Interview Wanted - JL Rust Problems

[FrickinAdam]

There are no dissimilar metals in the panel flanges. It's poor prep that allows moisture to enter the weld seams and starts the corrosion. There is raw aluminum under the hinges. Not even primer. Moisture gets under there and we're off to the races.

After getting it "fixed" once before it came back. Most of the corrosion is not on the hinges where the hinges and door meet, but the lower portion of the doors. Was told that jeep had to change their fix for the issue and its just full panel replacement and better primer for the panels. There could be some help with the zinc but that wouldn't explain the corrosion lower on the doors or panels. Now when they check, they look for the lower door seem. This is my personal experience and explanation. Glad the dealership is taking care of it as a good will outside warranty fix. But three doors and labor was going to cost 6k. glad its free for me.

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[TheNewGuy]

The door is aluminum. The hinges and bolts are steel.

How is that not dissimilar metals? Can someone correct m please?

The issue is a combination of corrosion similar to galvanic corrosion but not exactly, which is made much worse because of the poor prep and poor manufacturing process. That is my opinion.

The hinges are aluminum. Yes the bolts are steel but several body shops have removed hinges from doors and the corrosion had started along the outer edge of the hinge away from the bolts

 

[TheNewGuy]

After getting it "fixed" once before it came back. Most of the corrosion is not on the hinges where the hinges and door meet, but the lower portion of the doors. Was told that jeep had to change their fix for the issue and its just full panel replacement and better primer for the panels. There could be some help with the zinc but that wouldn't explain the corrosion lower on the doors or panels. Now when they check, they look for the lower door seem. This is my personal experience and explanation. Glad the dealership is taking care of it as a good will outside warranty fix. But three doors and labor was going to cost 6k. glad its free for me.

100% true and if the bodyshop does the repairs correctly, it will be better prepped than how it left the factory.
Not sure why you laughed at my previous comment regarding the lack of dissimilar metals?

 

[Bryce]

Ya, the hinges are Aluminum. The pins and bolts are steel. Just confirmed with a magnet.
It's shitty prep and lack of primer. This kind of crap is not limited to Jeep. Our old (now my son's) 2013 Ford explorer has bubbles and flaking paint all across the front edge of the hood.

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I'm just glad I've not had this happen with min after 5+ years.

 

[DavidArmen]

The hinges are aluminum. Yes the bolts are steel but several body shops have removed hinges from doors and the corrosion had started along the outer edge of the hinge away from the bolts

Very interesting indeed. Does that go for all the hinges? When removing my tailgate hinges to install the Teraflex reinforcement, the hinges were way WAY too heavy to be aluminum.

 

[Bryce]

Very interesting indeed. Does that go for all the hinges? When removing my tailgate hinges to install the Teraflex reinforcement, the hinges were way WAY too heavy to be aluminum.

I just stuck a magnet to the tailgate and hood hinges. The body side appears to be steel and the magnet stuck to it, but the hood and tailgate sides did not attract the magnet.

 

[Ratbert]

Imagine helping the TFL guys shit all over Jeep?

No thanks.

I agree completely. We should all bury our heads in the sand and the problem will magically go away! Deities forbid that others find out this issue that absolutely does not and has never existed!

 

[TheNewGuy]

Very interesting indeed. Does that go for all the hinges? When removing my tailgate hinges to install the Teraflex reinforcement, the hinges were way WAY too heavy to be aluminum.

Pretty sure they are aluminum too. The tailgate itself is made of magnesium.
Maybe they felt heavier because the are bigger than the other hinges?

 

[BrokenDana35]

@TFL I recommend trying to interview Jimmy Wensel who is the admin of the JL corrosion information Facebook group. He has 36 years of experience in the collision industry certified for aluminum repair and is very knowledgeable

 

[Grace213]

Happy to leave. Came here to get an owners side of the story from very knowledgeable folks plugged into the JL world that might have some interesting insight they would like to share to a different community.

It is for profit, I’m not trying to hide that. Just like nearly every other news and media site.

Next time something impactful happens in your community and your go to for profit news organization tries to tell both sides of the story I hope someone involved is willing to be interviewed without so much friction and skepticism.

Why are you so butt hurt?

 

[Grace213]

I'm really not understanding the attack on @TFL and Tommy on here asking for people willing to be interviewed. Very odd. Ya, they are researching for a piece for their channel.

I've been fortunate that after 5 years there's no signs of corrosion on the body of my 2019 JLUR, so I can't really comment on it.

I was hoping that pur 2019 was also going to be spared the corrosion issue, but unfortunately even here in hot ass TX, it has reared its ugly head. All four doors and 7 of the 8 door hinges have it. Waiting for dealer to decide what they will do. Took it 3 days before the warranty was up, but due to this awesome hurricane I'm sure everything is now on hold.

 

[BrokenDana35]

@TFL i appreciate you trying to bring this corrosion issue to more people’s attention. It’s a serious issue affecting the vehicles we love the most. Getting word out and putting Stellantis in the hot seat is the best way to get a legitimate fix.

I have a 2020 Jeep Wrangler with 18k miles in Michigan that has an appointment next month to get 4 new doors, 8 new door hinges, new hood, new windshield frame, and 2 new tailgate hinges

While you’re at it…please add the clutch recall debacle to the list as well

 

[Ratbert]

Why are you so butt hurt?

Maybe it's because we're a bunch of assholes that have become so greedy that we think we need to be paid to be interviewed?

 

[DavidArmen]

Pretty sure they are aluminum too. The tailgate itself is made of magnesium.
Maybe they felt heavier because the are bigger than the other hinges?

I have no idea how much the door hinges weigh as I’ve never removed them. I was just referring to the weight compared to how much material there was. It felt literally 2-3 times heavier than a chunk of aluminum that size should have.

It is entirely possible my memory is incorrect. I am very inclined to dig up one of those hinges from storage and calculate its’ density. It should be incredibly easy to see which it is, given that aluminum is less than [3 grams / cubic cm] whereas steel is closer to [8 grams /cubic cm].

 

[PatrickIvan]

Apparently mine had all the hinges replaced and repainted TWICE before I bought it last October. I just found out. The dealership only provided partial service records even though the entire service history of my Jeep occurred at their location. :P Still waiting to hear why the 4x4 was serviced in 2020. But I digress...

The hinges: Once in 2020, and once in 2022.... It's a 2019.

There doesn't appear to be any issues anywhere on the body at this time.

The frame has some light corrosion in parts. I live in Ontario, Canada, and we dump so much salt on our roads here, we're ruining our inland ecosystem. That said, it's under control with regular cleaning and oiling and nothing more than inactive light corrosion for the most part.

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