

Fiberglass Body Kits Fiberglass body kits typically take the most amount of labor to fit to the vehicle as well as painting and finishing.  Fiberglass parts usually require some amount of trimming and filling as well as block sanding the entire surface to make sure that it is perfectly flat as a wavy finish will reflect in the painted finish.  The more time spent on the preparation the better the paint job will be.

Premium Fiberglass Body Kits Premium Fiberglass body kits such as Duraflex, AIT Racing, VIS Racing, and VFiber offer additional properties that bring the quality up from a standard fiberglass kit yet retain the low price and value associated with fiberglass manufacturing.  These brands introduce properties not found in standard fiberglass manufacturing such as high flexibility and impact resistance.  Traditional fiberglass is prone to cracking when twisted as well as shattering upon impact.  Installation procedure will be comparable to fiberglass and will still require some amount of body work and fitting.

Urethane Body Kits Urethane body kits are highly flexible and extremely durable for daily driven vehicles.  The downfall to urethane products is the expensive price typically 60% more than a fiberglass based product, as well as the small selection, and the heavy weight of the parts.  Installation of urethane parts is typically a straight bolt on procedure but may require that additional brackets are added to eliminate sag.

ABS Body Kits ABS body kits are usually reserved for add on lip kits and spoilers.  These parts are comparable with urethane in cost but are not nearly as heavy and have properties comparable to plastic household items.  Installation typically just requires that the parts are lightly sanded and then can be primered and painted and then installed on the vehicle.