"Mini" vans and windshields......

[Pablo]

The first year of Ody ownership brought us two broken ws's - both while wife was driving. Current victim has three pretty good divots....

So we take off south on I-5 at a high rate of speed after laying down some cash and checking out the chicks at the Marysville SuperWallyWorld.


THHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWAAAAACK!!!!!!!!!!!

I nearly let a load go. A good sized bolt like object smacks the windshield like Thor's Hammer. Another huge divot.

I will say the windshield is fairly massive. Nice target.

 

[StevieC]

That sucks... My car is coming up on 3 years in April and I have a nice crack from a rock that hit my windshield... I'm

but don't feel so bad anymore...

 

[TooManyWheels]

Being high off the ground puts the large target squarely in the debris path. I have never owned a truck without having the windshield be quickly cracked.

 

[The Critic]

Time to call Safelite.

 

[Jim 5]

I believe it all has to do with how vertical your windshield is. On my truck, the windshield crack from every little rock. My wife's car and my car have the factory windshields.

This is good to know though, as it looks like we are buying an Odyssey here in the next few weeks. This may be a case where windshield insurance could pay off. A lot of gravel is spread on our roads.

 

[John K]

My 01 Ody (119,000 mi)had to have windshield replaced once. Had a small divot and drove with it that way for a long time. Then when driving under an expressway overpass a snow plow from above almost buried me, and I heard a crack. Talk about a scare, I was driving blind plus the noise!!! Small crack where the divot was. It slowly began growing and I got it replaced. I think the closer you follow traffic the more you get hit, but it isn't entirely avoidable. Good test for the ol ticker........

 

[JTK]

Thank gawd she's still divot free on our Ody. I've had incidents where I nearly soiled myself too. A big'ol lifted Dodge p/up going the opposite direction threw a stone through the w/s on our 1993 Nissan Sentra years ago. The pebble was propelled with such force it hit the w/s like a bullet, showering both my wife and I with powder sized pcs of glass!

Joel

 

[SuperDave456]

I don't know why it happens to some cars more than others.

While growing up my father had an Astro van. I swear the thing always had a cracked windshield. He would wait for the crack to grow from one side of the windshield to the other so that insurance would replace it. As soon as it was replaced another rock would chip the glass and a crack would begin to grow.

My 02 Ford Taurus has the factory windshield, no cracks, no chips yet so far. Same with my wife's '04 Xterra.

It would be interesting to put one of those wind deflectors on the front of the hood to see if it could redirect some of the air to force objects away from your windshield. It supposedly works for bugs, why not small rocks?

Of course if you have things like baseballs and bolts coming for you at 60mph, you are pretty much out of luck.

 

[Gary Allan]

Hmmm..insurance sure does vary. I have always had that on my cars ..even after I drop the collision ..or if I never put it on. Why would I want a $300-$500 beater taken out of service for a (potentially) $300 windshield? For a $3000 trans or $2000 timing belt failure ..sure ..but for a $300 (or more) windshield

 

[TooManyWheels]

Originally Posted By: SuperDave456

It would be interesting to put one of those wind deflectors on the front of the hood to see if it could redirect some of the air to force objects away from your windshield. It supposedly works for bugs, why not small rocks?


I had one on one of my trucks - made no difference.

 

[ffracer]

The more upright the windshield - the more it will break. SUVs, trucks, vans, are the worst. Sports cars, angled windshields like Honda Civics rarely break.

Here's my tally:

'89 Ranger over two years: 2 windshields ~30,000 mi
'95 Ranger over 10 years: 5 windshields 120,000 mi
'87 Accord over 10 years: 1 windshield 200,000 mi - didn't break: used it as a test mule for a development windshield

 

[mstrjon32]

Originally Posted By: ffracer
The more upright the windshield - the more it will break. SUVs, trucks, vans, are the worst. Sports cars, angled windshields like Honda Civics rarely break.


Maybe. My Monte Carlo has 4 windshield chips in it, and it has 39,000 miles.

My 1999 Jeep Cherokee has 170,000 miles, the original windshield, and no chips or cracks...

 

[ffracer]

Originally Posted By: mstrjon32
Originally Posted By: ffracer
The more upright the windshield - the more it will break. SUVs, trucks, vans, are the worst. Sports cars, angled windshields like Honda Civics rarely break.


Maybe. My Monte Carlo has 4 windshield chips in it, and it has 39,000 miles.

My 1999 Jeep Cherokee has 170,000 miles, the original windshield, and no chips or cracks...


While there are other factors: car design, weather, conditions driven. this has been proven out over the 1000s of cars analyzed at my old company.

BTW, chips are not the same as cracks. Chips are divots in the glass. Still solid. Cracks are compromising the strength.

 

[mstrjon32]

I'm not really disagreeing, just saying it's not a hard and fast rule. Both vehicles see the same type of service (light) 80% of the time, and if anything, the Jeep finds itself many more places to incur damage than the Chevy.

I've never had a windshield damaged badly enough to crack, but have gotten many significant chips along the way.

 

[Steve S]

lightweight glass is the reason.