by Matt Konkle
Torque Editor-in-Chief
It can happen in an instant. Once second you are cruising down the highway or trail and the next you watch as something smacks into your windshield, leaving behind a crack or chip along with your rising irritation as you dig out your insurance card.
Well, thanks to a new factory upgrade, that problem could mostly be over for anyone purchasing certain new Wrangler and Gladiator models. According to a dealership source, Jeep is currently offering an option that will swap out the standard windshield for Gorilla Glass — a thinner, but much sturdier, unit.
This upgrade is available for higher trim level Willys, Sahara, Rubicon and Rubicon 392 Wranglers, as well as Sahara and Rubicon 4xe versions. For Gladiator, Jeep will offer in Willys, Overland, Rubicon and Mojave. The upgrade cost is under code 'GMA' and costs $95. The brand expects about 80 percent of new buyers to opt in to this glass version.
A Jeep windshield is notoriously susceptible to road debris and other impacts simply because of its upright angle. Even with a 2018 redesign that lessened its rake, the Wrangler’s windshield still can bear the brunt of an impact way more than most other vehicles.
Gorilla Glass is best known for protecting smartphone screens from external damage, and it has helped prevent the type of cracking and shattering that plagued those devices for many years. For Jeep owners, the option has a three-times higher impact resistance versus a standard windshield. It is also reportedly thinner and lighter than the normal windshield found on Wrangler and Gladiator.
Basically, it sandwiches a transparent piece of glass with thin-ply material that increases its strength by several factors. Jeep’s glass design would include an interior ply on the windshield with an outer ply that is about 52 percent thicker.
The result is a significantly greater impact resistance to stuff like stones, tree branches, and most other material that can strike glass either on or off-road. However, it is important to note that no glass is impervious to every impact, as any smartphone owner with a cracked screen will attest.
Gorilla Glass is a trademark of Corning Limited, an American-based high-tech glass manufacturer.
”With Gorilla Glass as the thin-yet-tough inner ply of this three-layer laminate, your windshield can better withstand damage introduced by common objects like hail and stones, keeping you on the road for your next adventure,” the manufacturer says on its website.
Gorilla Glass has been an option from Mopar since 2018 to replace the factory glass on existing vehicles — with versions for both JK and JL Wranglers, but this marks the first time the brand will offer as a factory option.
Those windshields come with a two year warranty from date of installation. The warranty covers "damage associated with road debris such as pebbles or other small objects which may cause initial damage larger than a US quarter (1 inch/25mm) and less than 3 inches/7.6 cm."
Jeep recently displayed Gorrilla Glass in its 2021 Easter Jeep Safari Wrangler Orange Peelz concept.
