Replaced my windshield 3.5 times already. Bad luck or Bad Design/Engineering?

[Jman79]

Do yourself a favor and keep a few permatex windshield repair kits under your backseat. I've repaired 3 chips with them and if you follow the directions the repair turns out nice. Never got a crack. You need to repair it asap.

You have a good point here. In 25 years driving I've had two chips, one in each vehicle I owned. I always repaired them fast with epoxy kits and they never grew into cracks.

Get those cracks filled and sealed in a hurry! Avoid water like your windshield depends on it until it's sealed, because it does. The way cars are exposed to changing temperature from sun and just being outdoors, the expansion & contraction will grow a chip into a crack in a hurry.

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[Jman79]

So I quickly looked up bug deflectors on Amazon. Mostly I think they are pointless but I figured maybe it could "possibly" increase the chance of smaller things avoiding the windshield.

Why is a piece of plastic on average $100? Car accessories seem to be one of those things that are priced significantly higher than they need to be . For that I'll just buy a few of the windshield fix kits.

 

[sprcoop]

Don't get anywhere near a dump truck. Don't tailgate. 41 years of driving with zero replacements.

47 years of driving, I don't tailgate and avoid dump trucks like the plague.

Probably 5 or 6 replacements. I always have zero deductible glass.

Sometimes it's unavoidable.

 

[bgn]

I haven't had cracks, but it's very, very pitted after 17k miles. Lariat.

 

[sprcoop]

(Knock on wood) I've been driving mine for almost two years and haven't had any issues with windshield cracking. I've never had an issue with any of my vehicles miraculously. But like many others have said, it all has to do with following distance. I don't tailgate and keep a comfortable one or two car gap behind most traffic. Sometimes I find myself following close if the car in front of me is driving under the speed limit which is annoying.

PSA, if you can't even drive the speed limit, please get off the road. Also, tailgaters, take a chill pill I'll be meeting you at the next light after you aggressively pass me anyway.

A one or two car gap is appropriate for 10 or 20MPH according to the old "one car length per 10MPH" rule.

The new rule is 2 second gap. Works for all speeds. If you pay attention for a while it becomes automatic.

 

[Aherpa]

Have had to replace my windshield 3.5 times in not even two years since owning, from rocks smashing into glass. One of the times required me to have the pillar repainted. The .5 time was having to stop a crack from spreading from a rock that worked, but the crack remained, until another rock hit the glass.

This last time really pissed me off, as saw the hit happen, and the crack spread across the glass, There was a medium size truck in front of me, but not for at least 45 yards.

The way i see it:
1 time bad luck
2 time bad luck/coincidence
3 times starting to think theres some design aerodynamic issues going on
3.5. Enough is enough.

When following trucks, move into a different lane or back off. If the rock is hitting your windshield, you probably got the rock after it's first bounce and you are way too close.
Does your truck have the acoustic windshield? If not, when you get hit again, have them put it in. It's the only other type of windshield that I know of for the Maverick. Maybe it can handle rocks better.
Good luck.

 

[08ranger]

Have had to replace my windshield 3.5 times in not even two years since owning, from rocks smashing into glass. One of the times required me to have the pillar repainted. The .5 time was having to stop a crack from spreading from a rock that worked, but the crack remained, until another rock hit the glass.

This last time really pissed me off, as saw the hit happen, and the crack spread across the glass, There was a medium size truck in front of me, but not for at least 45 yards.

The way i see it:
1 time bad luck
2 time bad luck/coincidence
3 times starting to think theres some design aerodynamic issues going on
3.5. Enough is enough.
I had

47 years of driving, I don't tailgate and avoid dump trucks like the plague.

Probably 5 or 6 replacements. I always have zero deductible glass.

Sometimes it's unavoidable.

I had that kind of bad luck when I lived in Galveston and had to frequently go to Houston on the Gulf Freeway-WORST stretch of highway I've ever traversed in the nation! Cracked windshields and once hit a big u-bolt that for some strange reason set on the side airbag that blew out a leather seat!
Not so bad in the Hill Country now in Wimberley!

 

[Mavboy2023]

Have had to replace my windshield 3.5 times in not even two years since owning, from rocks smashing into glass. One of the times required me to have the pillar repainted. The .5 time was having to stop a crack from spreading from a rock that worked, but the crack remained, until another rock hit the glass.

This last time really pissed me off, as saw the hit happen, and the crack spread across the glass, There was a medium size truck in front of me, but not for at least 45 yards.

The way i see it:
1 time bad luck
2 time bad luck/coincidence
3 times starting to think theres some design aerodynamic issues going on
3.5. Enough is enough.

It is obvious that you are following too close....tailgater. Has NOTHING to do with design, how silly.

 

[ryan2366]

It likely comes down to budget reductions for road maintenance and vehicle inspections of commercial vehicles than vehicle design.

Also hood deflectors are for looks and protecting the front edge from the occasional debris nothing more. They do not send objects away from your windshield. They are not a force field for your car.

I have one purely for the look I expect nothing more from it than aesthetics.

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Have had to replace my windshield 3.5 times in not even two years since owning, from rocks smashing into glass. One of the times required me to have the pillar repainted. The .5 time was having to stop a crack from spreading from a rock that worked, but the crack remained, until another rock hit the glass.

This last time really pissed me off, as saw the hit happen, and the crack spread across the glass, There was a medium size truck in front of me, but not for at least 45 yards.

The way i see it:
1 time bad luck
2 time bad luck/coincidence
3 times starting to think theres some design aerodynamic issues going on
3.5. Enough is enough.

I would say it`s bad luck. No matter what vehicle I drove when I was in sales , I would get a cracked windshield.

 

[Brianx]

Curious if you are using any type of hood deflector? I have heard these windshields seem to be more fragile than most.

But ppl are complaining of multiple breaks. Id ay replacements would be made like others so I'll guess it's about height and angle.

 

[Bandaid]

I think a lot of it also has to do with so many tires that have aggressive tread, especially those used on pick up trucks. Also, the large dump trucks that carry grave and crushed rock. Just driving by those and you can see the piles of rock along the tailgates and the sides of the truck. It would not matter if you were five hundred yards behind one of those. When they drop that buckshot on the roads, it bounces for a while.

With all of you who are reporting here on broken windshields, I think I will buy some stock in Safelite!

Bandaid

 

[Call sign "Slick"]

My "other car is a 1965 Shelby Cobra. It's in near factory condition. I've had 3 paint chips in 10k miles and zero windshield. (Not counting frame chips which are repaired and painted annually).
I literally steer clear of 18 wheelers & dump trucks! Due diligence is required but you can literally "steer clear" of most rock chips if your careful. Just stay alert. Also stay clear of cars who wander occasionally slightly onto the shoulder. Those are the cell phone idiots!

 

[MakinDoForNow]

Have had to replace my windshield 3.5 times in not even two years since owning, from rocks smashing into glass. One of the times required me to have the pillar repainted. The .5 time was having to stop a crack from spreading from a rock that worked, but the crack remained, until another rock hit the glass.

This last time really pissed me off, as saw the hit happen, and the crack spread across the glass, There was a medium size truck in front of me, but not for at least 45 yards.

The way i see it:
1 time bad luck
2 time bad luck/coincidence
3 times starting to think theres some design aerodynamic issues going on
3.5. Enough is enough.

Hey about a week ago I almost slung a roct forward (I was only car for a good mile) apparently from passenger front tire. I saw it bounce off pavement and wind caught it and it came up and bounced off windshield. No glass damage, yay!

 

[Space]

It is curious that you had this problem for I noticed multiple pebbles/rocks hitting my new Ford Maverick front window on my first hour plus journey down Florida US 75. The thing that is obvious is there is lots of construction along this path and many trucks and trailers to dodge. But any vehicle can pop up debris when the roads are contaminated with the remnants of the routine construction vehicles and trailers. No damage for me yet, but I hit this road ever month. Hope the is not an aerodynamic phenomenon going on. Good Luck from this day forward.

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