Keeping Your Cool with Challenger Louvers

A window louver is a device that fits to the rear window of your Challenger. With a shutter design, these devices work for a few different causes. On Challengers, louvers blend in seamlessly with the design of the car.

They may appear bulky at first, but once installed they look natural to the vehicle. Owners can leave louvers in their stock form but can also have them painted to match the vehicle’s paint job. Though, with a black finish, the louver will appear smaller than it would in Hemi Orange.

The automotive industry is filled with all sorts of aftermarket product. Many combine form and function; that’s what draws in enthusiasts like you. Louvers may seem like something that are thrown on in the name of style. With a closer look, the benefits of having them installed become quite evident. 

Cool Interior: The shutter design of louvers brings a couple of benefits to the table. First, they keep the interior cooler.

Light can still pass through louvers meaning that one is not sacrificing rearward vision with their installation. Light coming directly down, such as sunlight, has a harder time passing through to the interior.

This means that while the car sits in the parking lot at work, you won’t get cooked alive when the shift is over.

Theft Prevention: The shutter design makes it easy for the driver to see out of the rear window so no rearward visibility is lost.

But the same can’t be said of outsiders, who will have a hard time seeing into your Challenger. This means that if you leave valuables on the rear seat, potential thieves won’t be able to spot whatever it is you have back there.

Style: Louvers are much like shutters on your house, but don’t exactly make it look like the friendliest house in the neighborhood. Louvers do actually make the car look much more aggressive. It also enhances the throwback styling as louvers were very popular on first-generation Challengers.

Louvers don’t come in different shapes and sizes; they are generally all the same. Some may be more aggressive in appearance than other, but they rarely veer far from the traditional layout. And two basic materials are used.

Plastic: Plastic louvers are generally the cheaper type on the aftermarket. These louvers have a much sleeker styling on Challengers. The molding of the plastic allows for the louvers to have rounded edges. They stay close to the window and the openings between the louvers are much tighter. 

The price point does motivate many buyers to reach for these, but the style is usually what draws buyers to the material used in these louvers.

Aluminum: Louvers can come constructed of aluminum alongside plastic. Aluminum louvers are just as effective as plastic louvers even with the wider openings between the shutters. These louvers are generally much bolder in appearance and give the car a much more aggressive look than plastic louvers will. The drawback is that these louvers will be much more expensive than plastic variants.

Louvers are very easy to install. Regardless of the material, they all fasten to the rear of the car in a similar manner. No drilling or cutting of the Challenger is required meaning you can pull this off in just a few minutes without wrecking the car.

Louvers will come in two separate parts. They use a bracket which is secured to the window with double-sided tape. Before anchoring the bracket to the car, you will need to clean the rear window with glass cleaner. After the glass is clean, alcohol is used to ensure the surface is as clean as possible. The bracket is then installed with the double-sided tape. After this point, the louver is secured to the bracket with thumb screws.

A major concern for many is cleaning the rear window when the louvers are installed. The shutter design may make it hard to squeeze a rag back there but not all hope is lost. When the louvers are fastened to the mounting bracket, they aren’t permanently fixed to the car.

To access the rear window, the louvers can simply be removed from the rear bracket. Some louvers feature hinges that allow for the louver to swivel up and out of the way. This makes reinstallation that much easier. Others will require the louver to be removed entirely from the bracket. This means an additional step will be taken to replace the louver but the job isn’t hard at all. Without the louver in the way, one can simply clean the rear glass as they always have.