Heritage economy 1/2 tubs (2 Viewers)

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caz said:
Has anyone bought an economy 1/2 tub yet?

How do they fit? How does the hard top fit?

Why is there so little info out there on these? I would think that they would be selling like hotcakes!

Thanks,
CAZ
Click to expand...


Don't know bout the economy tubs but there is a guy or two that have the premium tub. Hadn't seen the final write up.. but I'll look a bit.

...don't know about the hotcakes but may be b/c premium = more rust resistant in some's mind. lol


good luck
I'll order a 3/4 premium when that time comes around.

:beer:

Scott
 
I have a 3/4 tub coming mid April. I'll take pics and do a write up once it gets here and I unwrap it. I put their bib on last week and it fits great. Has the captured nuts and everything. I'm putting the economy windshield frame on this weekend and by the looks of it, it will be a dead on match for OEM.

My only problem is I bought CCOT Fenders last year, before I heard of Heritage, and I'll have to drill some holes for the Heritage Aprons to fit. The pre-drilled holes on the aprons don't match up with the OEM holes on the original aprons and the flat metal part on the bottom of the Heritage apron that sits on top of the fender is not as wide as OEM. Can't use as big of a washer or a fender washer on it because of that.

Still like the craftmanship on their parts.
 
I have seen more info on the standard line, but virtually none on the economy line.

I just can't figure out why the pictures are all so low res, and why no one has any info on them.

Are they a pipe dream, or do they really exist?

I would gladly shell out $1200 if I knew that they worked out good. I am leary of spending that much to be a guinea pig!

Shoot, if I were importing them, the first thing I would do is put it on my own rig to show the world! I would also want to know for myself how well they work out.

CAZ
 
I think the issue with the economy line half tubs is that they can't be used with ambulance doors, because they lack the little step in the rear sill. If it weren't for that, I'd order one myself... but I don't want to buy one and then have to weld in a new sill.

- Matt
 
ECONOMY 1/2 TUbS

Here's what heard about them. They are made in Hondurous or something. Many of the higher end restoration shops are not carrying them any more. Apparently they are sub-par. There are non of the weld in nuts on the tub at all, so the hard top, seats, spare tire etc will need to be through bolted. There is also a seam in the rear quarter panel that should't be there. The over all fit, I heard was decent, but not perfect, apparently there is a decent amount of work to be done after it is installed. The 1200.00 price is really about 1600.00 with shipping and the few companies that are importing them are only bringing up full contaners from Hondurous. So you need to put up the money and then wait however long it takes to fill an order that will fill a container, then wait for the stuff to be made them wait for it to get to the US. From what I found out, about 2-3 months. This is really what I found out after some research. If your willing to wait and put up the cash and don't mined a perfect fit, it seams to be great a alternative to the much higher cost lines. Again, this is just what I found heard through some research.
 
Thanks for the info! It is good stuff...

I would still like to hear first-hand from someone who has actually used one - and to see good pictures of them.

To me, the captive nut thing is not a huge deal. I think I could work around that with minimal effort - compared to the cost difference of standard/economy.

I did see the seam on the corner and wondered how that looks once the bodywork is completed.
 
I have a Herigtage 1/2 Premium Line, not the economy, out for paint now. Overall it is a great aftermarket panel but mine ( maybe not all ) did require some work to get it right. The top welded nuts and holes for the spare tire carrier were 7/8" low and had to be redone, the bottom bracket holes were not even there and thanks for that because I may have painted the thing before I found the error. While fitting the spare tire rack to find placement for my lower holes I found this and corrected all of the issues. I also had to cut my own marker light holes (no big deal) just a bit surprised for the money it had not been done. As well as steel all the old tub brackets for my lower heat shields that reside under the bottom of the tub for your exhaust. Overall great product will buy again, but my premium took a bit of messaging, I personally expected a bit more turn key to the premium, would be very curious how much more rubbing a economy would take.
 
another bump to see more info on this.
and wow, i havent see the name CAZ in a long ass time. saw your old black truck build up years ago :D :D
Shane
 
Heritage is basically this guy https://forum.ih8mud.com/member.php?u=6421

He's in Panama and does great work. I bought a FJ45 LWB tailgate from him before he connected with SOR and TLC Van Nuys.

He used to deal directly with Mud members, but the shipping always seemed to be a deal killer. So he's working basically with big vendors to get the parts out.

The price for the same tailgate that I got is pretty reasonable considering the amount of B.S. to convert and send funds to Panama and deal with customs paperwork.

Definitely a good guy regardless of which stateside vendor you go through.

Michael
 
Yeah, I have been into Toyotas all of that time..... just burned out on writing about them some years back ;-p

I think that the guy you sent the link for is the guy doing the Heritage standard tubs (not economy). The pictures in one of his posts showed the reinforcements that are missing on the economy line.

CAZ
 
JOSHCRUZER said:
Here's what heard about them. They are made in Hondurous or something. Many of the higher end restoration shops are not carrying them any more. Apparently they are sub-par. There are non of the weld in nuts on the tub at all, so the hard top, seats, spare tire etc will need to be through bolted. There is also a seam in the rear quarter panel that should't be there. The over all fit, I heard was decent, but not perfect, apparently there is a decent amount of work to be done after it is installed. The 1200.00 price is really about 1600.00 with shipping and the few companies that are importing them are only bringing up full contaners from Hondurous. So you need to put up the money and then wait however long it takes to fill an order that will fill a container, then wait for the stuff to be made them wait for it to get to the US. From what I found out, about 2-3 months. This is really what I found out after some research. If your willing to wait and put up the cash and don't mined a perfect fit, it seams to be great a alternative to the much higher cost lines. Again, this is just what I found heard through some research.
Click to expand...



The "premium" panels are made in Panama and sold in the USA by Heritage Sheet Metal and a group of dealers across the USA.

The "economy" panels are made in Columbia and are imported direct by Iron Pig Off Road in Fredericksburg, VA - 1-866-iron-pig. We are a stocking distributor which means that most of these parts are in stock at all times and ready to ship. We've recently depleted our warehouse but have another container expected in 3-4 weeks. Heritage dealers can get these parts for you or can call IPOR direct - same price either way. We are also a Heritage premium line dealer.

The premium line parts are said to be excellent and by all accounts they are certainly top quality. The problem is that there are no stocking dealers in the USA so lead times can be lengthy, in our experience about 6 months after you pay for the product. According to TLC this is due to limitations in production capacity which Paul is working to improve upon. The other problem is cost. The "premium" line parts come with a premium price tag, typically twice that of the "economy" line or more. The $400 freight for a tub applies to both premium and economy parts. If you pick up your economy line tub at IPOR you will only pay a fraction of that cost. The pre-payments and lengthy lead times apply for the most part only to the premium line parts at this time. Hopefully over time we can increase production such that these parts can be stocked in the USA, until then the economy line is readily available.

Both have minor fittment issues, which is true for every aftermarket panel I've ever purchased. I've been building cruisers for 15 years and I've tried them all (literally - I have to know what works and what doesn't because I'm paid to install them and I can't use parts that don't fit). For most parts the economy line is economy in name only. It's all in the marketing, which Heritage does well, and by offering both a "premium" and "economy" part they offer solutions for all buyers - it's not a trick, just good business to serve your customer no matter what his/her individual needs are. Many of the economy parts are made from thicker than OEM steel and the stampings are extremely accurate. Some of the assemblies fit well but require some fitting to yield restoration quality results. Someone pointed out the seam in the rear QP - perfect example of a minor difference. I was suprised to find the seam as well but it's done well and after the normal paint and body that accompanies a tub refurbishment like this it will never be seen. For half the price this seems like a minor concern for the same end result. In fact, when it came to a decision to invest in one or the other we felt the "economy" line was a better product for the money. It meets the needs of 95% of our consumers and does so at a fraction of the cost.

We have been working with the producer of the "economy" line to add things such as the captive nuts and gavanized coatings. (in fact we have some sample zinc bathed pieces coming in the next shipment) In the interim it's easy and cheap to install nutserts, which is what we do here at IPOR rather than using through bolts. We find that the very minor additional expense of using JIS hardware and appropriate nutserts by far outweighs the frustration of dealing with SAE hardware and through bolts down the road.

If anyone wants to see the tubs in person they can simply drop by IPOR. Not only do we have most of these parts in stock but we even have one currently in the process of fitting to the vehicle. Additionally we are updating the website to include pictures of the tubs and expect the new site to go live over the next month.

We will be donating a 1/2 tub to STLCA for the raffle at GSMTR this year. If you attend you can see one in person there as well!

HTH, feel free to call or email with questions. We're still reeling from the move but at least we have internet and phones working at this point!

Lance
www.ironpigoffroad.com 1-866-iron-pig
 
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