I notice it too. I think it might be a function of the aluminum in the door panels.


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Yes. This has been an issue since JL came out 18 months ago. It has to do with the aluminum used on the doors getting dimpled around the hinges.

 

Man, I hope I don't get dimpled around my hinges.

 

It appears to be more noticeable on darker colors.

 

We have a vehicle that has all kinds of bolts, nuts, hinges, exposed - not really a feature approach with beauty in mind.

The flip side is, damage something - unbolt it and replace it ez-pz.

Try that with a Lexus or BMW

 

A couple weeks back I saw a JLU turning from an off-ramp, and the way the setting sun hit the side of the Jeep I thought, "WOW, I hope they got the information of the guy that sideswiped them!". As they passed I realized that's just how it was naturally, not from getting hit.

JLs seem have a big issue with this. So do F-150's. It's the aluminum being able to warp more than steel along those flat sections... and guess what vehicles have lots of flat areas...

I guess it's a good thing I can't financially justify dumping my modded JK for a new JL yet, I'd be going crazy inspecting every angle of every JL I look at.

 

It comes down to the aluminum not being as strong as steel. The sound deadening material (at least when they started to make the JL), was glued to the door. The aluminum shrinks to form to the sound deadening material when heated, thus uneven metal. The assembly method may have changed, but it does not sound like it.

 

It's the rule of "unexpected consequences". Happens all the time. Make changes thinking all will be good and end up with new problems. Again, that is why you don't buy the first year of something.

 

Unintended.... just sayin'

 

Let's add this anecdotal information to the ever growing list of reasons to justify not being able to buy a new JL. I'm sure it is so noticeable that you can see it on a vehicle turning many yards ahead (looks like it got side swiped) and yet no one seems to notice it when inspecting them with a fine tooth comb at the dealership on initial pickup. Go figure.

 

My doors look straight so far. We will see how they hold up to an Arizona Summer but these doors are pretty tough.

I was reading email in a parking lot when a Nissan Armada pulled in the space next to me. The woman driving got out and slammed her door into my JL door, hard. Like, BAMM! hard. I was expecting at least a dent. There was nothing, not even a scratch. I was surprised.

 

Hmmm. That was lucky. metal and paint are still just metal and paint. I have sliders so, usually they take the hit.

 

I always park as far away as possible because of inconsiderate people in parking lots. It’s the only way to minimize door dings.

 

^^^Me too..........

 

Yep


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I was in a dealership having my JK engine tick listened to and there was a black JLU on the floor. ALl I could think was "holy hell, what happened to those doors and how did it leave the factory that way. It was def more noticeable around the hinges.

 

I have a hard time critiquing the beauty of a vehicle sitting there with exposed nuts and bolts, hinges, etc all over it.

My Jeep is pretty Dark (GCM) most people who see it say, "Hey nice Black Jeep"... whatever.
I honestly never noticed but I imagine if I look real close maybe I'd see what folks are talking about.
I say, it's a little nit-picky again, because of the nature of the vehicle in question.
IF it was my brand new Jaguar or whatever... different story.

I'll say this about Wranglers - My JK's as well as JL. You can push on all the panels and they flex like crazy. Just a gentle interaction during washing or waxing tin cans the panels. That's been for years now, My TJ did not do that.

So, to get concerned - now ... after this has been the case for what? 12 years.

 

Beauty is only skin deep. But ugly goes all the way to the frame.

 

Nice. You knew my first name was "Frame".

 

The aluminum doors don’t bother me at all neither does the warping I’m seeing on mine. I don’t think mines really that bad though

It’s to be expected and It always reminds me that the doors are lighter and easier to takeoff.


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Your doors are the straightest I have seen. They look nearly perfect I think.

 

Compared to the old aluminum body defender JK/JL panels are very ok.
I have a "piano black" JK and I can find some "imperfections" on all panels
But i also see them on other more expensive cars as well

 

Compared to the old aluminum body defender JK/JL panels are very ok.

Beat me to it -

 

It's funny how passions often times mirror passions...

It's (IMO) and issue of realities.

When I look at the things in my life (not People) I see the stuff that makes me happy. I choose (maybe) to not fixate on the imperfections.

Has that always been true? No. But, I will say I'm a lot happier in this mode.

It IS a Choice.

See the ding here or the whatever there OR just enjoy. I choose Enjoy. Life serves up enough S-sandwich material, needs no help from us.

Expand that philosophy as far as you can and magically your happiness factor will expand as well.
If you look too close at anything and anybody (include our self) and we can see lots of stuff that will disappoint.

Why? We all can come up with different answers to that question - I say Be a Simple Man/Woman - be content.
It really isn't a concession or admission of defeat, rather it is simply a choice to be happy.

 

Wait, all JLs have aluminum doors and panels? I did not know that.

As far as imperfections on our Jeeps, they all have them. If its not this, its that. If you look hard enough, you will find them all over: paint, body gaps, leaks, the Jk lean, etc. I had a huge gap between my hood and cowl on driver's side on my new Jk. It drove me crazy for months. I finally took it in to the stealership. Surprisingly, they fixed it in no time.

I'm OCD. But I have learned not to care much about imperfections on my Jeep anymore. I just get in and enjoy.

Cheers!

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I took my Tacoma to a vinyl wrap place to have the hood blacked out. The installer wouldn’t stop bitching about Wranglers: how cheaply they are put together; plastic retainers that break the moment you try to remove them; body panels that rarely line up. His pet peeve was how Jeep doesn’t spray paint behind the body panels and stops painting right at the edges: this makes his job harder because vinyl doesn’t adhere to bare metal.

Anyway, it all sounded too familiar. Like Judas, I simply nodded and smiled...

Despite his endless bitching, he did great work.

 

I took my Tacoma to a vinyl wrap place to have the hood blacked out. The installer couldn’t stop bitching about Wranglers: how cheaply they are put together; plastic retainers that can only be used once and break the moment you try to remove them; body panels that rarely line up. His pet peeve was how Jeep doesn’t spray paint behind the body panels and stops spraying paint right at the edge of the panel: this makes his job harder because vinyl doesn’t adhere to bare metal.

Anyway, it all sounded too familiar. Like Judas, I simply nodded and smiled...

Sounds like the vinyl sticker installer is an expert.
You should probably buy another Toyota.

 

The darker the color, the more imperfections it shows. Watching some of the car modification shows, when the customer tells the owner he wants it painted black, you can see the face change on the owner. The price also goes up because it's more work to get it "perfect" (if they can).

For door dings, it didn't take me long to figure out that I wasn't getting them on the Sahara (or later the Chief) but was getting them on the TJ. So, after it was painted and before I parked it anywhere other than my place, I put a pair of old school nerf bars on it. It never goes in rocks (can't find any of those in S. Georgia) so clearance is not an issue, but it stops the door dings from unthinking/uncaring owners in cars.

 

My 3rd Jeep and it’s black. While washing and drying it, I was think No more black after this.


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The last and only black vehicle I ever owned was an '89 XJ Cherokee. I loved it after it was freshly washed. However, 15 minutes later it was dusty. In the South Georgia summer it was an oven in the afternoon for the first few minutes until the A/C on max cool dropped the temp down to 100 inside.

If I had bought it in S. Georgia, I would never have gotten a black one, but I was on a short stint in Toledo and bought it up there. The best color for a Jeep is a light tan. It doesn't show the dirt. Unfortunately for the heat build up, Jeep no longer offers a white soft top like they did back in the YJ days.

 

IME (42yrs in automotive) It cannot be explained, but, a vehicle somehow takes on the personality of its owner.. be a discerning perfectionist and the vehicle will SHOW you all its imperfections.. be an easy going owner & it will be one of the best vehicles you ever owned. I have seen vehicles with multiple issues and the owner was OK it can be fixed & some with very few and they were the worst ever owned. As stated previously High End Lux vehicles have issues too; they just cost more to repair..you get the picture?

 

It's funny but back when I was big into detailing and was on a couple forums - I didn't see any Wranglers. I figured they weren't as OCD about trying to keep something pristine when you use it for travel and that means all kinds of mean and ugly things that can happen. I've read posts from guys that were raging on about how the dealer that gave them the free oil change, washed their "baby" and now has these awful swirls that if you get in the proper light and turn your head just so - it looks HORRIBLE. And then the support group would start up; you'd think a posse was forming to go after Jesse James! Now, I don't condone bad paint jobs and poor fit/finish, but jeez Louise, didn't you look BEFORE you bought it? You know why Chip Foose, Joe Martin and Danny the Count charge $$$$ for the cars that they do? It's the quality of the paint, the skill of the bodyman and the painter that makes a paint job so good that you get a hard on looking at it. I don't think any factory could or would go that far. But, from what I've seen, it ain't bad!

 

Nothing EVER pissed me Off worse than a Toyota. Possibly because I owned so many going back to my First Toyota P/U 4x4 Turbo (believe it or not) I was on active duty and stationed at Ft. Knox.
Walked in and there it was lifted on Massive 31's (lol) and Shiney Black as my heart.
Had to lock the front axles by hand.

I think it was an '85.... nice truck. almost 35 years later not the same Toyota IMO.
Boring as a plain hotdog on white bread (IMO).
My 14' 4Runner Limited (also Black) practically rusted out after one N/E Pa winter and had seats that sent me to an Orthopedic surgeon...
I hope you all have great luck w/yours.

Couldn't give me one for Free.

 

Although for different reasons, that’s pretty much how I feel about Jeeps a the the moment. I wouldn’t take one even for free.

There are fresh rumors today on Forbes that PSA (Peugeot-Citroen & the French government) may be getting serious about taking over FCA. FCA is bleeding in Europe, struggling in Asia and profits are declining in North America. So PSA sees FCA as an opportunity to get into the profitable N.A. market.

As a Fiat customer I can appreciate what Fiat has to offer. But the plain reality is that Fiat sucks at execution; worse, it imposed its crummy manufacturing processes onto FCA.

Through my work I got to see first hand how shitty Fiat is in its supposed stronghold markets of Brazil and Argentina. So I am not surprised to hear that it is now bleeding in its own home market in Europe.

Personally, I think PSA may do a better job running Jeep than FCA has so far, particularly in terms of fixing product quality and customer treatment. But I thought Daimler would do that. When that failed I hoped Fiat would fix it. Things only got worse. Now I’m tired of the never-ending marry go round.

If the French end up bringing interesting products and some sense back into Jeep, I may consider it again in the future.

PS - TFL Truck has a new video out where it shows under the new Gladiator: you wouldn’t be able to tell that Jeep ever fixed those infamous trackbar weld spots that were breaking. The new weld spots look as crummy as ever. And Jeep wants $60,000 for that POS? Unbelievable...!

 

I had an "issue" with one of my Toyota trucks. The dealer was an asshole.
Fight ensued and Finally went to the arbitration table.

ALL present; Me, the dealer, district and regional Toyota suits and the arbitration panel.
ALL facts were presented back and forth back and forth - took several hours.

After deliberating the Arbitration panel found unanimously in my favor and ordered (binding resolution) for Toyota to completely replace my entire transmission and all related parts.

They leave and I turn to "Toyota" and say "ok so, whats next?"

They say, "nothing. sue us". I stood there kind of staring at them as my wheels turned. I did not give them the satisfaction of a reaction.

I got rid of the vehicle and have hated Toyota (and most large companies for that matter) ever since. No, I have not and do not indict ALL large companies because of toyota - I let them earn their own way along the way but I have found in the world we live in these days "most" couldn't give a shit less about QC or CS. It's all about the $$. Too bad they don't see the connection.

 

I had an "issue" with one of my Toyota trucks. The dealer was an asshole.
Fight ensued and Finally went to the arbitration table.

ALL present; Me, the dealer, district and regional Toyota suits and the arbitration panel.
ALL facts were presented back and forth back and forth - took several hours.

After deliberating the Arbitration panel found unanimously in my favor and ordered (binding resolution) for Toyota to completely replace my entire transmission and all related parts.

They leave and I turn to "Toyota" and say "ok so, whats next?"

They say, "nothing sue us".

I got rid of the vehicle and have hated Toyota (and most large companies for that matter) ever since. No, I have not and do not indict ALL large companies because of toyota - I let them earn their own way along the way but I have found in the world we live in these days "most" couldn't give a shit less about QC or CS. It's all about the $$. Too bad they don't see the connection.

Man, sounds like you got a really raw deal. You win LOL!

FWIW, I hated Toyota for years as well: I found them arrogant and insufferable. This was during the decade between 2000 and 2010.
Toyota has been a client of mine, among many other automakers, for 20 years. The people at Toyota back then truly believed their sh*t didn't stink. Then the Unintended Acceleration debacle happened; nothing like a major crisis to bring back some humility.

IMO Toyota has changed for the better. I get along with them swimmingly these days.

Here is the undercarriage of the new Gladiator showing some of the welds. As a member on another forum posted "looks like it was welded by Cambodian child labor..."

 

I haven't noticed it on a JL personally (I have a JK) but I wouldn't be happy. It may not be a Jag, but FCA is charging a premium for Wranglers nowadays - you would expect a better product.

FWIW: My JK door panels flex quite a bit if I'm washing them and push in too hard. They are obviously not very thick steel, and while the curvature of most vehicles door panels give them rigidity, the Jeeps panels are straight.