Has anyone used this for front cladding replacement?

[VXjunky]

thats definitely worth while info....thanks.... someone producing all the cladding (after-market) would be worth knowing about...

[Riff Raff]

Well, I have personally seen the aftermarket cladding upclose on a friend's VX and it really doesn't match very well. Fellow past member "KeithVXlvr" (see his Photo Gallery) had both front and rear cladding replaced with the same aftermarket cladding by the PO (apparently, after some sort of accident).

The aftermarket cladding is inferior in two ways:

(1). The color/hue of the aftermarket cladding is much darker than the OEM cladding, and you will likely have to re-dye the entire cladding to make it match. For re-dying cladding questions-- please inquire with member VX-KAT.

(2). Most importantly; the aftermarket cladding has a distinct bubbly "grainy texture" to it much like lizard skin, whilst the OEM cladding has a much more smooth non-grainy texture. When using both aftermarket and OEM cladding on the same VX, it is quite apparent to the naked eye that they do not match and screams "Hey, this panel has been replaced!!!"


My personal recommendation is to follow the lead of your Auto Body Repair Shop and find an OEM cladding replacement (not aftermarket). Perhaps you may save a few bucks by buying the aftermarket front cladding piece; but unless you plan on replacing 100% of all cladding with the aftermarket version so that it all match's with its distinct grainy texture, then you will be sadly disappointed in the finished VX and regret your decision. Like they say-- you get what you pay for. You pay cheap, you get cheap.

[tom4bren]

Their site is confusing. They list it as remanufactured OEM in 2 places and as new aftermarket in another. Which is it???

[Riff Raff]

Their site is confusing. They list it as remanufactured OEM in 2 places and as new aftermarket in another. Which is it???

Tom--- In a word; "both". It's kinda' a play on wording. They are manufactured according to OEM fitment specifications so that they fit properly, and are new aftermarket essentially because OEM Isuzu no longer makes the item anymore. In more simpler terms, they are new aftermarket cladding manufactured to OEM fitment specifications. What they DON'T tell you is that the color/hue and surface texture is completely different from OEM cladding.

Still; since the aftermarket version and OEM version do not match identical with the same surface texture (Aftermarket Lizard Skin vs OEM Smooth), the two versions should not be inter-mixed on the same VX. Either go 100% OEM cladding or go 100% Aftermarket cladding all around the entire VX; but never combine both versions, as it is very distracting and a dead giveaway of individual panel replacement.

However, I would say that if a VX owner had later plans to re-paint or re-surface the entire cladding with say LINE-X or another form of grainy texture filling paint; then yes, buying the cheaper aftermarket cladding may help somewhat in that scenario and they could be mix-matched as a sub-base structure/platform. Athough, if the cladding is to remain in its most natural form (unpainted/un-LINE-X'd), then all of the cladding panels should be of the same type/texture.

[tom4bren]

Gotcha.

Not sure how the 'remanufactured' part works into that though.