Aluminum vs Steel Hard Kit Top Pros and Cons

[NewHmmwv]

Just wondering about what peoples experiences have been when it comes to having a steel slant back kit vs those that have had an aluminum slant back kit?

Any complaints or advantages of having steel? Any complaints or advantages for having aluminum?

Obviously the aluminum kit would be lighter, but does that also mean it is "flimsy"?

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Thanks

 

[BKubu]

Well, I try to err on the side of "correct." People probably won't know, but I will. So, I always try to get the real stuff. Others will disagree. That is fine. I like my trucks to be original and correct, and VERY rarely do I violate that. It tends to cost me a bit more, though, and it is often to tough to find the original stuff. When you do, some guys think they are holding onto the Ark of the Convenant.

 

[BKubu]

I really should have asked a question first: do you care about the top you put on being correct, or do you just want a slant back on it? If you just want the look, then I'd suggest the repro top. It will be cheaper and, being aluminum (not sure of the top, just what you said), it won't rust, will be lighter, and will be cheaper. I don't look down on anyone choosing that top. I just gave you my opinion since you asked.

 

[tomelroy]

If you are going to do a hard top, I would recommend one with a turret. They are great for extra ventilation. Hard tops get hot in the summer and for that reason I actually prefer a tan soft top in hot weather. All the aluminum tops are extremely simple in design and require a lot of drilling and bolts or self taping screws. I have seen some that are tig welded on. I would recommend looking at both in person before making the purchase. Some of the hard top kits sell for more than you might have paid for your truck!

 

[86humv]

A real M1151 aluminum top with turret is heavier than a M102x steel roof with turret.
M1151 aluminum top is thick....you can walk on it, unlike those aftermarket tops.

 

[DLJIII]

I made my own hardtop out of sheet steel.
8g steel, extended to the wagon style rear end as I heard slant backs pretty much kill any cargo room or accessibility and leak like crazy.
I sold the tail gate and built a 50x34 inch rear door, i mounted a big tool box on the passenger side wheel well and put a door on the side.
Enclosed the entire thing with a mix of thinner 16g sheet metal and 8g sheet metal. Patched in everything, added my lights, made a few touch ups here and there.
Boom, it looks great and only ran me maybe $1,000 total.
Material was 700-800, sheet steel and quarter inch tubing and pipe.
A couple hundred bucks for bolts, glues, sealants, primers, paint, a few boxes of screws and a dozen pounds of welding rods.
Done and looks great, sealed, solid and heavy. Plus unlike the rest of the body my addition is bullet proof up to 7.62x39.
Honestly, I was shocked when the 5.56 failed to punch through. It could have been the flex, I am betting the 7.62 just plowed through with the triple weight of the 5.56.

Now, I know I violated the magna carta here by not going original, by not fully, completely, authentically restored by war carriage but, I know my skill sets and abilities and most important I know what I can afford and what I cant. I am not going to mortgage my house to buy a hardtop even if it was made of gold.

Aluminum was an option and once, I compared the two - steel and aluminum, thickness, price, weight, ability to work and fabricate. Steel won that race hands down.
I can weld, grind, cut, bend, drill, screw, glue, bolt, paint.
I dont tig weld, I dont braze aluminum or other non-f metals, I am not going to attach aluminum with only glue and half a dozen bolts.
I sure as **** am not going to spend $6,500 on a hardtop and who knows how much to ship it, plus other needed parts that hold up a project, match colors, and end up settling for something not exactly what I wanted or needed.

Plus, I am a big guy. 6'4 300lbs, I can stand on my roof and I have pitched a tent on top and actually grilled on my hardtop.
You cant beat that and aluminum would not work well with that approach speaking from experience and how slipper aluminum can be.
Tensile strength aside, steel can be welded easier for much cheaper, you can grind out mistakes and remove things that no longer work.

That is my two cents and I hope it helps a little.

 

[tage]

Pictures? ^^

 

[DLJIII]

 

[DLJIII]

I still cant get them to show a preview, it always comes up as a link. Sorry.

 

[Wire Fox]

Why not upload these direct to here instead of using an outside image site? I'm pretty sure we've actually got a rule for that. If not, it's at least best practice.

 

[DLJIII]

That is what, I tried. On my other frequently visited forum, you can use an external site to copy the image source and paste them into a response and only the image appears. Here it operates differently and throws me off. When, I visit the other forum I end up mixing them up and posted dead direct links. Sorry, too many forums with too many differing methods. Either way, what do you think of my hardtop and rig so far?

 

[StackJ]

Cool, a question.

Can you share some detail on where the roof meets the doors? From the inside?

 

[DLJIII]

There we go, direct insertion.
More pictures as requested.

 

[DLJIII]

I dont have doors on my rig currently, it is finally nice outside and I am loving the natural air conditioning.
Now, as far as top meeting the top of the doors, It is high enough to allow the doors to fully and freely swing. There is a gap between the top and the pillars as well as the doors.
I have not installed the gap fill sections yet but, I have made them out of sheet metal. I just measured and created a basic little bulk head to fill the gap. A few screws and a few dozen spot welds and it will be in business. It is basically giving it a haircut, the bowl haircut with flat edges to give the ears room to flop in the breeze.

 

[Action]

Does your body not flex any more? That looks solid mounted.

 

[DLJIII]

It does flex but not as much, still plenty of twisting and front to back movement. The hardtop just gave it more rigidity with far less noise. The rattles, clinks, squeaks and small slight vibrations are greatly reduced. The top and frame work are just bolted and glued on, well glue in spots and silicone in general areas. Keep water, dust and air out. I built the roof in five giant sections, front A to B pillar, B to C pillar, C to D pillar and then the two sides / edges. The framework is made of mostly one inch tubing of quarter inch wall thickness. It is pretty hefty and was a bear to bend and I still didnt get the exact curves down perfectly.

Overall, I had concerns of securing the hardtop down but, that was reassured quickly. Glue and bolts work perfectly, easier to drill and glue than try case in material to attach or braze aluminum to aluminum and I am not a tig welder so, I went the old fashion method with grade 8 nuts and bolts. I like it and it works well for my applications, the flat black has won over a lot of former and current servicepersons.

 

[StackJ]

I am a very basic welder but not a great one. After a discussion this AM with mine, we're going to roll the edges of the roof and weld sections together. The pillars all line up (curves, lines). I'll post build posts of it and the MRAP Troop seat install when I have time. That has been a bit of welding work as well.

 

[Action]

Personally, I am a fan of rain gutters. I see aftermarket hard tops without them.

 

[NewHmmwv]

Looks good, did you modify the stock B-Pillar in order to fit the curvature for the roof?

 

[DLJIII]

Nope, I did as little modification as possible to the truck itself. I adjusted the hard top to fit the truck. Seven pieces overall, three center plates, A-B, B-C, C-D. Then fill plates full length left and right of the center plates to the edge of the frames. Pieces 7 and 8 were the edges extending over the curvature of the frames. A lot of cutting, welded, grinding, welding over, grinding, sealant, painting. It turned out great and is solid. One of the local police departments expressed an interest in buying my truck as a rescue vehicle but, they will not have funding until a grant comes in. So, that was interesting plus, I did two funeral services since I finished the hardtop. The only reason they considered me was the color of my truck haha, flat black matched what they were looking for and the random rare request by a stiff to want to be transported to the body garden in a willy jeep, hmmwv, deuce or five ton. I was happy to help make some old vets last dream come true.