No More Cowl Dinks - Possible New Jeep JL Wrangler Door Hinges!

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Just read the article below written by David Zatz and published on AllPar.com and in it, he highlights a very interesting patent that Chrysler just had approved on July 2013 and may just find its way onto the all new Jeep JL Wrangler. Apparently, they've finally come up with a hinge design that will act as a detent and will hold the door open without straps and it will also prevent the door from swinging wide open allowing the mirror to dink your cowl! Of course, the most important part of the design is that it will still allow you to remove your doors with ease. Let's all hope this is something they will in fact include on the new JL!

Will the Wrangler’s doors finally stay open?
by David Zatz on 2015-09-09

hinges.jpg

The Jeep Wrangler is the last vehicle in America to have doors without detents — those little stops that keep the door open partway or all the way so it doesn’t slam shut on the driver when they get out. Since the doors are removable, they use old-fashioned hinges with fabric straps to limit the swing of the door.

A patent from January 2012, approved in July 2013, may find its way onto the next generation Wrangler, coded JL. Invented by Robert Lazarevich and Richard Kleinhoffer, both of Michigan, this patent from Chrysler Group covers a special hinge assembly for cars with removable doors and roofs. As the patent declares,

Removable doors provide a pleasurable, open-air driving experience. Removable doors may be provided with hinge assemblies that allow the driver and/or passenger to quickly and easily remove the door in a manner that allows the vehicle to be driven without one or more of the doors attached to a body of the vehicle.

The hinges show up on the outside of the Wrangler, and have two detents, but still allow for easy removal of the door. The system appears to be a fairly hefty improvement over the current system, shown above, though it doesn’t address in-door wiring for power locks and windows. Thanks, AutoTechnician.

http://news.allpar.com/index.php/2015/09/will-the-wranglers-doors-finally-stay-open-29909
 

Bullwinckle

Hooked
That's very interesting and would be a nice feature. I'm just curious how easy will the doors come off and hopefully those parts won't rust it on later on in the future.
 
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