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Tubs from the Philippines

191K views 900 replies 122 participants last post by  JoonHoss 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone,

I'm Rommel Juan of MDJuan.

We make replacement tubs for the CJ7 and now the YJ as well.

I just wanted to ask if anyone here have used our tubs? And what has been your experience with them?

My purpose here is to hear your comments and suggestions so that we may improve our tubs to better serve the jeep community.

Cheers,
Rommel
 
#691 ·
Got my Repli-tub bolted on the '85 CJ7 the other day. Amazed at how well it lined up and how quickly it went on. I did have to enlarge the trans hole and cut the hole in the firewall for the wiring harness that feeds the control module (along with countless other holes as listed in my restoration thread). It seems that the radius on the cowl has improved over the last few years as I know keith460 had struggled with this. There are still kinks and waves that need sorting out but the hood lines up very well after making a slight hood adjustment (a little downward pressure on the hood over a 2x4 to raise it up just a bit on the driver's side). The next big issue I see is the triangle area on the sides beneath the windshield. Each side seems sucked in a bit at the bottom of the triangle and there is an ugly weld on the line on the cowl. We'll fill it just enough so as not to lose the definition of the triangle and cut a new line in the filler. We may even be able to coax everything out a bit. Maybe a careful maneuver with a hi-lift jack on the inside from side to side to use as a spreader. It seems like it would have been so much easier to take more care here when all the pieces were welded together. I would love to see that fixed in future renditions on the CJ7 body. Also I'll use spacers to shim the roll bar on the back as the ribs on the tops of the wheel wells are continuous and do not have a break like the OEM body. A couple other minor complaints and a lot of filler, but overall it is very nice considering I'll have a completely rust free Jeep. If you are on the fence about getting a Replitub, I'd say pull the trigger and do it!
 
#692 ·
That's great to hear GFox that they are fitting better!


They still haven't fixed the rear wheelhouses?! C'mon Rommel, I know you make the correct wheelhouses and baffles, they are used on the YJ tub. And the transmission tunnel hole.. This has been gone over several times as well. It's a whole lot easier for the pre-1980 guys to make a bigger floor plate (Maybe you could install a cover plate on there blank and we could cut our own shifter holes in it).


Does your new repli-tub have the angled throttle hole and reinforcing rib next to it?


I agree that the triangle embossed area needs work, they aren't as defined as they were on the OEM tubs. Also the clamping/spotwelding where panels come together need improvement as well. Putting stitch welds at the seams isn't the way to do it. They have to be clamped tight and spot welded on the inside flanges the way the OEM did it.


It'd be great if you had some pictures to put up of your body swap!! *edit* saw your thread, it's coming along great!
 
#693 ·
What's weird about the stitch welding on the cowl area is the fact that back in the day, AMC or Kaiser did the same kind of stitch welding too and in the same area. I don't think it was until after the triangle embossed was implemented that those welds went away and all welding went to spot welding from inside. Maybe MD Juan initially puts the panel pieces together with those welds before doing the spot welding. I don't recall seeing many spot welds on the Repli-tubs many because that would entail special spot welding arms to be adapted to the welders. I used a portable spot welder that I borrowed from work and was limited on where I could reach in and get to areas that needed to be spot welded. The rear baffle plates come to mind. Was able to do the outside side panel attachment with spot welding but not to the wheelhouse.









Still haven't fixed the rear wheelhouse and floor shifter opening? Waiting to deplete on the shelf inventory before pressing out new parts???? Waste not, want not!
 
#694 ·
Still haven't fixed the rear wheelhouse and floor shifter opening? Waiting to deplete on the shelf inventory before pressing out new parts???? Waste not, want not!
Keith, you and I would make a great singing group. We always sing the same tune, although perhaps in a different key at times ;) :trophy1:

Can anyone here say for certain if the '76-mid '79 CJ-7 tubs had the baffles in the rear wheelhouse from the factory? We do know for sure after mid '79 that they did as that was when the roll bar went from being mounted to the tub sides to being mounted to the floor pan and the wheelhouse. My first CJ was a '79 and had the later style roll bar minus the shoulder seat belts that my '85 has. Either way, to cover the masses, I think it would make good sense to put the baffles in all of them along with the "pause" in the emboss on the wheelhouse. This way you are only producing one set of parts to cover all the CJ-7 bodies and YJ bodies from 1976-1995. Same goes for the larger hole in the floor pan for the transmission/transfer case. Just include a blank coverplate so we can cut our own holes depending on how the Jeep was equipped.

Also, the brackets for tailgate cables that also incorporate the detent for the tailgate swinging latches. Every CJ-7 tub ever built had them so you are covering all years this way. Keith... Do you have a picture showing those?
 
#701 ·
No, it was a tub I bought from another forum member in Ohio for half the cost of a new one back in 2007. It was one of the first tubs to have the "Jeep" logo on the side. It was acquired from Chrysler after they where done with it to check the specs on the Jeep logo measurements and fonts used by MD Juan Enterprises.

My old tub WAS the Flintstones car, or I should say Jeep!
 
#702 ·
I'm VERY interested to know what the manufacture date in on GFox's tub. I checked out his build thread and he seems to have a good list of things he found that needed to be addressed. Funny enough this was after WO did whatever magic they claim to do to the tubs once they get them. I'd like to know if GFox got his tub before, during, or after all the improvements had been made to the tubs to see if these issues have since been addressed or are ones that continue to come from the factory.


One thing he mentions is the cowl radius. He stated that one side was good and the other was off a bit, I hope this is being looked at to correct but more importantly he said it looks as if the curves were made incrementally over a 2x4 which I take to imply that the bend isn't made in a stamp but by hand.


I'm some months from ordering my tub having not yet even started on my rebuild but am hoping that by the time I do get to where I am ready to order my tub all these issues will be worked out. I'm of the opinion that the tub should come from the factory ready to go with perhaps the exception of some waves in the flat areas which is understandably difficult to not have.


On another note, all the people on here seem to have CJ7. I'm running a 78 CJ5 and can only hope that all these improvements are being carried over to the CJ5 tub.
 
#703 ·
You know, after reading this thread, I'm extremely leery about pulling the trigger on a Repli-Tub. I'd rather go up the road to.....ugghhhhh, I hate to say the name......Collins Brothers and pay the money for a good used OEM tub that I know will fit. It's still going to be cheaper in the long run to do the body work and paint, than fiddle with hogging out holes to make it fit.
 
#706 ·
Yeah, that's the problem with my tub....it is beyond salvage. I'd be lucky to get what Keith got for his old tub in scrap. Besides, who wants to get near a rusty old tub that smells like cat pee?
 
#705 ·
I've thought about going with an OEM tub and continue to look for one that doesn't need a lot of work but so far no luck. I'm not a welder so I'd be paying someone else to do it and wonder if the expense would quickly put me in the ball park of the repli-tub regardless. But I don't expect to get to needing a tub until fall most likely so by then maybe I'll find one or MD will get theirs worked out. I agree with many people on the thread, for what they cost and the number of years the company has been in business all this stuff should have been worked out long ago.


And to add insult to injury WO charges you to "fix" the tubs so they bolt on but (1) can't tell you what they fix on a per tub/model basis and (2) from what GFox says even after that he still had to do fab work.


I know that if I owned a business making things and found that there was another business built around "fixing" what my company makes so my product actually works I'd be all over that to put the "fixer" out of business. I've put that challenge on this post a couple times and it seems to get suggested that we the consumer should figure out what WO is still doing to the tubs.
 
#707 ·
Just tried to bolt my fixed rear bench into my repli-tub. And i was not sucessful.
If i align the the rear seat bracket with the row of holes in the floor which is closest to the tail gate and, the front bracket of the seat is too much forward by at least two inches.

finger marks the hole



And here comes the question: Is the bolt pattern for the fold'n'tumble seat different from the fixed seat and md juan just put in the fold'n'tumble pattern?

Or is it the same pattern an md juan just put the holes in the wrong place?



The distance between the tailgate and the most backward row of holes is
14 3/4 inches.

The distances between this row an the most frontward holes is 19 7/16
 
#708 ·
I think I did read (or maybe saw in one of the videos) that the cowl section is hand formed and not stamped, but I can't be sure. It definitely looks had formed. My body was made in Nov. 2012 and was purchased from W/O. As far as the rear seat, I bolted my fold and tumble seat on just long enough to locate, mark and drill holes for the latched which mount to the wheel wells. I only used 1 bolt per side so now I'm wondering if the other holes line up. I'll try to check that this week. As for having to bend my hood, who knows, AMC might have bent it the other way to make it fit!

It still amazes me there is a company that makes Jeep bodies for us. And I will say that even with all the body work needed and drilling/modifying a few holes, I would buy one again and I would recommend the tub to a friend. If you think about it, you would have just as much fab work and filler if not more on a fiberglass tub. You would also have just as much on a factory tub or converting a YJ tub and you'd still have to deal with an old body where rust may have already taken a foothold.

I'm glad Rommel is here on the forum and working hard to make things better. You have to figure original OEM Jeeps are pretty rare in the U.S. and more so in the Phillipines, so good references are hard to come by. Combine that with the variations you get across all years and the variances in models that even came of the line together, how do you know what to use as a reference guide? A huge thanks to Keith as well for not only providing info to Rommel to make better bodies, but to us for use as a guide along the way for our restorations. That said, my cowl section is in great shape (don't think I wasn't tempted to splice the two bodies together) and I'd gladly ship it to MD Juan to keep for reference, though I'm not sure how practical that would be.

Keep up the good work Rommel, by the time my Jeep needs another body they will be perfect replicas!
 
#709 ·
Your build date of Nov 2012 makes me feel a little better GFox. That's when my tub was manufactured as well. Mine was drop shipped from Omix though so it has no modifications done to it whatsoever. I will have to get a set of wheelhouse baffles and also the formed area to clear the rear of the fuel tank is still available from Chrysler (used all the way thru the end of TJ production) so I will splice that piece in as well. I need to get the garage cleaned out and get to work I guess! I miss driving my Jeep!
 
#711 ·
Keith mentioned in his thread that he had to splice in a piece in order to mount the gas thank. Is what your referring to above the same issue? The point where the gas tank shield attaches to the rear of body isn't correct?
 
#710 ·
Can anyone speak to the quality of door fitment with the Repli-Tub? After using all-thread as a jig to space the hinges appropriately (12 3/4" on center) in order to mount the lower doors and make modifications to mount the strikers, I noticed the fitment isn't all that great. I've elongated the windshield bolt holes to get the hinges flush with the top of the tub and adjusted the hinges so the doors sit level, but it seems the door seals just don't sit right in the openings. I'm using a Bestop Supertop with 2 piece soft doors and it's not too big of a concern as they'll mostly be in place only when it is garaged and not driven. I'd like to see some pictures of full steel doors, half doors and soft doors. I realize the seals are new and will seat better over time (seals I put on my YJ with full steel doors last summer are getting much better) but I was hoping for the doors to sit more flush. I may try some steel half doors to see if they fit any better. This to me has been the most difficult part so far, followed by the Crown windshield. The price you pay for mounting aftermarket to aftermarket, I guess.
 
#713 ·
I tried fitting my OEM doors to the Repli-tub I had and while the passenger side fit perfect, the drivers side had an ugly gap at the striker and below area. I tried adjusting it as best I could but it still did not look right so I scrapped the idea of using any doors at all on the Repli-tub. Still have my OEM steel doors in our warehouse at work sitting there collecting dust.

The new tubs are suppose to have the rear tailgate support corrected to clear the fuel tank. Previous tubs, like mine, had the piece straight across that interfered with the fuel tank. W/O use to cut of the the piece that interfered with the tank and I thought that was kind of sub par and weak rigidity. A boxed structure is much stronger than and thin angle piece that they were doing.
 
#715 ·
I'm going to have to go out and check my original tubs but I think the bolts were all 3/8" to begin with. 1/2" and 9/16" bolts are wayyyyy too big.

Good job adding the drain plug holes though.

How about the wheelhouses? Have the ridges been revised and the wheelhouse baffles with threaded holes for roll bar mounting been added?
 
#716 ·
Ok I just went out and checked my YJ tub and also checked the factory CJ parts catalog. YJ and CJ rear floor pans are the same bolts and bolt patterns.


The front 4 holes (2 on each side) are 3/8"-16


The rear 3 holes are 7/16"-20


Those are used for mounting the seat belts on fold and tumble equipped and the rear seat bracket that also holds the seat belts on fixed seat models.


Also IIRC Keith had issue with the seat belt mounting threads on the B pillar. These are 7/16"-20 as well. (fine thread)
 
#718 ·
I'm glad to see that the bolt hole pattern has been ireoned out. I assume this effort will also reach the CJ5 tub? Also, the curvature of the cowl has come up several times lately, has that issue been addressed yet as well?
 
#719 ·
Anyone know when these fixes will be finished and a build run? How long till the dealers get em? Or are some already out there?
 
#720 ·
Ok never mind, I just went back and read a chunk of these 48 pages and found they should be out there....
 
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