For years people have been using steel parts, this have been a huge money maker in the automotive aftermarket and OEM replacement industries. Knowing that a products already destined to fail when it leaves the lot leading to repair purchases is the literal name of the game. Just recently auto manufactures have started building body panels out of aluminum. That's a great solution for rust but aluminum still corrodes and being as thin as it is can be damaged quite easily.
Fiberglass is pound per pound stronger than steel, modern composite technologies have made is also more durable and reliable than aluminum. Many industries are quietly making the shift to composite products because of they're amazing performance. Fiberglass composites never rust or decay and typically can look just as good as steel products while out preforming them.
No matter the material, the make, or the model. Chances are its going to get damaged at some point in its life. A huge complaint about fiberglass composite panels is the fact that they can crack or its cheaper to fix a dent in steel or aluminum. Most of the paint less dent repair dents wouldn't happen with fiberglass composite, fiberglass can flex and absorb most impacts. Repair's and cracks in fiberglass can be easily fixed and at a cheap rate. Understanding this should certainly change your thought process in deciding replacement parts.
- Alex Ellett
Reference:
https://www.compositesworld.com/
