Never knew this about fold down windshield!?

[LARSONEM]

I personally see no gains to folding down the windshield. The frame for the rollbar is still there, so you gain virtually nothing. I used to take the doors off my JK when I went to the Silver Lake Sand Dunes, but I've never had the doors off either of the two JL's that I currently own. My Rubicon Unlimited is a soft top that I regularly fold down in the summer and my 2 door Willys is a hard top which I really like because it's my daily driver in the winter and so much easider to put cargo in and out of the back. Most Jeep owners like that ease of access with the majority of Jeeps on dealer lots having the hard top just for that reason, which was why I ordered my Rubicon to get the soft top.

With that said, I recently folded down the windshield on my 2021 2 door Willys to check for corrosion as I near the end of my 5 year corrosion warranty (vehicle went into service October 2020). Sure enough, there was corrosion beginning along the sealed seam on the bottom of the windshield frame. My Jeep goes in this Thursday 7/31 for a lot of work; hood, hood hinges, windshield frame, windshield, both doors, door hinges, tailgate and tailgate hinges. I'm hoping it turns out well and know that the dealership has done lots of them. I don't use the Rubicon Unlimited in the winter, never have, and so far it's clean, but sadly I've read that keeping it out of the snow and salt isn't going to eliminate the corrosion problem, but only prolong the time before it happens, which may well push me past the warranty periond.

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[TJJKJL]

If you've ordered the Mopar solid or mesh sunbonnet for your JL, you'll need to fold down the windshield to install a portion of the top that goes between the windshield and the roll bar.

 

[Eyeball]

Folded it down once to watch fireworks. Kind of nice for that. Probably never again though. Honestly if they had a solid roof and non-detachable doors that'd be fine by me. Of course, others really like all the removable stuff.

I am one of the others you reference. The rest of the world has caught up with Jeeps off-road capability. If it was not for the removable doors and roof, Jeep would have more competition for my dollar on the car lot.

 

[Renostever]

Fold down windshield at the drive in would be cool.

Watched the first Star Wars movie at the drive in sitting in our CJ-5 with the windshield folded down. The movie screen disappeared into the sky and that opening scene was as cool as anything I’ve ever seen at a movie.

 

[Jeep Wick]

As many know, windshield's originally folded to get the vehicle into a crate for military shipping, not (so much) for an open air experience.

A lot of engineering (read: money that could be spent elsewhere) goes into making today's Wrangler capable of doing this for the extremely small minority of owners who have taken their windshield down, and the even smaller minority of these owners who do so regularly.

YMMV but it's my #1 feature that should be dropped to reduce costs and/or apply those savings to other aspects of the vehicle.

I don't think there would be any savings to remove the feature. Certainly not passed on to the consumer. In fact, I think more parts should be easily moved and unbolted. Look at the Slate EV, parts are easily replaced and some are universal to left and right side. Practical engineering, we need more of that. The Audi R8 has bolt on quarter panels. Imagine how easy to repair accident damage.

 

[BrianB66]

I bought my first Jeep ('86 CJ7) after seeing the advert with a CJ on the beach with the windshield folded down. Never made it to the beach but I did run a lot of sand dunes in it after getting stationed at Fort Bliss, TX! Flash forward to my '24 JL, I have no desire to fold down the windshield!

 

[Spacenut]

I've done every other option both tops, doors on/off, tube doors etc. . Maybe I will give the windshield fold down a whirl just for a goof.

 

[AndySpill]

...windshield down to capture the all American Bison!!

or vice versa

 

[AndySpill]

I've done every other option both tops, doors on/off, tube doors etc. . Maybe I will give the windshield fold down a whirl just for a goof.

That's just it Michael.

While I have no hard data, my gut tells me that of the relatively few owners whose taken down the windshield, it's been more a "been there done that" phenomenon than something done regularly( by those who've tried it.)

 

[Cire]

If there was one thing they could remove feature-wise without too much objection, I’d think it would be the fold down windshield. I’ve done it once but it did make reaching those hard to clean dash cracks up front a little easier fwiw. It being there, it’ll catch moisture retaining dirt and debris too so folding it down to clean might not be a bad thing. Maybe it would lower the cost of the vehicle a little if it was no longer available, who knows. They’d probably just pocket the money anyway lol.

Personally, I’ll never have the doors or top off either due to time to do it, space in the garage, & security on long trips but it’s a feature a lot of people use. I don’t see that going anywhere. I do like the option of removing the freedom panels though.

With an electric Milwaukee ratchet and the EZ4X4 lift, I can literally take off my top in five mins and drive away. The top stores on the lift and I can park underneath it, if I want.

 

[AndySpill]

I don't think there would be any savings to remove the feature. Certainly not passed on to the consumer. In fact, I think more parts should be easily moved and unbolted. Look at the Slate EV, parts are easily replaced and some are universal to left and right side. Practical engineering, we need more of that. The Audi R8 has bolt on quarter panels. Imagine how easy to repair accident damage.

You may be right, both in zero cost savings internal to Stellantis and those we might see as consumers in either price reductions or monies saved going to other more desired features without raising our costs (as much.)

The Wrangler's all but monopoly in the open air SUV space (Bronco notwithstanding) finds Stellantis better able to pass on costs to buyers than in other more competitive automotive spaces.

I have read though that Stellantis needed to make their "A" pillar beefier to accomodate the fold down windshield safely, which adds to both material costs and gas mileage loses. And while I fully concede that mileage savings here are minimal, I've also read that manufacturers spend millions looking for ways to improve mileage any way they can.

 

[BXFXJeep]

I've also read that manufacturers spend millions looking for ways to improve mileage any way they can.

Only because manufacturers get fined hundreds of millions because of mpg

The Wrangler has gotten heavier every generation, into the bloated mess that is the JL.

 

[LKG]

Watched the first Star Wars movie at the drive in sitting in our CJ-5 with the windshield folded down. The movie screen disappeared into the sky and that opening scene was as cool as anything I’ve ever seen at a movie.

All right I gotta admit I'm a little jealous.

 

[LKG]

Just a disclaimer here. I will probably never fold down my windshield. I think it's cool that it's a heritage carry-over, but the reality is that the difficulty in doing so, and that frame/rollbar are still present, just doesn't warrant the effort on my part.

Now back on topic... I just saw a picture today for the first time of one folded down on a Jeep that has ACC. Never knew there was a huge box that stays put and that you get a factory cover that must be put in place to protect the sensors?! No offense if you have this, but it just looks plain dumb. Even without that box, from a distance it still looks like the windshield is still in place! Also the way it sits on hood with frame curved up looks like it would block some serious trail view!

The reality is that a modern Jeep, or any other vehicle, are just not meant to do this anymore. Looks super cool on CJ's though! [sorry if I sound like a hater]

I flip mine down to install/remove the sunshade, it also makes cleaning the windshield super easy. Then a couple times a year when she gets a good detailing.

 

[Ratbert]

Yup... Pointless "feature" that I'd be fine seeing go away. It would be an overall better vehicle without (lighter, stronger, cheaper, quieter, less broken windshields, etc.).

I agree that it's a relatively pointless, extremely rarely used feature, but less broken windshields?

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