How do Your Freedom Panels Fit?

[JeepCares]

Dealer just called me back after having it all morning. They said that it is definitely an issue and that they have no idea on how to fix this. Their recommendation was to bring it to one of their affiliate body shops.

@JeepCares What should my next steps be? I actually do like this dealer and they are straight shooters. No beating around the bush, they just don't have an answer as to why my Freedom Panels do not align.

Good Morning Tyler,
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[Eric Kern]

Dealer just called me back after having it all morning. They said that it is definitely an issue and that they have no idea on how to fix this. Their recommendation was to bring it to one of their affiliate body shops.

@JeepCares What should my next steps be? I actually do like this dealer and they are straight shooters. No beating around the bush, they just don't have an answer as to why my Freedom Panels do not align.

Please keep us in the loop with this!!! Wanna see how they (FCA) handles the situation, very interesting problem.....just noticed the thread because randomly im starting to get an unbearable squeaking noise in the area of my passenger freedom panel. Good luck!

 

[spazzyfry123]

So the dealer was unable to resolve the alignment issue and referred me to their sister dealership about 30 minutes away that has a dedicated body shop. We have travel plans and decided to drop the Jeep off with them for the next week to resolve along with Jeep corporate.

Made the drive out intending to leave the keys and the body shop manager jumped in and got to work. He ripped off the plastic interior panel that can be seen at the top of the windshield and located the stopping tab to which the panel rests and locks to with the twist handle. Turns out the thing is slotted for up and down positioning. We spent about 5 minutes in the parking lot and everything is flush. I can now have normal volume conversations. For the first time I can hear my tires over wind noise. I’d say <45 mph there is little to no wind noise. At about 70 mph or so, what once required 23ish on the volume now requires about 17 for the same song through CarPlay.

I feel silly that I didn’t resolve this myself, but I also wasn’t ready just yet to start taking apart panels for my $50k+ Jeep because someone got lazy on the assembly line. Glad it is resolved! I still have some fine tuning I’d like to do, but I’m happy.

 

[TrailHiker]

Please keep us in the loop with this!!! Wanna see how they (FCA) handles the situation, very interesting problem.....just noticed the thread because randomly im starting to get an unbearable squeaking noise in the area of my passenger freedom panel. Good luck!

I had a similar squeak, took the right side freedom panel off, tightened the lock levers and put the panel back in, squeak was gone. I think it was just a minor alignment issue which reseating the panels resolved.
Cheers

 

[Factoid]

So the dealer was unable to resolve the alignment issue and referred me to their sister dealership about 30 minutes away that has a dedicated body shop. We have travel plans and decided to drop the Jeep off with them for the next week to resolve along with Jeep corporate.

Made the drive out intending to leave the keys and the body shop manager jumped in and got to work. He ripped off the plastic interior panel that can be seen at the top of the windshield and located the stopping tab to which the panel rests and locks to with the twist handle. Turns out the thing is slotted for up and down positioning. We spent about 5 minutes in the parking lot and everything is flush. I can now have normal volume conversations. For the first time I can hear my tires over wind noise. I’d say <45 mph there is little to no wind noise. At about 70 mph or so, what once required 23ish on the volume now requires about 17 for the same song through CarPlay.

I feel silly that I didn’t resolve this myself, but I also wasn’t ready just yet to start taking apart panels for my $50k+ Jeep because someone got lazy on the assembly line. Glad it is resolved! I still have some fine tuning I’d like to do, but I’m happy.

Outstanding outcome, congrats!

 

[Eric Kern]

So the dealer was unable to resolve the alignment issue and referred me to their sister dealership about 30 minutes away that has a dedicated body shop. We have travel plans and decided to drop the Jeep off with them for the next week to resolve along with Jeep corporate.

Made the drive out intending to leave the keys and the body shop manager jumped in and got to work. He ripped off the plastic interior panel that can be seen at the top of the windshield and located the stopping tab to which the panel rests and locks to with the twist handle. Turns out the thing is slotted for up and down positioning. We spent about 5 minutes in the parking lot and everything is flush. I can now have normal volume conversations. For the first time I can hear my tires over wind noise. I’d say <45 mph there is little to no wind noise. At about 70 mph or so, what once required 23ish on the volume now requires about 17 for the same song through CarPlay.

I feel silly that I didn’t resolve this myself, but I also wasn’t ready just yet to start taking apart panels for my $50k+ Jeep because someone got lazy on the assembly line. Glad it is resolved! I still have some fine tuning I’d like to do, but I’m happy.

Awesome to hear!!!! I actually have the slightest little bit of wind whistle at about 50+mph, I wonder if a fine adjustment of what your mentioning could correct It...

 

[futzin']

It's a Jeep thing; and no, I don't understand. QA needs to step up; the Bronco's coming . . .

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Here's the problem with judging a vehicle based on web posts - it's like an alien invading force judging the human race by visiting a hospital. Hey, easy job here, they are all sickly or dying!
What you see on the internet is a disproportionate sampling of the vehicles - not a true reflection of the quality.
How many forum members have the hard top - and of those, how many have had problems with fitment?
Not that many, really - then consider that most JT owners are NOT hanging out here or other forums. It simply isn't so. I don't care how must people say "it's a Jeep thing, we all hang out here". No, not really. Younger people will be even less likely to hang out in forums or the web - my own son says "that's an old people thing, Dad, my generation doesn't even do that much FB". (he knows, he's huge in marketing, advertising and web development)
So to suggest that the freedom panels thing is big, or a problem area over-all just isn't so.
That's not to take away from those who are having issues - but the percentages, it's just not a big Jeep thing.

I'll bet that way over 95% of all Gladiators sold are more like mine, than some of the other examples seen here - pretty much trouble-free, especially considering that so many parts ARE first year things and even those that aren't, have changes or modifications to them.

How many members does this forum have?
Of those - how many have complaints beyond person design issues? How many are literally poor quality or things broken or malfunctioning?
(don't include "I don't like how the parking brake handle is designed" - that's not a problem, it's a personal gripe)

 

[TrailHiker]

My only (minor) quality issue is the non-functioning high by ram switch, which will not stay in high beam mode when released. Dealer has parts on order, which have been pushed back from Nov 30 to Dc 30.
Cheers

 

[Eric Kern]

I had a similar squeak, took the right side freedom panel off, tightened the lock levers and put the panel back in, squeak was gone. I think it was just a minor alignment issue which reseating the panels resolved.
Cheers

Was planning on doing the same, plus checking the hard top fasteners people mentioned, just been so damn cold lately (CT) afraid to pull em off and reseat without the seals being warm enough to conform to the new seat. Although now the problem seams to have corrected itself...anybody have a slight whistle @ +50mph? (No water leaking or anything)

 

[spazzyfry123]

It's a Jeep thing; and no, I don't understand. QA needs to step up; the Bronco's coming . . .

Ended up being a 5 minute fix with an adjustment to a slotted panel seat.

 

[Phljeeper]

No leaks or alignment issues but my panels do rattle a good bit. Not much on the highway and much quieter than my JKUR but they seem loose and rattling at low speeds and over bumpy road. I tried tightening everything and didn’t find anything loose.

 

[Factoid]

Here's the problem with judging a vehicle based on web posts - it's like an alien invading force judging the human race by visiting a hospital. Hey, easy job here, they are all sickly or dying!
What you see on the internet is a disproportionate sampling of the vehicles - not a true reflection of the quality.
How many forum members have the hard top - and of those, how many have had problems with fitment?
Not that many, really - then consider that most JT owners are NOT hanging out here or other forums. It simply isn't so. I don't care how must people say "it's a Jeep thing, we all hang out here". No, not really. Younger people will be even less likely to hang out in forums or the web - my own son says "that's an old people thing, Dad, my generation doesn't even do that much FB". (he knows, he's huge in marketing, advertising and web development)
So to suggest that the freedom panels thing is big, or a problem area over-all just isn't so.
That's not to take away from those who are having issues - but the percentages, it's just not a big Jeep thing.

I'll bet that way over 95% of all Gladiators sold are more like mine, than some of the other examples seen here - pretty much trouble-free, especially considering that so many parts ARE first year things and even those that aren't, have changes or modifications to them.

How many members does this forum have?
Of those - how many have complaints beyond person design issues? How many are literally poor quality or things broken or malfunctioning?
(don't include "I don't like how the parking brake handle is designed" - that's not a problem, it's a personal gripe)

This is spot on. I’ll add that some people join forums looking for solutions to problems they are having, further biasing posts towards the negative. Using Internet posts and search results as indicators of empirical data is a mistake.

 

[TrailHiker]

Yes, and so is saying because their are six or eight posts complaining bout a specific issues, that these issues are prevalent on all Jeep JTs, like the steering issues reported by the early test drives in the media release, they all drove the same vehicles, so yes, they are going to see the same issue. Doesn’t mean all the production JTs are going to have this issue. Yes, a solid front axle drives differently than the IFS vehicle, this may have been part of it. Later reports countered this will how well the JT drove compared to a JL or JK.

So the best way to judge if a JT is right for you, is to go out and drive one!
Cheers

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Frankly I have never really seen that much difference other than in RIDE between IFS and solid axle fronts. My JT handles as well as most vehicles I've had. Ride different, yeah, and would I try autocross with it like I have my other vehicles, no, duh, but then I won't go to the places with my SX4 or Javelin that my JT will go, either.
IF the IFS axle parts are welded together to give you the camber, caster and certain other angles and such desired for ride and handling there'd be little difference - but doing so would taker away from what these are intended for.
I've taken some curves and corners "a bit fast" with my JT and never once felt that it was going to be any more problem than my Chevy would have been - and frankly, this thing would run circles around my F250 in steering, handling, and performance driving.
So exactly what aspect of the solid front axle is supposed to cause issues or be negative?
I guess I haven't found it yet. I think it did well letting me pull out of a concerning slide on black ice on a hill on I80 a few weeks ago - I never felt the front suspension or steering was an issue, it didn't do anything that I thought oh, crap, it's that damned solid axle causing trouble. I have never felt that. As far as I'm concerned, I'll take this sort of front suspension on any truck I own from here forward. It's fine.

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