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Is the hood made of Aluminum? Is it paper thin?

17K views 24 replies 15 participants last post by  fwdjeep 
#1 ·
I have 15K on my odom and I cant believe the number of dings from road debris on the hood around the Jeep symbol. Has anyone else experienced this? I really hate bug guards and will be pissed if I have to put one on.:mad:
 
#9 · (Edited)
I have a clear bra and it's protected it at least twice from rocks and showed only slight blemishes I can see on the clear bra but those kind of go away. I did get 3 small rock chips on the hood up past the clear bra, but was able to touch it up with paint mixed with paint thinner, waiting for it to dry and then clear coat touch up mixed with paint thinner. You can't even see the line of the clear bra unless the Jeep is dirty and even then it's a faint broken line. The clear bra was lazer cut including around the JEEP emblem but I don't see any chips there. I guess it depends on the roads you drive. 10k miles on my WK2.
 
#11 ·
Mine was no match for a steel sign post @ 45MPH. Thats when I discovered it was aluminum.
 
#16 ·
The clear bra is a great option over plastic deflectors. I have one on my Lexus and it has done wonders at preventing chips and basic road rash. You can't even see the edges. It's easy to put on with lots of videos on Youtube.

I don't own a Jeep yet but I've already been researching ways to reduce weight. Glad to hear that the hood is lightweight to begin with. When my 2014 GC comes in, I'll hitting it with the 3M clear bra for sure.
 
#19 ·
I can't remember if it was at the auto show or a picture online, but I remember seeing the body of the WK2 and all the parts painted a different color to show what material they were. All parts that were painted green were aluminum and the hood was definitely aluminum.
 
#21 · (Edited)
It's not so much the metal as it is the paint. Thankfully, the EPA restricted VOC's and other additives so that we can breathe cleaner air and drink better water but it caused paints and adhesives to perform worse. Any modern automobile has people complaining about it. Also, out habits have changed. We drive faster and closer than ever before. The race fairings on my motorcycle are direct from China and pre painted. The paint is like steel, very little rash after 3 seasons of wheel to wheel racing. They don't care about whats in the paint.
FWIW, a quick search:
https://www.google.com/search?q=why...s=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
 
#22 ·
Yup. While on vacation in Thailand, I met a fellow American living in China that 'said' his teeth we all f'ed up (grinded down to practically nothing) because he always used the local toothpaste. When his teeth started rotting away, he found out they were using anti-freeze/coolant for coloring. Sound's crazy and could be exaggerated. Lack of regulation in some things, good regulation in others.

As far as boosting paint thickness or protection goes, there's always Plasti-Dip. Comes off quick once it's done it's job and allows you to do some cool customizing. There's always carbon fibre too but I don't know how that handles stones. Pricey too.
 
#23 ·
As far as boosting paint thickness or protection goes, there's always Plasti-Dip. Comes off quick once it's done it's job and allows you to do some cool customizing.
You, sir, may have found the answer! I just might do that for the winter months when all the grit is on the road :)
 
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