Jeep Gladiator, Wrangler JL Get Gorilla Glass
Today’s semi-alliterative headline is courtesy of Jeep.
The company has already made Gorilla Glass available on the JK Wrangler. Now it will expand to the Gladiator and JL Wrangler.
For the uninitiated, Gorilla Glass is similar to the glass used on most smartphones, and in this application, the outer ply is 52 percent thicker than the glass normally used for windshields on the Gladiator and Wrangler.
This glass is tougher than the regular stuff, which makes it pretty appealing for off-roading. Bashing one’s way through the boonies can put glass in danger from wayward tree branches and limbs.
They also give up nothing in terms of functionality. They work just fine with the available forward-facing camera and its heater, and they have the same Jeep Easter eggs that non-Gorilla-glass models do.
Pricing starts at $793 and goes as high as $932 (JK Wranglers start a bit lower at $645). That’s for parts and doesn’t include labor. There’s a two-year warranty with unlimited miles.
[Image: Jeep]
Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.
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Does it mean that cars and SUVs will more and more imitate cellphones?
I had a JK for four years, and never took it more off-road than some mild two tracks within federal land in Northern Michigan. However, I did replace five windshields on it. If you own a Wrangler, having the replacement windshield rider checked on your car insurance is a necessity.
Jeeps windshields are rather "upright" so rocks etc. don't defect well. If one offroads a lot then they should install defectors to keep branches off the "A" pillars. The deflectors are basically a light steel cable that mounts at each hood corner and attach at the upper "A" pillar. They are worth every penny.
We have a 2022 Jeep Gladiator with 7,000 miles. Had a stone hit our windshield, causing a crack to form from top to bottom. Contacted Jeep dealership, they were no help. Looked up warranty, saw we had a 2-year warranty on Gorilla Glass. Contacted them and were told if it was bigger than width of a quarter or longer than 3 inches, the warranty was void. Even though warranty states damage caused by road debris would be covered. We are replacing windshield, but not with GG. Will not buy another Jeep. Don't waste your money on GG, it's not worth it. Even customer service at GG is unprofessional.