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How can the JL windshield attract so many bugs?

Hogdreamer

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I find myself cleaning the bugs off the windshield of my JLU almost daily because it attracts insects like nothing I've ever seen before. My neighbor noticed me cleaning up my Jeep again last night and mentioned I seem to be constantly shining it up. He also asked me if I had named it and I said no, not yet. That got me thinking, maybe I should name it Bug Catcher or Bug Killer or Bug Exterminator?

I don't remember my CJ 5 having the same bug issue. Maybe there were fewer bugs 40 years ago? Maybe the brighter LED headlights of the JL attract bugs much more than the old non halogen sealed beam? Maybe I spent so much time cleaning mud off the CJ glass that I hardly noticed a few bugs here and there?

When driving home from visiting my son at his lake property this summer, I almost had to pull over to clean the windshield so I could see the road. I don't have the advanced security package but I wonder if the bugs on the windshield effect the sensor for the adaptive cruise?

Anyone have decent luck with a solution to reduce the bug destroying capability of the JL? Do the bug deflectors really work keeping the bugs off the windshield and not just the hood? I already have plastic protective film installed on the hood so I'm not really interested in a bug deflector just to protect the hood's paint.

Buggy.jpg
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Rico1111

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That looks more like what the seagulls drop here! If that's bug splat Damn must be a big bug!
 

omnitonic

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I find it kind of surprising how few bugs I get on my own windshield, now that you mention it. I've put almost 7,000 miles on the thing so far, and I have yet to take a squeegee to the windshield.

Maybe I have a higher tolerance for bugs, since I drive 18-wheelers for a living, and they catch alllll the bugs. What's really gross is how many bugs are infected with worms and other parasites, and getting to see the evidence of that first-hand. Yuck.

But my Jeep, while not bug free, has never had any massive splatters such as the one you depicted there. Maybe I'm just not driving when the bugs are at their peak.

PS - I do not recommend lowering the windshield to avoid this problem. I caught a grasshopper in the face at 40 mph on a bicycle once. Yeeowch!
 

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Reinen

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Well, I got a bug in my eye the other day...
Jeep Wrangler JL How can the JL windshield attract so many bugs? 1627876190804
 

LittleDog

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I caught a grasshopper in the face at 40 mph on a bicycle once. Yeeowch!
40 Mph?! Are you at the Tokyo Olympics right now?

But yes, cicadas, grasshoppers, awesome bumble bees, their stupid carpenter bee cousins, and those terrifying cicada killers, any of them in the face with the windshield down is awful.

The worst is the slow-motion fixation of your attention as you watch them gracefully arc into a magnificent *bonk* against your goggles/head apparatus.
 

omnitonic

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40 Mph?! Are you at the Tokyo Olympics right now?
They were building a highway near my house, and they were waiting on the bridges before opening it to the public. I had a bicycle with a speedometer, and I took advantage of the rare opportunity to go riding down a hill on a four-lane highway without fear of death from traffic. I got that sucker all the way up to 40 mph, which was completely terrifying. 40 mph is FAST on a bicycle!

Then...

SPLAT!!!

I'm lucky I didn't jerk the handlebars too far, and wipe out. 40 mph is FAST on a bicycle!
 

LittleDog

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They were building a highway near my house, and they were waiting on the bridges before opening it to the public. I had a bicycle with a speedometer, and I took advantage of the rare opportunity to go riding down a hill on a four-lane highway without fear of death from traffic. I got that sucker all the way up to 40 mph, which was completely terrifying. 40 mph is FAST on a bicycle!

Then...

SPLAT!!!

I'm lucky I didn't jerk the handlebars too far, and wipe out. 40 mph is FAST on a bicycle!
Holy moly, I would have set my brakes on fire before ever getting close to that speed; that is truly awe inspiring/terrifying.

I'm shaking here just imagining the death wobble incurred from an errant grasshopper impact on a bike.
 

omnitonic

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I'm shaking here just imagining the death wobble incurred from an errant grasshopper impact on a bike.
Calling it death wobble is accurate. At those speeds, basically any attempt at steering would result in a disaster. I could just feel in my hands that if I turned too far, more than a micron or two, I was dead.

It was a fun experience, in spite of the bug guts I ingested, but I don't think I would ever repeat it.
 

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Baddog2020

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I find myself cleaning the bugs off the windshield of my JLU almost daily because it attracts insects like nothing I've ever seen before. My neighbor noticed me cleaning up my Jeep again last night and mentioned I seem to be constantly shining it up. He also asked me if I had named it and I said no, not yet. That got me thinking, maybe I should name it Bug Catcher or Bug Killer or Bug Exterminator?

I don't remember my CJ 5 having the same bug issue. Maybe there were fewer bugs 40 years ago? Maybe the brighter LED headlights of the JL attract bugs much more than the old non halogen sealed beam? Maybe I spent so much time cleaning mud off the CJ glass that I hardly noticed a few bugs here and there?

When driving home from visiting my son at his lake property this summer, I almost had to pull over to clean the windshield so I could see the road. I don't have the advanced security package but I wonder if the bugs on the windshield effect the sensor for the adaptive cruise?

Anyone have decent luck with a solution to reduce the bug destroying capability of the JL? Do the bug deflectors really work keeping the bugs off the windshield and not just the hood? I already have plastic protective film installed on the hood so I'm not really interested in a bug deflector just to protect the hood's paint.

Jeep Wrangler JL How can the JL windshield attract so many bugs? 1627876190804

I slaughtered a bunch of suicidal cicadas on a daily basis. They seem to just dive bomb my windshield.

Bugs got their revenge on me a few weeks ago when a bee landed on my face while I had my modular helmet flipped open on my motorcycle. Bastard stung me on my nose when I tried to swipe him away. Less than a week later, his cousin got inside my helmet somehow at 60 mph in West Virginia and stung me on the top of my head. Can’t mess with Mother Nature! I now keep my helmet closed more and just crack open the visor. Lesson learned.
 

Saddle Tramp

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I carry one of these to scrape off the heavy stuff. so I can see.
Before anyone comments I put the sharp side out

Jeep Wrangler JL How can the JL windshield attract so many bugs? external-content.duckduckgo.com
 

RELBUS

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Its not just you, my Jeep is a bug magnet too. It must be the mostly flat slope of the windshield. My pickup truck does not collect bugs like the JL does. I try to keep my Jeep really clean, and one trip and its got bugs all over it. I use a product called bug slide https://www.bugslide.com/
I am kind of OCD about the paint on my vehicles, so using this goes against everything I normally do. However last year at Sturgis bug slide was doing free details on bikes. My new bike was filthy, and after watching the bug slide team working on much nicer bikes than mine, I decided to let them clean mine. I was impressed and bought their product. I use it all the time...and with the ceramic coating on my bike, a quick spray of bug slide and a microfiber removes all the bug guts with very little effort.

It works so well, I have began using it on the grill and windshield of the JL in between hand washes to clean the bugs off. Give it a shot, I bet you wont be disappointed.
 

bigbaozi

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It's the worst vehicle I've ever had for bugs and the windshield wipers are damn near useless even with bug eating wiper fluid. We've had a few trips now that required us to stop and give the windshield a good scrub because we can barely see. I think it's just because it is so flat. I wonder if one of those old school plastic windshield protectors would make much of a difference.

We don't take road trips without towels and glass cleaner anymore.
 

BruceA78

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They were building a highway near my house, and they were waiting on the bridges before opening it to the public. I had a bicycle with a speedometer, and I took advantage of the rare opportunity to go riding down a hill on a four-lane highway without fear of death from traffic. I got that sucker all the way up to 40 mph, which was completely terrifying. 40 mph is FAST on a bicycle!

Then...

SPLAT!!!

I'm lucky I didn't jerk the handlebars too far, and wipe out. 40 mph is FAST on a bicycle!
There is a hill by my house that I can hit 40mph if I push it. Strava usually lists high speeds for segments like these but they have it blocked to prevent people from trying to go too fast and wrecking! Glad I have not taken any bugs at that speed though! :)
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