which year did steel hatches start?

[Kejtar]

1. lighter hence better fuel economy (compared to a steel equivalent)

IIRC someone weighed them and was really surprised to find out that the steel one is lighter.

 

[Churchlady]

IIRC someone weighed them and was really surprised to find out that the steel one is lighter.

I'm not surprised, come to think of it. That thing is heavier than any hatch I can recall. Has a great solid thwunk when it closes.

And I don't recall seeing an XJ w/a cracked hatch, Jeff. Do you know if there's a life-expectancy after which it becomes common? Anything that contributes to fiberglass's deterioration that might be avoided or slowed down w/proper care?

 

[Darky]

Mine's black, and the panel above the hood is almost completely bare. I've heard of problems with poor paint quality before, but I'm not too worried. I might just respray the bare parts with some flat black spray paint I got at home.

 

[AZ Jeff]

I'm not surprised, come to think of it. That thing is heavier than any hatch I can recall. Has a great solid thwunk when it closes.

And I don't recall seeing an XJ w/a cracked hatch, Jeff. Do you know if there's a life-expectancy after which it becomes common? Anything that contributes to fiberglass's deterioration that might be avoided or slowed down w/proper care?

Yeah, my '92 (which lived most of it's life in Wisconsin) had cracks in the area around the strut anchors. The body shop that painted the replacement for me said that they had seen several updates to the hatch over the years to deal with cracking.

 

[Legacy]

The header panel is the front of your jeep, hold your grill, headlights. I'm sure the panel that covers the wipers in the front is also fiberglass. The reason amc/jeep picked fiber glass over steel is the fact that it is lighter and would stand up against the weather over the years, i think they were able to uses steel on the 97+ xj's was because all of the advances in steel alloys making them stronger, lighter, and have better corrosion resistance. They didn't have the same steel alloys they have today ten years ago so it makes sense that amc/jeep would use fiberglass on the earlier jeeps.

 

[JeepinAudiophile]

The header panel IS fiberglass... I just broke mine...and I broke my last one...(95 and 00)

 

[Legacy]

yeah i broke mine as well, i wish that they had an metal replacement, i don't mind the hatch being made out of fiberglass but i'd rather have a header panel that was made out of metal, when i'm working on my jeep and have some one helping they tend to lean against it and it flexes.

 

[Churchlady]

The header panel IS fiberglass... I just broke mine...and I broke my last one...(95 and 00)

How did you break them?

What does one do when a fiberglass body part needs replacing? Are they sometimes reparable or do you have to buy new ones? Are the new ones available only from dealerships or does anyone else make them?

 

[Legacy]

well i was in an fender bender and cracked mine, you can buy them from almost any place that sells body parts for jeep they run about $80.00 bucks or so.
it would depend on the damage to the header panel, as to weater or not you could fix it.

 

[Darky]

A good front bumper with grill guard is sounding better and better...The paint on my header panel is holding up good, so maybe its not the fiberglass causing it to come off...its probably just lots of sun exposure...

 

[XJ Saga]

It's made out of Tin...LOL

 

[Legacy]

Yes i would suggest an new bumper something better then the stock bumper, when i was in my fender bender my bumper got shoved back against my tire and the police had my xj towed, $90 bucks to have them tow it to there yard and another $90 to have them tow it to my house.