is auto glass thinner now?

[edwardh1]

I have had several rock chips in the last few years , odd, is auto glass getting thinner?

 

[CT8]

Been getting thinner for decades.

 

[bdcardinal]

It is thinner, but also it seems like hoods are more streamlined and more rocks seem to be getting throw up at the windscreen. Plus there seems to be less road cleaning and more trucks driving with no care to their load falling out behind them.

 

[Nick1994]

My car has gone through like 6 windshields, 1 of them was a semi truck tire's tread blew the hole windshield out. They all chip easy and being in the desert there's plenty of rocks here to get flown into the windshield. My car and my aunt's 2013 VW's windshields are pitting, with 20k miles on mine and 12k on hers. Not horrible pitting, but too soft for my taste. Both are windshields from Safelite. One is a Pilkington the other is a weird brand named.

 

[bdcardinal]

The Ford ones from Carlite seem to be really good. My Volvo has Saint-Globan Sekurit and it was nice.

 

[Spazdog]

Windshields are also much longer now.

It seems that the extra angle that they are at now would help somewhat, but it is a longer piece of glass.

The glass is thinner from a thicker acoustic film in the laminate. That's actually supposed to make it more impact resistant though.

 

[opus1]

It sure seems like it. The Sonata is on its third windshield. The OEM one was taken out by a pebble in 2012 and earlier this year I got caught in quarter-sized hail storm that took out the replacement (and caused lot$ of body damage...).

 

[JHZR2]

Ive heard that it is softer... not sure if that is true.

 

[JustinH]

I have a PPG aftermarket windshield on the Matrix, and in 3 years it looks as it has been sandblasted.