Anyone else have cracks in their body by the rear hatch?

15372 Views 59 Replies 29 Participants Last post by aacevedo2a, 6 mo ago

Shoulder

Discussion Starter · Aug 2, 2020

2

I was doing some general cleaning, and vacuuming earlier, and noticed some distinct cracks towards the rear hatch on both sides of the car. One side is worse than the other, but they're definitely there. What's even stranger is the cracks themselves follow the same exact lines on both sides.

Is it possible this is potential defect in the body structure of the vehicle? Any of my fellow JCC folks have such a thing occurred, and if not sure, maybe inspecting your Cherokees to be sure? Currently at 135k miles on my Jeep.

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bphillips09

· #2 · Aug 2, 2020

I don’t have this issue, and that is very unfortunate. However, I did have to laugh at the wording of the title.

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Shoulder

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 2, 2020

bphillips09 said:
I don’t have this issue, and that is very unfortunate. However, I did have to laugh at the wording of the title.

🤦‍♂️

"NASA sends probe to Uranus. People everywhere giggle."

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Flybynightcru

· #4 · Aug 2, 2020

bphillips09 said:
I don’t have this issue, and that is very unfortunate. However, I did have to laugh at the wording of the title.

That's what I was thinking!!! "Actually, yes I do. Oh you mean on the Cherokee, no I don't..." LOL!!!😂

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Desoto

· #5 · Aug 2, 2020

Never seen that at all. Dou you use a roof rack?

Jeff Carlin

· #6 · Aug 2, 2020

Shoulder said:
I was doing some general cleaning, and vacuuming earlier, and noticed some distinct cracks towards the rear hatch on both sides of the car. One side is worse than the other, but they're definitely there. What's even stranger is the cracks themselves follow the same exact lines on both sides.

...
...

Is it possible this is potential defect in the body structure of the vehicle? Any of my fellow JCC folks have such a thing occurred, and if not sure, maybe inspecting your Cherokees to be sure? Currently at 135k miles on my Jeep.

I checked my 2017 with 63k on it and I see nothing like this and I can't even see the seams that are separating like on yours. Maybe they changed how they put them together sometime before my model. Still this looks serious.

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SkipW

· #7 · Aug 2, 2020

4

Well...not sure if I'm proud to be a member of a potentially exclusive club or just annoyed that it may be something I will have to deal with...

The Granite pics are my 2014, you can see the cracks, although nowhere near a wide/bad as @Shoulder. Right side looks worse than left, which seems to just be starting

The Billet Silver pics are my wife's 2017...what I find interesting on hers is it looks like the seam sealer was just spread in the area where we're showing cracks. Meaning with a finger or tool someone just flattened and spread the sealer up the last art of the seam because it needed to be flatter there. It's just easier to see on hers due to the color (and the fact she keeps hers clean)

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Desoto

· #8 · Aug 2, 2020

Now I'm thinking it just looks like a rough cut on a seam overlap and no separation.

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SkipW

· #9 · Aug 2, 2020

Desoto said:
Now I'm thinking it just looks like a rough cut on a seam overlap and no separation.

I was also thinking that it may just be the edge of the sealer lifting, as opposed to a 'crack'

Flybynightcru

· #10 · Aug 2, 2020

SkipW said:
Well...not sure if I'm proud to be a member of a potentially exclusive club or just annoyed that it may be something I will have to deal with...

The Granite pics are my 2014, you can see the cracks, although nowhere near a wide/bad as @Shoulder. Right side looks worse than left, which seems to just be starting

The Billet Silver pics are my wife's 2017...what I find interesting on hers is it looks like the seam sealer was just spread in the area where we're showing cracks. Meaning with a finger or tool someone just flattened and spread the sealer up the last art of the seam because it needed to be flatter there. It's just easier to see on hers due to the color (and the fact she keeps hers clean)

View attachment 211639 View attachment 211640 View attachment 211641 View attachment 211642

Wow, that doesn't look good!!! Is this the first time this issue has come to light??? I haven't seen any other posts about it.

SkipW

· #11 · Aug 3, 2020

Flybynightcru said:
Wow, that doesn't look good!!! Is this the first time this issue has come to light??? I haven't seen any other posts about it.

Where @Shoulder above pointed it out is the first I've seen....just went out and checked ours and found similar on mine but not my wife's. Maybe it's a 2014 thing...

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Shoulder

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 3, 2020

Desoto said:
Never seen that at all. Dou you use a roof rack?

I have never used the roof rack for anything. I do remember a thread from awhile ago where someone possibly had a crack or something by his roof near the rack itself, but since I've never used it, weight would not be a cause.

Desoto said:
Now I'm thinking it just looks like a rough cut on a seam overlap and no separation.

Based on what @SkipW posted, I suppose it is possible it's a result of a rough cutting between when they welded the two pieces of sheet metal together. If there is no separation, then certainly the long-term issue would be water entering the cracks, and thus causing rust to develop in that area. To know for sure, I'd have to remove part of the interior panel to look up inside to confirm.

Shoulder

Discussion Starter · #13 · Aug 3, 2020

2

I've attached two more photos using the macro feature of my Fuji X20 for your pixel peeping pleasure. From what I can see straight away is there might not be actually separation between the panels, but as I mentioned earlier, would still result in eventual rust happening there as well.

I might get in touch with my local dealer, and see what they say. If it can be mended, and it doesn't cost much to do, then I might get it patched up by a reputable body shop.

Won't lie, I did get a bit nervous because if more potential issues do crop up, it might end up serving my interests in trading in my Cherokee for something else. I have looked into getting a mid-size pickup for some time now. Maybe it's getting to be that time...even though my Cherokee will be fully paid off by the end of the month. The thing is, I don't really want to spend more money to get another vehicle, so it might make more financial sense to just hold onto this for now. We'll see.

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sanghill

· #14 · Aug 3, 2020

My V6 Trailhawk with a January 4, 2014 build date is perfect.
Mine is Anvil (grey) and does not have metal flake. 93K miles.
Tapped on it and it is solid. Paint is fine.
The OP pictures have rust in the cracks. Maybe it is a bad weld.
Maybe have a body shop look at it?

Shoulder

Discussion Starter · #15 · Aug 3, 2020

I might just go ahead, and do that actually. There are a few reputable body shops in town, one of which I've dealt with before for hail damage for my other vehicle, so there's a decent shot they could patch it up well enough.

SkipW

· #16 · Aug 3, 2020

Shoulder said:
I might just go ahead, and do that actually. There are a few reputable body shops in town, one of which I've dealt with before for hail damage for my other vehicle, so there's a decent shot they could patch it up well enough.

If you do that, please let us know what they find. I'm thinking that if it's simply hardened/cracking seam sealer, I may just use a flexible sealer to keep water out and call it good. I'm not interested in dealing with it for trade in, etc...as I'm keeping it until my lifetime warranty won't fix stuff anymore....probably close to 200,000 miles....

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cobra7

· #17 · Aug 6, 2020

I drove my 2014 TH to 96k miles before trading it (due to issues more mechanical in nature). I never noticed any issues with the body. In fact, the coachwork on my 2014 was better than that on my 2020.

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Alantek139

· #18 · Aug 7, 2020

Shoulder said:
I was doing some general cleaning, and vacuuming earlier, and noticed some distinct cracks towards the rear hatch on both sides of the car. One side is worse than the other, but they're definitely there. What's even stranger is the cracks themselves follow the same exact lines on both sides.

View attachment 211636 View attachment 211637

Is it possible this is potential defect in the body structure of the vehicle? Any of my fellow JCC folks have such a thing occurred, and if not sure, maybe inspecting your Cherokees to be sure? Currently at 135k miles on my Jeep.

Wow, that's pretty bad. I have a 2016 Latitude with 60K. No issue here, that's the first I've heard of this.

grejon1

· #19 · Sep 26, 2020

I own a 2014 TH in white and have the same cracks developing.

I'm hoping to find out what you decided to do with yours? I'm concerned about the structural integrity

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grejon1

· #20 · Sep 26, 2020

3

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