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Another Rock Chip in the Windshield! ARRRG

Maximus Gladius

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So, reality is, I live where it snows and ices up and road salt/gravel is spread out and rock chips in the windshield is a way of life. I’d get about 3 chips in a year with a traveling crack across my field of view, lots of sand blasting on the glass in a year and will usually replace at about end of May every other year when the street sweepers have cleaned up the highways. That was on a typical vehicle I drove with the windshield angled more horizontal.
I’m not even a month owning my new gladiator and first impressions looking at the windshield is how vertical it is and that’s going to take a lot of rocks straight on. So it wasn’t a surprise when I caught my first rock yesterday and now I have a nice crack growing across the windshield.
My question is for all you long time Jeep owners with vertical windshields, how often are we changing out our windshields compared to windshields that have more of a horizontal angle to them?
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AZCooWhip

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We had our Gladiator 1 week and bam....new windshield already. I think I had 300 miles on her.

Here in AZ, cracked windshields are like the sun rising in the east. It’s going to happen. Flat windshields yep. The little extra per month on insurance for full windshield replacement is worth every penny.

If you haven’t tried the kit yet, Rain X has a great windshield repair kit. If you have starburst from stones, they work really well. Long running cracks, not so much.
 

Scrambler84

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welcome to jeep ownership, been through many, many windshields, btw they are considerable more slanted back then JKs and earlier Jeeps
 

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johnparjr

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I have already replaced mine once in less than 6 months and had the new one patched for a chip as well. Its part of owning a Jeep just make sure you have good glass coverage.
 

guarnibl

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So, reality is, I live where it snows and ices up and road salt/gravel is spread out and rock chips in the windshield is a way of life. I’d get about 3 chips in a year with a traveling crack across my field of view, lots of sand blasting on the glass in a year and will usually replace at about end of May every other year when the street sweepers have cleaned up the highways. That was on a typical vehicle I drove with the windshield angled more horizontal.
I’m not even a month owning my new gladiator and first impressions looking at the windshield is how vertical it is and that’s going to take a lot of rocks straight on. So it wasn’t a surprise when I caught my first rock yesterday and now I have a nice crack growing across the windshield.
My question is for all you long time Jeep owners with vertical windshields, how often are we changing out our windshields compared to windshields that have more of a horizontal angle to them?
I've fared better, but here in AZ my wife's BMW went through a windshield on average every 3 months through the entire lease period.

My JLUR I had for 2 years and I replaced 3 windshields.
 

syreeves

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Holy forking shirtballs. I've been living in Minnesota for 20 years and over 8 vehicles (2 daily drivers at all times) I have never had to replace a windshield. I have two chips in my LR neither of which created cracks that expanded.

I hope my luck holds but it just occured to me that by writing this I am destined to replace a lot of windshields in the near future... :headbang:
 

aixguru

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I strongly recommend this solution. I installed over almost a year ago. I've taken several strikes damaging the film that certainly would have chipped or cracked the windshield. At some point with enough film damage peel a layer for a new view. A few blemishes after installation, and a few rainbows with polarized sunglasses, but a great protection option. Optically a great solution and easy to keep clean and slick with Rain-X glass cleaner.

The company is very responsive and great customer support. I worked with Chris ([email protected]) during the purchase and install. He has followed up several times just to see how the solution is performing. I have no association with the company other than a satisfied customer. I learned about the company from this site. I WILL purchase again once I exhaust all three layers. In my opinion, an inexpensive solution when you factor in replacing every couple of years.
 

The Bean

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I’m on month 7 of ownership and am replacing my windshield that has 2 cracks in it. My previous daily driver was a challenger, I had that car 2 years and went through 3 windshields. I live in Florida where 50% of the state is under construction 100% of the time. I expect I’ll probably be replacing the Jeep windshield every year or so.
 

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foxman350

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I have been hit with 3 rocks so far up here in Anchorage and am quite impressed with the windshield so far, small chips and no cracks, beats any other windshield I have had up here.
 
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Maximus Gladius

Maximus Gladius

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Wow, ...I kinda figured I wasn’t alone. I’ve been looking at products on Pinterest that show applying a liquid substance on glass cracks and it shows the crack filled in and “as good as new”. What have I got to lose.
One more issue I’m having with this style of windshield is that when I use the wipers to get the road crap off, it all runs onto the driver’s and passenger side window. After a trip across the city, you can’t see your side view mirrors. My last vehicle was the 2017 Tacoma and they have a trim piece on both sides of the windshield that catches the wiper crap and either sends it all up high or gravity lets it drop below resulting in the road crap not on your side windows. I’ll have to see if some kind of trim piece is made for this.
 

Outdork

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It has been my experience that the wind deflectors available to mount on the front of the hood do a good job in redirecting a rock just enough to minimize the direct hits - rocks will still hit the windshield, no doubt, but the deflectors to limit the amount of damage/frequency of impacts.
 

brianinca

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The https://hyperformanceglassproducts.com/ windshield I put on in early November is still unmarked. I had TWO big cracks in five months, now 3.5 months later I should have picked up another. Three days in Death Valley, to boot!
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