Door Hinge chips

[cowgirljeeper]

I have a 2018 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited Rubicon JL - This is my 5th Wrangler and my third 4 door Wrangler. I purchased mine new April 2018. My door hinges have an incredible amount of chips to the bare metal. I do not live on a stone road or rarely drive stone roads and have not taken this jeep offroad yet. The chipping and condition of my hinges after one year of time is awful. I will include pics. To me this is a design flaw with the new Rubicon JL's that is causing this issue with rocks being able to be thrown onto these hinges. I know there are aftermarket 3M vinyl that people are putting on them and covers but this seems unacceptable to me for a 50K plus vehicle. My question for all the Rubicon owners (I have been told it is only happening on Rubicons due to the different fender flares and larger tires) does having

some kind of slider that sticks out prevent this from happening. I have made a report to Jeep Cares on this issue and it has not been resolved yet but ultimately they should be painted. It is way too many chips on them to use touch-up paint. Can those of you that have the non-factory rock rails tell me if that seems to stop this issue. I wonder if a wider rock rail or slider would stop the rocks from hitting the hinges. Thanks.

its not a JL issue. I had a 4-door JKUR and had this. i had my hinges rhino lined and problem solved.

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[Malamutants13]

You have to be proactive. to avoid this install steps/running boards, then good mud flaps. I just rand 50 miles of forest service roads which are all dirt and gravel and nothing not a single chip or scratch. I have 6" wide sliders and extra wide mud flaps. I do not even get mod or dirt thrown from tires it is all caught before the hinges or body

Did you order the Rokblokz with the cutout to fit with the D6? I ordered the D6 and just discovered these flaps. I want to get them but I don’t have a Rubicon so I’m not sure if the cutout is necessary with the Go Rhino D6. Thanks, in advance!

 

[lightsout]

There is NO cutout needed for the flaps, the slider stops short of the flap.

I should add in the last 3 months I have driven upwards of 400 miles of gravel NSF roads and trails and not a single rock ship anywhere. You can hear the rock being thrown at the flaps though, they are doing their job flawlessly

 

[jameslavis]

8000km, never been offroad and not a single chip....

 

[Ehmsea]

I purchased some custom 3M protective film, which I ordered about a week before i bought my jeep. I bought my jeep JLUR about 2 hours from my house, drove a little around town that week and put the film on the next weekend. I had a huge chip on the right rear lower hinge.


so, I sympathize.

To those that say they can't believe it with a stock jeep...I guess you've been lucky...

I also have some pits in my rear fenders...oh well...and now some scratches from tree branches...

 

[Uhdinator]

Looks like its mostly that the rear hinges are right in the flight path of anything coming out of the tire tread. The Front hinges are to high to get hit. The running boards do deflect things as well. No chips here. Time to trade up for a 2 door.

 

[ClackyJeep]

Just an FYI. I recently took delivery of a 2020 JLUR (ordered 02/14/2020). I immediately ordered some 3M protective film from Amazon to try to head this issue off at the pass. Well as I started inspecting my door hinges I noticed what looks like a factory protective film on the bottom hinges (top and bottom, front and back). What do y’all think? Think @JeepCares finally listened? I went ahead and added my own extra layer of 3M since my hinges have not issues yet...just in case..but maybe they finally did something about this. The top (door attached) hinges all around feel like they have a plastic coating as well compared to the paint on the doors, but I couldn’t see a seam or anything. I also went hunting and found that they must be adding film to the thin piece of trim that goes under the main grill as well (see last picture)
Sorry for all the yellow specks, it’s pollen season in Atlanta.

You can see the edges at the bottom of the lower hinge here:

And here:

Here is the Front Trim (under Grill) piece showing the film edge. (Front of Jeep is to the left)

 

[Landu992001]

I just purchase a 2021 JLUR my Jeep does not have a protective film. I am surprised that Jeep has not coated the hinges or installed different/wider sliders to protect from rock damage. I have damage on all four rear hinges. Once I noticed the damage, I purchased front mud flaps and they protect everything but the lower hinge. Jeep should either protect out of factory or tell you when you buy from the dealer. I really wish I would have known about this as I would have fixed from day one. If I owned a Dealership, I would add the Mopar Performance Slider on the Rubicons that I sold just to be able to sleep at night.

I am new to the site as I came over from the Bronco forums. I have two Early Bronco but bought a Jeep as they put independent suspension in the new Bronco (that I planned to buy) and Jeep installed a Diesel. Which is awesome.

 

[Landu992001]

Just a follow to a previous post, if you are concerned with the rock chips on the hinges please report to dealer and Jeep Cares. They seem to not beware of this issue or are pretending. I Love the Jeep and would not change anything but they either need to install the mopar performance rails or put file on the hinges. I would have done this when I bought it but no one told the this would happen and now it is too late.

 

[Jehovasfitness]

i just put 3m film over mine when i first got it

 

[vasdimpop]

Is this mainly a JLUR issue? Or a JLU issue as well? I'm about to order a JLU Willys and want to be ahead of this

 

[lightsout]

Is this mainly a JLUR issue? Or a JLU issue as well? I'm about to order a JLU Willys and want to be ahead of this

It us all of the above, buy Rokblokz Mud Flaps that will stop all rock throwing from hitting the Jeep

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