Cracked Windshield Club

[Lgarman]

3 weeks / 1200 miles and regrettably just joined the club. Middle, bottom-up crack. Convinced it was defroster related and not a rock. Will take it to dealership to attempt to get it fixed under the warranty.

23 pages here... Pretty ridiculous @JeepCares ...

Mine is under warranty also but the dealer said something hit it when I know damn well it came from running the defrost, rocks don’t fly up when you’re parked!!! Let us know what they tell you and Good Luck!!

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[Lgarman]

Just got back from replacing mine today. Big relief for me. Hated looking at that giant crack. 18K miles, had the JL since January 2018. Crack happened a few weeks ago.

My situation was pretty standard. No mysteries on the crack. Driving 65 mph on the highway when I heard an extremely loud bang on the windshield. Immediately had a crack about 6” long right above my steering wheel coming up from the bottom. It stayed that way for a while. But using the defrost in single digit temps most definitely exacerbated the problem. I literally watched it spread all the way to the passenger side.

In short, I’d say simple physics caused mine. Relatively flat windshield, impact at high speed, and rapid cold to hot resulting in the spread. Still sucks.. Hate that it happened. But I don’t blame Jeep. On the bright side, SafeLite has a life time warranty (excluding rock damage) on an OEM replacement that looks perfect.

Hoping I can stay out of this club for a while.

You’ll be back in the club again, people have replaced their windshield 3 times already but Good Luck and I do blame Jeep!!

 

[viper88]

Just got back from replacing mine today. Big relief for me. Hated looking at that giant crack. 18K miles, had the JL since January 2018. Crack happened a few weeks ago.

My situation was pretty standard. No mysteries on the crack. Driving 65 mph on the highway when I heard an extremely loud bang on the windshield. Immediately had a crack about 6” long right above my steering wheel coming up from the bottom. It stayed that way for a while. But using the defrost in single digit temps most definitely exacerbated the problem. I literally watched it spread all the way to the passenger side.

In short, I’d say simple physics caused mine. Relatively flat windshield, impact at high speed, and rapid cold to hot resulting in the spread. Still sucks.. Hate that it happened. But I don’t blame Jeep. On the bright side, SafeLite has a life time warranty (excluding rock damage) on an OEM replacement that looks perfect.

Hoping I can stay out of this club for a while.

Is the Safelite windshield acoustic?

 

[Lgarman]

3 weeks / 1200 miles and regrettably just joined the club. Middle, bottom-up crack. Convinced it was defroster related and not a rock. Will take it to dealership to attempt to get it fixed under the warranty.

23 pages here... Pretty ridiculous @JeepCares ...

https://www.nhtsa.gov/

 

[Soon2beJeepingPA]

You’ll be back in the club again, people have replaced their windshield 3 times already but Good Luck and I do blame Jeep!!

No luck. Rep at the dealer came out to check the windshield with me and pointed out the tiniest of chips about an inch or two from the bottom. He somehow spotted it where I had not. Only when he made me run my fingernail over it could I really feel it. Case closed, no warranty coverage.

Safelite scheduled for tomorrow.

This really sucks...

 

[kms]

That sucks. Is yours fillable or must be replaced?

 

[biggprikk]

I cracked my own windshield. With a hammer! No one gets to hurt my Jeep!

 

[EMJeep]

Is the Safelite windshield acoustic?

Yes. SafeLite installed an OEM Mopar replacement that is acoustic.

 

[mwilk012]

Mine has cracked twice now while warming up in the morning after a remote start. Both times, there was a small impact chip at the bottom of the crack and the temperature change just propagated it.

 

[Al13]

That’s probably how you got the crack honestly!!
I was just told to file with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/

Absolutely file. Sooner or later a Jeep windshield will crack enough to cause and accident. Then a class action suit will be filed by those who reported the problem with Jeep ignoring us. I never had this problem with my CJ 5’s or 7’s.

 

[GreyFox]

That’s probably how you got the crack honestly!!
I was just told to file with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
https://www.nhtsa.gov/

I've owned a TJ, JK and JL. Never replaced a windshield. And I had the TJ 15years. So not a safety issue.

 

[Lgarman]

No luck. Rep at the dealer came out to check the windshield with me and pointed out the tiniest of chips about an inch or two from the bottom. He somehow spotted it where I had not. Only when he made me run my fingernail over it could I really feel it. Case closed, no warranty coverage.

Safelite scheduled for tomorrow.

This really sucks...

Yep same thing happened to me, but I’m not done yet, something NEEDS TO BE DONE!!!

 

[Lgarman]

No luck. Rep at the dealer came out to check the windshield with me and pointed out the tiniest of chips about an inch or two from the bottom. He somehow spotted it where I had not. Only when he made me run my fingernail over it could I really feel it. Case closed, no warranty coverage.

Safelite scheduled for tomorrow.

This really sucks...

https://www.nhtsa.gov/

 

[viper88]

Anyone who replaced their windshields should keep track of their receipts for the glass. Might come in handy if in the VERY rare chance there is recall or class action.

 

[viper88]

Holy shit that escalated quickly... was just parked sitting here typing this post and it did this!!

Talk about good timing for your pictures. It great you actually posted when you did. You documented the growth of the crack in real time without any other physical impact to your glass. That is weird? Most windshields with small cracks or 'stars' don't grow so quickly? I wonder if thermo expansion from your defroster or stress to caused it to grow so quickly? Makes me really wonder if there is not a problem with the tempering of the glass? Or is it as simple as the exterior layer of this acoustic glass being too thin? Obviously this 'Acoustic' glass is problematic in terms of impact.

Acoustic glass is used for several reasons not just for sound and comfort. The obvious advantage is a quieter vehicle which is more comfortable. The main reason is to save precious weight. Acoustic glass has several layers of Polyvinyl Butyral laminated between layers of glass. They can use thinner glass because the sound dampening is done by using the PB. A possible disadvantage is possibly more cracks due to thinner glass and cost.

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