Hood Misalignment

[cgrosen324]

I've just installed the black grill and the alignment got much worse. Not sure what the issue is but the gaps between the sides of the hood and the grill are totally uneven now.
btw black grill is probably the worst option you can pick from the factory. By getting it separately you have two grills for $300 while from the factory you're paying $350 for just a black one. Plus it's much easier to buy a black grill after the fact than find a color matched one

Sorry to hear about that. Probably no consultation to you, but your experience tells me I should just leave well enough alone!

 

[cgrosen324]

After reading this thread, I checked mine, and it’s off as well. I went by the dealership and took a look at about 30 wranglers of all different levels, from 392s to Saharas to Willys to High Tides, etc. every one of them had that overhang and was misaligned. I’m starting to believe that the ones that are flush are the ones that are off, LOL!!

Ha! That makes perfect sense in the Jeep world. I love my Jeep, and it’s at least the 7th one I’ve owned, but man they are “unique” when it comes to quality in some departments.

 

[Bobo57]

Reading this thread peaked my curiosity in anticipation of checking that when mine arrives. So I went to the local dealer to check out what's on the lot. Now none of the hoods I checked were 392 hoods, they were a mix of all Wrangler models and Mojave hoods. So the disclaimer here is if the 392 hoods, grill and mounting methodology is different, then this info is useless.

All of about 20 I checked were very consistent with about 1/8 inch overhang of the hood from the grill. Hoods seemed to match up nicely with fender and cowl edges so I don't think any of the hoods were misaligned. The gap was very consistent across the entire length of the hood/grill front edge. Guessing that small overhang may be a conscience design to grab the hood and lift when opening. But that may be giving too much credit to the Jeep engineers.

IMHO the protrusion doesn't appear to be very noticeable at that overhang amount.
B

 

[scarab]

Sorry to hear about that. Probably no consultation to you, but your experience tells me I should just leave well enough alone!

Could you provide some more details how to do it? I've replaced color matching grille with a black one and the gaps are way off now. Seems like the quality of black grille, even though it's OEM is not that great, honestly it feels like a super cheap plastic. I think somehow the left side of the grille sits a bit lower than the right side and hence why the gaps are uneven between sides. I thought the easiest way to fix it would be to adjust the hood a little bit, but as far as I can tell there's no adjustment on the latches.

 

[cgrosen324]

Could you provide some more details how to do it? I've replaced color matching grille with a black one and the gaps are way off now. Seems like the quality of black grille, even though it's OEM is not that great, honestly it feels like a super cheap plastic. I think somehow the left side of the grille sits a bit lower than the right side and hence why the gaps are uneven between sides. I thought the easiest way to fix it would be to adjust the hood a little bit, but as far as I can tell there's no adjustment on the latches.

I think you meant to quote a different response? I’ve never swapped a grill out so I’m pretty much clueless. After reading g the responses here I’ve decided to leave well enough alone and let it be. Interesting you say the black satin grill seems cheap to you. I can’t say I’m all that surprised- sorry you’re going through this.

 

[scarab]

I think you meant to quote a different response? I’ve never swapped a grill out so I’m pretty much clueless. After reading g the responses here I’ve decided to leave well enough alone and let it be. Interesting you say the black satin grill seems cheap to you. I can’t say I’m all that surprised- sorry you’re going through this.

oh, you're right, I was about to quote gr1p
As far as black grill goes it feels like its made from cheap, soft plastic with sharp unfinished edges.
Once installed it looks OK, other that somehow it came misaligned while the original color painted one was spot on.

all the front end parts are easily adjusted but its a 2 man job and required lots of fiddly trial and error

@gr1p Could you please put some more light on it?