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Metal replacement tubs recommendations

SCRAMBLER 401

Member
City
Marshfield
State
Ma
Anyone have experience with the alumni tubs I have a Juan one currently the body mounts above fuel tank are 3” off so I had to fabricate extensions of original & add a crossmember in front of the one the fuel & brake lines are attached to no threads for dash or windshield had through bolt pretty sad gonna run it till it rusts out probably not long it’s raptor lined in & out so we’ll see I guess
 

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DirtyB

Crazy Cajun
Lifetime Member
City
Port Allen
State
LA
I mounted my Juan tub a few months ago and everything lined up just about perfect! I was waiting a bit before reporting back to the forum to see if any other problems cropped up, but so far I've only had to drill a few additional holes. Really. Did I just get lucky? This was a tub directly shipped from Juan. No "aftermarket fixes". It's been great so far.
 

SCRAMBLER 401

Member
City
Marshfield
State
Ma
I mounted my Juan tub a few months ago and everything lined up just about perfect! I was waiting a bit before reporting back to the forum to see if any other problems cropped up, but so far I've only had to drill a few additional holes. Really. Did I just get lucky? This was a tub directly shipped from Juan. No "aftermarket fixes". It's been great so far.
. On mine the mounts above fuel tank are 3” off forwards had to weld extensions on dash & windshield mounts not threaded won’t buy another
 

Dave The Sparky

Rebuilding my CJ8 very,very slowly...
Member
City
Halifax
State
UK
I got all my mounts in too i think i had to run a tap through one where they had not threaded the captive plate but that was all.
I can understand some of it not being correct though as i had a problem with a wheel box that was welded in back to front on mine which caused me some issues but i managed to notice it and swapped it out before paint, your 3" difference sounds like something similar has gone wrong but you have noticed it a bit late.....

My only real gripe and the thing that i wish was better is that i would of liked the door openings to be more like original so my doors actually match the shape of the tub instead of having strange gaps where there shouldn't be.
Other than that for the little it cost me i cannot really complain, i wasn't expecting OEM quality but it does do the job and saved weeks and weeks of welding that would of cost me 10 times more.
If it helps you at all i used Rivnuts on my dash board to make it a captive fixing and nuts and bolts on the windshield hinges but you need someone with long arms to get the nuts on the back of the windshield hinges!.
 

SCRAMBLER 401

Member
City
Marshfield
State
Ma
@AK-RWC has one I believe.

I went with the Willys-Overland modded MD Juan. Helped we had to replace all of my tub/frame mounts, that made lining things up easier.
I got all my mounts in too i think i had to run a tap through one where they had not threaded the captive plate but that was all.
I can understand some of it not being correct though as i had a problem with a wheel box that was welded in back to front on mine which caused me some issues but i managed to notice it and swapped it out before paint, your 3" difference sounds like something similar has gone wrong but you have noticed it a bit late.....

My only real gripe and the thing that i wish was better is that i would of liked the door openings to be more like original so my doors actually match the shape of the tub instead of having strange gaps where there shouldn't be.
Other than that for the little it cost me i cannot really complain, i wasn't expecting OEM quality but it does do the job and saved weeks and weeks of welding that would of cost me 10 times more.
If it helps you at all i used Rivnuts on my dash board to make it a captive fixing and nuts and bolts on the windshield hinges but you need someone with long arms to get the nuts on the back of the windshield hinges!.
yes I just bought some rivnuts for dash didn’t even think of using them 1st time my door & tailgate openings are pretty good actually I sealed all the body seams under tub with 3m seam sealer then epoxy primed & 4 coats raptor liner time will tell I guess
 

SCRAMBLER 401

Member
City
Marshfield
State
Ma
@AK-RWC has one I believe.

I went with the Willys-Overland modded MD Juan. Helped we had to replace all of my tub/frame mounts, that made lining things up easier.
I got all my mounts in too i think i had to run a tap through one where they had not threaded the captive plate but that was all.
I can understand some of it not being correct though as i had a problem with a wheel box that was welded in back to front on mine which caused me some issues but i managed to notice it and swapped it out before paint, your 3" difference sounds like something similar has gone wrong but you have noticed it a bit late.....

My only real gripe and the thing that i wish was better is that i would of liked the door openings to be more like original so my doors actually match the shape of the tub instead of having strange gaps where there shouldn't be.
Other than that for the little it cost me i cannot really complain, i wasn't expecting OEM quality but it does do the job and saved weeks and weeks of welding that would of cost me 10 times more.
If it helps you at all i used Rivnuts on my dash board to make it a captive fixing and nuts and bolts on the windshield hinges but you need someone with long arms to get the nuts on the back of the windshield hinges!.
yes I just bought some rivnuts for dash didn’t even think of using them 1st time my door & tailgate openings are pretty good actually I sealed all the body seams under tub with 3m seam sealer then epoxy primed & 4 coats raptor liner time will tell I guess
 

DirtyB

Crazy Cajun
Lifetime Member
City
Port Allen
State
LA
That's really surprising; i've had practically no issues with mine (about 80% finished). Yeah +2 on the rivnuts, that's the way to go.
 

AK-RWC

Legacy Registered User
Gold Member
City
south central
State
AK
I did a pretty detailed write-up for the Aqualu install in my build thread. Let me know if you have any questions. It required a lot of work; it’s definitely nowhere close to being a “bolt on” installation.
 

Jeeperdd

CJ-8 Member
Silver Member
SOA Member
City
Gordonsville
State
VA
I’ve done the aluminum and the Juan tubs. I have to say I like the aluminum tubs a lot better. But if you are trying to stay somewhat original with you build go with the Juan. Just make sure you put the entire Jeep together befor you paint it, so you know that it all works.
 

CC CJ8

Basic User
City
Barnstable
State
Ma
I'm guessing I recieved the tub that had all of the issues everyone else's didn't have. The body mounts lined up ok - but that was about it. I'm new to this site but know my way around the Jeep since doing a fiberglass swap to it back in the late 90's. The windsheild holes were off or out a 1/2", the passenger side lower door hinge holes were correct on the inside (but somehow were missed on outside), Dash (I had to cut and weld in areas to finish the threshold of the door jamb to meet the dash), Tailgate (Bed cable mount (bracket) - 4 out of the 6 holes were off about a 1/2" on each side. Most of these fixes will be covered by a bracket or trim, but at the price paid and conversations w/ Willies, I was expecting a better product. I'm test fintting everything and doing a full assembly before doing the bodywork and paint. My weekends (rain or shine) are spent working on it, and it will be great when it's done, but at this point, I think fixing a real tub would be the way to go and come in less expensive (with a better quality) then my tub. I'll upload pics when I upgrade my membership.
 

jerseyjeeps

Crazy about AMC Jeeps
Lifetime Member
City
Landing
State
NJ
On the MD Juan/WO, How about trying to mount OEM hard doors or Half cab, or bulkhead, or etc? In addition to the stuff above, that's where I hear the real nightmares lie...Ive heard these are only marginally ok for soft top soft door type restorations...:unsure:
 

Ron84cj

Engine nerd
Lifetime Member
City
West Bend
State
WI
I thought these things were supposed to be getting better??? Geez
 

emacauto

Basic User
City
Cherry Valley
State
ma
has anyone used or seen dlbensinger.com tub kits and replacement parts , bare tub kits cheapest one I could find ,I assume quality follows price. im on the fence with restore my original or find replacement body, classic panel costs around same cost of tub w/o all the labor? thanks
 

emacauto

Basic User
City
Cherry Valley
State
ma
really I had no clue ,how can they sell so cheap ,are there body parts md juan also? thanks
 

cblfhs

Quadriplegic Cj8 <3er
Lifetime Member
City
Highland Park
State
IL
I mounted my Juan tub a few months ago and everything lined up just about perfect! I was waiting a bit before reporting back to the forum to see if any other problems cropped up, but so far I've only had to drill a few additional holes. Really. Did I just get lucky? This was a tub directly shipped from Juan. No "aftermarket fixes". It's been great so far.


Installing one (Juan tub) on a project down in Indiana but I am not personally doing it .....

will keep you updated as I get progress from the guys building it for me “ just lift it “ Shop near Indianapolis

Thanks for the update and share, Chris
 

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bigwalton

Alaskan Postal nutjob
FORUM MANAGER
SOA Member
City
Dexter
State
MI
I was at EJS this week and went to the vendor show where Aqualu was displaying. My Postal is very near/past the point where I have to pull the tub to deal with the rust issues in some way.

While I love the idea of fixing the original tub, I weld but am far from a welder and have never done sheet metal. Watching people do it right honestly scares me to death that I’ll be months into it and end up with garbage.

Similarly, knowing the World Cab just HAS to work on whatever I do, a Juan tub freaks me out as well. Particularly all the issues of the shape of the top of the tub rail profile that could be disastrous for me.

So I spent a long time talking to Todd (Aqualu owner) about my Jeep and he asked to go look at it in the parking lot because he’d never seen a World Cab in person. There would be some issues with the right hand drive for mounting the steering wheel but he thinks we can work around that. His tubs are all done by CAD, so he is going to send me the key measurements for determining the fitment of the World Cab. He claims he’s never had a customer have a top fitment issue (hard or soft) so I am guessing it would be the easiest and most certain option. I’ll confirm that soon.

The idea of not keeping the stock tub is a huge mental hurdle to get past, but the idea of drawing out the rebuild months more isn’t easy to swallow either.

Big decision coming...
 
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