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Body Exterior And Systems
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Exterior Ornamentation
The hood-mounted grille design is shared with Dakota. It is painted body color with SLT and SLT+ equipment. A grid texture of black TPO plastic, which makes the radiator/air conditioning evaporator less visible, is heat staked to the back of the ABS plastic grille. The grille is supported by a sturdy tubular bracket that is bolted to the hood. The hood-to-grille seam is neatly filled with a bead of black, nitrogen-expanded RTV sealer.
A black molded plastic cowl screen is the same as used on Dakota. It provides a decorative bridge over the space between the back of the hood and the windshield. It also conceals the windshield wiper mechanism and includes a grille that allows air to enter the cowl plenum but keeps out debris.
As on the Dakota, molded TEO (thermo-elastic olefin) wheel flares are included with 31 x 10.5-inch tires. They effectively keep road splash off the body sides. The rear flares include separate door-mounted sections to complete the cross-sectional form on the forward sections. The flares are painted body color and attached with a combination of adhesive bonding on the outer surface and screws in the wheel openings. Adhesive bonding ensures an accurate fit and neat appearance with minimal corrosion potential.
The flares are molded by a inert-gas injection process that produces a hollow cross section for reduced weight compared to a solidly molded part. The mold for the part has only an outer surface. The hollow interior of the molding is produced by injecting inert gas into the mold simultaneously with the molten plastic, forming a "core" provides the added benefits of uniform molding wall thickness and a uniform exterior surface.
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