Topic says it all. I've heard horror stories about this place...

 

i heard bad things about there panels, but they do have some good little things, and if ya need new! emblems they got them, sure they may not be a nice as nos ford, but they look better than chipped chrome and peeled emblems, the bumpers are paper thin i bet! lol some people will chime in soon enough!

 

Yes they really do suck. All their sheetmetal is extremely thin and you can see it start to rust before you even put it on the truck...haha. I wouldn't even use their emblems, window cranks, door handles, etc...they're crack after a few months of use, I've seen it. I'd go to one of the sponsors (especially JBG) or Dennis Carpenter...sure they may be a little more up front, but you won't have the extra cost of replacing parts/panels as often.

 

the best way to go about it is to pick from bronco graveyard, carpenter, macs or one of the sponsors. pick the one that is closest to your house because shipping can get scary.

 

I've posted this many times before because I get my panels at this place and the metal thickness is really close to OEM. And most all their panels are stamped right there in good ol' Ohio, USA!!! Would take a micrometer to tell the difference. Just ordered repair panels for my '78 box and got them -
Welcome to Tabco

 

I've had some bad experiences with LMC but I was extremely happy with the front bumper that I bought plus it has a 5 yr. warranty for rust. It wasn't some thin piece of metal either, just as thick as OEM.

 

This has been hashed over in the past, all of the greats sell the chiwanese junk in some form or another. If you want the good stuff, you are going to have to pay for it.

If Dennis were still around, he would be beating his chest about something or another..

I tried doing a search on good places to buy parts, but most of the threads had Dennis in them, and somehow they all went down the toilet by the second page. Maybe your luck will be better? In the past, there has been threads offering excellent feedback on various vendors who supply excellent parts, and superior customer service.

 

I have used a variety of vendors including the sponsers here, LMC, NPD, and Tabco.

I have to say that the sponsors, NPD, Blue oval, etc. all sell the same tiawan crap as LMC, it's a shame these parts are going on our trucks.

Tabco is stamped in the USA, the sheet metal is close to OEM the fit is very good, the problem is the customer service is crap. I have been waiting 8 months for a left wheel arch which lead me to take my business elsewhere.

The best patch panels i have ever found, hands down for fit, quality and thickness, is through a company called AMMuscle. They have an ebay store, they make entire bed side panels and the more commonly needed panels such as wheel arches, floor boards and rockers. The fit is spot on, the sheetmetal is heavy duty, i mean heavy. I emailed the guy and asked him about fit and quality his reply was you won't be dissappointed and he was right.

Look them up they blow the competition away... Big time!!!

 

Man, they have some really good prices on those items!

It is good to live in Ohio, I will be contacting them for a few things. I bet the metal used by them is really decent.

 

Hmm. I'm in ohio. They don't carry bed sides

 

78ford - yea I wish they made complete bedsides too.... Chiwanese route for these only if you can digest having these parts on your truck

Davepig - i'm impressed with metal thickness and most importantly FIT!

 

78ford351m, just go out to Texas or California to get a rust free bed for a good price.

 

True, or get lucky and find a parts truck with straight body pieces around where you live.

 

as long as that parts truck isn't rusted out.

 

i'm from upstate ny and live about an hour from one of the biggest salt mines in the US and they are not afraid to use it but if you look around at salvage yards you can find great shape boxes still but they are from trucks brought in.

i got one for 600 bucks and i couldn't ask for one in better shape