Rolling the Dice on a Sting Gray JLR

In JL news, I decided I didn?t like the spacers and pulled them. The offset with the small stock tires was not a look I could live with. If anyone wants some 1.25? BORA spacers, I?d be happy to pass them along for $100 + shipping. They will need 2 new lugs as I was rushing and slightly damaged one and fully stripped another using the wrong size socket before I realized what was going on.

On the truck front, we got the rocker welded in today. The PO rebuilt the floors with a mix of channel, angle and plate. They?re solid, but didn?t look great below the doors. And because they don?t match the factory profile, the repair panels we got wouldn?t go in without modification. So we trimmed one and got it stitched in and it looks great. The reveal is even, and should fit well when we get the doors back on.

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Edit:

Here?s a shot my folks sent after a quick pass with filler. Pretty pleased with how it?s shaping up

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Ugh...

We'll see how this turns out.  I'm starting to get the bubbling paint around the lower door hinges and at the bottom edge of the door.  So far the hinges themselves, as well as the hood and tailgate look fine, but then, so did the doors 6 weeks ago when I last checked. 

Who failed material science at Jeep and decided to mix steel hinges and aluminum doors with no isolation?  I'd seen this popping up on the forums, and it appears to be pretty wide spread.  And there's a wide range of dealer responses from pound sand to repainting as needed and a rental.  Then again, if they're not doing anything to fix the cause of the problem, it seems like it's just a matter of time before it comes back.

These things cost too much damn money to have failing paint in the first 3-5 years. 
 
I'm glad I didn't have the bubbling paint issue on my Gladiator. I'm not saying it was a contributing factor to selling it, but it was always in the back of my mind as a "when, not if" sort of thing.  It's crazy how they let this design go through.
 
en480c4 said:
Ugh...

Who failed material science at Jeep and decided to mix steel hinges and aluminum doors with no isolation?
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It's the same jackass who thought it wise to weld the front track bar bracket on the frame after the frame dipping process.

Also, did absolutely no one within the process chain think "hey, this is a bad idea?"
 
Yeah, I'm super bummed because I'm thrilled with how it's driving these days.  The 392 take-off Fox shocks have been a game changer. 
 
G Beasley said:
Jeep does dumb stuff production wise but I still love them.
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Love Jeeps, hate the dealers. 

So a few weeks I got a letter from the Jeep dealer I use near my new job for service, expressing interest in buying the Jeep to shore up their thin used vehicle inventory.  It was actually the second time they had done so.  They have all the info on the Jeep, so I assumed the offer was something that was legitmate.  I hadn't really been interested in selling at the time, but given the paint, I figured I'd see if they'd still honor it.  If so I was willing to move on.  So I stopped in today...

After looking at it and throwing it in the system, they came back $5,000 below what was in their letter.  The number they came back with isn't something I ever would've considered.  If I stopped in just to see what I could get, I wouldn't give it a second thought.  I thought their offer was kind of high, but that's why I was considering it.  THEY sent me the letter, which is why I stopped in in the first place, so yeah, they wasted my time.  They said the guy that does those letters wasn't in, for whatever that's worth. 

Anyway, I'll probably use them to jump through the hoops with Jeep to get the paint looked at, but won't be using them for service moving forward. 
 
My wife was away for the weekend, so I had my mom watch the girls so my dad and I could have longer to work on the truck. It took three different days to do the three repair panels we did on the drivers side. Today we did all three? cowl, sill and rear corner? on the passenger side. And just like that, it?s ready for filler. Good day!

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A few weeks from being able to pick them up, but I found a smoking deal on a set of Mojave wheels. Such a good deal that I?ll l likely be able to dump my Rubicon wheels and be very little out of pocket. I like the look and the 1/4? less backspacing doesn?t hurt my feelings.  Plus, I badly need my tires re-balanced, so mounting and balancing them won?t be much more. I?ll just need to track down a fifth for the spare.

I?m really looking forward to getting rid of the machines face on my wheels. Not sure these will stay the stock color forever, but even as-is, they?ll be a big improvement.

The Mojave has a couple o different options. They?re theses ones?

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Well, my tires are in rough shape after 23k miles. Are JL ball joints as bad as JK ones were? That?s the only thing I can think of. Until I can address that I threw in a Fox steering stabilizer. I know it?s a bandaid, but if it buys me a few months while I hunt for a good deal on tires, it?ll be worth it.

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We also got there PS door done on the Willys this morning. It and the lower cowl on that side were definitely the worst panels on it. It was more of a battle than I hoped, but it?s ready for filler and primer. We may or may not do the DS door as well. It needs to be stripped back down to see if it?s OK or needs the sheet metal. Seems silly at this point to skip it when everything else came together so well.

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And my father got the DS door hung and the fender on. It?s good motivation to see it come back together again.

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Well, to the surprise of nobody that knows me, I?m moving in from the JLR this week. Why?

I really do like it. It is amazingly capable and comfortable to drive. It looks great. Tough to complain about much.

What I can complain about is the price. I just don?t feel like having that much tied up in a vehicle that?s used primarily for commuting with the occasional beach/ice cream run.

Do I like hearing about the JL clutch failures? Not really. But that?s not a major contributor. The paint issue popping up on both doors just as the 5 years corrosion warranty is up on my ?18 is probably the biggest reason beyond the money.

What will I do next? We?ll see. I have some thoughts. And taking a break from Jeeps might be good for me.
 
green50gt said:
I kinda wish I could get into a new hobby also.  Maybe knitting?
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Let's be clear... I'm not making better decisions here.  I just bought a Rover. 

I didn't want to hold onto the JL, definitely didn't want a JK, and refuse to buy-high on a TJ/LJ, especially in New England.  And I have no desire to daily a YJ or CJ.  So I had to look elsewhere, and not a lot appealed to me.

The RRC has always been a bucket list type of vehicle for me.  I'm sure I'll be pulling my hair out over something sooner than later, but I'm pretty excited to learn how to fix an entirely different set of problems.
 
Time will tell if this was a good decision.But it looks so good! Got 265/75R16 KM3s on and it?s going well.

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Though I think I need to rebuild the front and rear driveshafts? Getting some grumbling on deceleration. Not sure if it?s u-joints or the slip joint.  So it begins

 
I love how they look and have seriously flirted with a Defender 90 but ultimately I shied away the unknown / lack of parts stateside.
 

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