Cracked Windshield Club

[californiajeeping]

5 windshields so far, the 5th one got cracked less than 24 hours after I got the 4th one. WTF Dumbass distracted people texting, running onto the shoulder kicking up rocks.

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[viper88]

I just joined with my Gorilla Glass taking a break 1 hour after leaving the dealership.

Ouch! That's not a good sign for the Gorilla Glass? How did it break? Stone chip?

 

[viper88]

Well that pretty much settles whether or not I'll get a GG.

No kidding?

After going through 3 windshields in 2 years so I ordered the Gorilla Glass. Now I am wondering if I just tossed $200 out the window?

IL does not seem to have 3rd party windshield glass replacement insurance other than the comprehensive coverage on the regular auto policy. A broken windshield is not supposed to raise your rates but I always wonder? I would have considered spending the $200 on a 3rd party glass insurance policy instead of the Gorilla Glass.

 

[Mikecoffman911]

Ouch! That's not a good sign for the Gorilla Glass? How did it break? Stone chip?

A Rock. We picked up the jeep in Idaho and were driving South through Nevada. Was not even a hard strike. Couple of hours later my wife ups with the "the windshield is cracked" comment.

 

[viper88]

5 windshields so far, the 5th one got cracked less than 24 hours after I got the 4th one. WTF Dumbass distracted people texting, running onto the shoulder kicking up rocks.

Jeep should start offering buy 3 get one free or something considering how fragile they are.

 

[viper88]

A Rock. We picked up the jeep in Idaho and were driving South through Nevada. Was not even a hard strike. Couple of hours later my wife ups with the "the windshield is cracked" comment.

Sorry to hear that. A windshield is easy to replace but it still sucks. Hopefully your trip back was still enjoyable.

Congrats on the new Jeep!

 

[Mikecoffman911]

Sorry to hear that. A windshield is easy to replace but it still sucks. Hopefully your trip back was still enjoyable.

Congrats on the new Jeep!

We had an absolute blast - new XR that drove like a champ. Set the cruise at 80 and no problems at all. Stopped in Vegas for a White Castle fix and took a crave case back to the folks at my shop. This is my fourth jeep, and we could not be happier - everything we had hoped it would be.

 

[Mikecoffman911]

Sorry to hear that. A windshield is easy to replace but it still sucks. Hopefully your trip back was still enjoyable.

Congrats on the new Jeep!

You are right on one point - it IS just a windshield. Flat designs do not work well with rocks at 70 mph. We have a low slung sports car that has never broken a windshield due to the rake. Go figure.

 

[roaniecowpony]

I'm thinking about replacing the windshield with a plate of 1/8 inch aluminum and installing a camera and wide aspect ratio monitor.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Anyone know if the JK was as bad?

Just wondering if it's something about the JL spec (thicknesss?) that's a problem. I know my el cheapo (china) WS is hanging in there even after some good hits. Since the Chinese are notorious for not meeting specs, maybe they just used a traditional thickness spec.

 

[viper88]

We had an absolute blast - new XR that drove like a champ. Set the cruise at 80 and no problems at all. Stopped in Vegas for a White Castle fix and took a crave case back to the folks at my shop. This is my fourth jeep, and we could not be happier - everything we had hoped it would be.

Great to hear you guys had a fun trip back home! It's nice to know they got the XR suspension is done right.

You guys in CA crave White Castle and we crave In-and-Out here in IL.

 

[viper88]

You are right on one point - it IS just a windshield. Flat designs do not work well with rocks at 70 mph. We have a low slung sports car that has never broken a windshield due to the rake. Go figure.

By far and away the JL windshields are the most fragile. I have owned a TJ, JK, JLR and soon to be another JLR. Drove the TJ for over 200K miles on the original windshield. No issues with the JK glass either. had 3 of them for JLR in less than 2 years.

I have owned a lot of very low sports cars also and very-very few windshields.

It sucks to know the Gorilla is not much better. Especially when it cost a more money as a option. Additional insult to injury is it will most certainly cost more to replace when it does break so we will get taxed twice.

 

[viper88]

Anyone know if the JK was as bad?

Just wondering if it's something about the JL spec (thicknesss?) that's a problem. I know my el cheapo (china) WS is hanging in there even after some good hits. Since the Chinese are notorious for not meeting specs, maybe they just used a traditional thickness spec.

I had a TJ , JK, JLR and by far the JL glass is the most fragile.

I saw a really interesting documentary on the company (FUYAO)that makes the Jeep glass. OSHA would have closed the factory when they saw how unprotected workers cleaned up tons of broken glass. Great documentary on the cultural differences between American and Chinese companies.

We can blame China or whoever the OEM is but the buck stops with FCA. FCA spec's the requirements for the glass company. FCA needs to audit QC. The same glass company, Fuyao, makes glass for over 60% of the automotive market. Customers include Porsche, Bentley, and other high end brands.

Corp culture is defiitely different. A good friend is a automotive engineer. He worked for the Freudenberg Group which is one of the largest seal companies in the world. They make seals for everything from automotive water pumps to seals for submarines and aerospace. His clients were the Big-3, Honda, Toyota, etc. Honda and Toyota would spec water pump seals to last twice as long as the Big-3. The cost difference was less than pennies. Honda and Toyota would visit and audit the QC at the factories several times per year after signing contracts. The Big-3 never showed up for any kind of QC audits.

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9351980/

https://www.marketplace.org/2019/08/16/american-factory-netflix-documentary-ohio-fuyao/

 

[MyDaughters20JL]

I knew something was up when I saw a few rocks hit my windshield while driving. I got a crack after owning my Rubicon for only a month.

I believe it’s the way the jeep is built( like a box)

anything I could put on my new windshield to protect like screen protector?

racing optics puts out a 3 layer laminated tear-off that works great: I KNOW for a fact I took a rock that would have literally exploded my unprotected windshield

 

[guarnibl]

No kidding?

After going through 3 windshields in 2 years so I ordered the Gorilla Glass. Now I am wondering if I just tossed $200 out the window?

IL does not seem to have 3rd party windshield glass replacement insurance other than the comprehensive coverage on the regular auto policy. A broken windshield is not supposed to raise your rates but I always wonder? I would have considered spending the $200 on a 3rd party glass insurance policy instead of the Gorilla Glass.

It's a comprehensive claim. It will raise your rates.

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