Fiberglass TJ Hood - Good Idea or Not?

I'm in the process of re-doing the front suspension on my TJ and going to coil-overs. It currently has regular tube fenders in the front, but I'm looking for a little more up-travel. One option is a high-line type fender, but the other option I'm considering is the She-J fiberglass hood/fender combo: http://teamshe-j.com/Parts.html

It would be a lot cheaper than high-line fenders and the few I've seen look really nice. However, I'm a little concerned about how well it would hold up for Eastern wheeling. Obviously if I lay it over into a tree it's not going to be a good thing, but maybe it's worth the risk to give it a try. I could buy a couple replacements for the cost of new high line fenders.

Anyone running something like this and how is it holding up?

Re:

I wanted to do this to mine one day.

I have a fiberglass hood with scoop. I like it even though its a little heavy. I dont run any fenders so the tires just touch on full compression and has held up well so far. My only complaint is the previous owner did not get it slick before painting.

i know that years ago a guy named Chris Durham made a really nice hood for TJ's he has been on quite a few Ultimate Adventures and is located in South Carolina...however i am not really sure if he still does these hoods or not. this was the hood i was going to go with before i got into the buggy stuff. if i remember correctly this hood can be bent and twisted on itself and is not supposed to break. I have always thought it was one of the better looking and i think he did crowls and grills too. May be what you are looking for.


https://chrisdurham.wordpress.com/category/chris-durham-hoods/

If I were in your shoes, I would cut my stock hood to accommodate hi-lines and raise your current tube fenders up. It will take a little fabrication, but it is possible.

ftoy516 said:

i know that years ago a guy named Chris Durham made a really nice hood for TJ's he has been on quite a few Ultimate Adventures and is located in South Carolina...however i am not really sure if he still does these hoods or not. this was the hood i was going to go with before i got into the buggy stuff. if i remember correctly this hood can be bent and twisted on itself and is not supposed to break. I have always thought it was one of the better looking and i think he did crowls and grills too. May be what you are looking for.


https://chrisdurham.wordpress.com/category/chris-durham-hoods/

Click to expand...

He still sells them. I actually picked up one the other day for Mizerak1's TJ he is building.

thanks for the info.
i am glad to know that he is still doing them, if i get a wild hair in the future!
they are nice for sure

They will hold up fine. Fiberglass is what virtually every buggy out there runs.

They can break, sure...but you can fix them with some glass work.

You would be surprised though, a lot of times they just flex and then go right back to where they were. they are a lot more forgiving than steel hoods.

You will have to fab up hood pins though. Your stock latch setup wont work unless you want some bolts sticking out the top of your hood

i cut 3 inches off of my hood made my own hiline fenders

My brother modified mine to be more highlinish...

slravenel said:

They will hold up fine. Fiberglass is what virtually every buggy out there runs.

They can break, sure...but you can fix them with some glass work.

You would be surprised though, a lot of times they just flex and then go right back to where they were. they are a lot more forgiving than steel hoods.

You will have to fab up hood pins though. Your stock latch setup wont work unless you want some bolts sticking out the top of your hood

Click to expand...

Thanks, that one of the things I was wondering around how much "flex" they would have, and it sounds like the aren't just like glass that will break when you touch it Was planning on hood pins already, when I rebuilt this one I used a grill from a 97 which doesn't match the center latch set-up on my later year hood, so the only thing holding it now is the rubber strap.

I've also thought about hi-lining the existing tube fenders as a couple you guys showed, but it's not my first choice for a few reasons:

1. The tube fenders came on the Jeep when I bought it, so I have no real cost tied up in them. I can sell the unmolested fenders to someone for a decent price that will actually cover most of the cost for a hood.
2. It will take more work to mod the fenders and cut the existing hood than it would to attach a new hood.
3. My current hood has a Poison Spyder hood louver, as well as some Genright louvers (~4"x12") on the outside edges. I'm trying to fit 14x2.5 Fox C/O's in this build and there's probably a decent chance that the will stick above the hood since the 2.5's are ~ 3" longer than a comparable 2.0 C/O. It will be my luck that the hole needed for the shocks won't line up with the outside louver holes and the extra hole will look like ass.
4. I can recoup additional $ if I sell the hood and/or the PS louver - but I'll probably hold onto it in case the fiberglass doesn't work as planned.

Appreciate the inputs, just one more thing to ponder over on this build

giles45shop said:

Thanks, that one of the things I was wondering around how much "flex" they would have, and it sounds like the aren't just like glass that will break when you touch it Was planning on hood pins already, when I rebuilt this one I used a grill from a 97 which doesn't match the center latch set-up on my later year hood, so the only thing holding it now is the rubber strap.

Click to expand...

Does this answer your question? This is some excess cut off of one of the SHE-J setups



Its pretty tough and flexible stuff. It will break...but leaning over into a tree usually isnt enough to do it...especially if there is room for the glass to move.

slravenel said:

Does this answer your question? This is some excess cut off of one of the SHE-J setups

Its pretty tough and flexible stuff. It will break...but leaning over into a tree usually isnt enough to do it...especially if there is room for the glass to move.

Click to expand...

I think that answers the question! I called Chris Durham this afternoon and he has them in stock - $375 plus shipping - only bad thing was shipping was ~$130 May have to make a road trip or talk one of my buddies into picking one up for me when they go north.

giles45shop said:

I think that answers the question! I called Chris Durham this afternoon and he has them in stock - $375 plus shipping - only bad thing was shipping was ~$130 May have to make a road trip or talk one of my buddies into picking one up for me when they go north.

Click to expand...

Where are they located? I go up north a few times a year.

I dont run fenders. Picked up a large piece of old swimming pool liner, cut, screwed, and zip tied it in place. Works great and looks good after getting painted.

Giles45, I have a small build thread in the tech section that shows how to high line a stock hood.

5BrothersFabrication said:

Where are they located? I go up north a few times a year.

Click to expand...

Not very north for you - Chris Durham Motorsports is in Pickens SC. The problem is getting it back down to Tampa where I'm at. No big deal, I'll either just pay for the shipping or maybe get a wild hair and do a road trip. My buddies have a place in Blairsville, so I might make a venture out of it.

sledneck said:

Giles45, I have a small build thread in the tech section that shows how to high line a stock hood.

Click to expand...

Thank! Took a look at that to get some ideas. It's certainly a possibility, just trying to decide which way I want to go with it. I'm probably getting a little ahead of myself, as I need to figure out the details on getting the shocks mounted and the frame extended well before I start thinking too much the hood

This is a Durham hood on my TJ...

That Tj flows good. Looks sweet