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Worst windshields in history?!?

Have you ever had a vehicle with a weaker/more prone to cracking chipping windshield?


  • Total voters
    123

wv18jl

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Both of mine are perfect.
50 miles a day daily drive with 44 miles of it being interstate.
Windshields don't chip themselves, maybe it's driving habits.
Big flat windshield and driving too close could be the culprit.
I have one friend who has CJs and Wranglers for as long as I have.
He has always complained about chipped windshields and told me how lucky I was.
I told him "it's the indian, not the arrow".
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_olllllllo_

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Do you sniff the asshole of the driver in front of you while driving? Cuz I don't tailgate and have never had an issue. I have a small chip on mine but its not cracked across the windshield.
I have over 11,500 miles in 4 months and have a tiny chip, but it isn't a star and hasn't initiated a crack. My Subaru that my son drives now seems to get chips regularly, but none have ever propagated and become cracks. I do not tailgate and live in Southern Arizona where there are a ton of rocks and windshields are replaced for free if you have comprehensive coverage and I have replaced 5 windshields in our other vehicles since moving here 14 years ago.
 

Fire Burns

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My 2005 Scion Xb (sold in 2011) was the absolute worst, bar none. The weak windshield was nearly as upright and flat as the JL, coupled with a very short hood that put it all out front. I swear I went through about 3 or 4 windshields in 6 years of ownership!

That said, I do miss it as my commuter. Fun to drive, manually shifted. Lowered...

2005-Scion-xB.jpg
 

Nikko2020

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I get the dumbass award - bumped the wiper arm while changing blades, spring tension popped the arm down and....well shit! Now that little star has run across half the windshield. :surprised::swear::angry:
NO FN WAY. You win for sure!
 

roaniecowpony

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It's a Jeep thing.

I don't want to brag, but I broke a windshield on a new 2008 Chevy truck about 15 minutes after I left the dealer. It was on a dark 2 lane highway. A car passed the other way, and BAM. Anyone beat that?

Another truck, I changed the broken windshield before a trip from LA to So Dakota. I made it to Utah before it was cracked by a truck that tossed a rock.

My JLUR is cracked about 10 inches from a rock on LA freeways.

I changed my truck's windshield a month ago since it was cracked from the center to the driver pillar. I took it on one trip to Idaho. A car passed me an BAM.
 
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blnewt

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Just ask @cosine he knows!
It's simple geometry, the more upright the windshield the more prone to taking a direct hit from flying debris, still much better than our G37 though, at least the glass quality. And so far our JL windshield is as new.
 

Jimac

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It's simple geometry, the more upright the windshield the more prone to taking a direct hit from flying debris, still much better than our G37 though, at least the glass quality. And so far our JL windshield is as new.
Both of mine are perfect.
50 miles a day daily drive with 44 miles of it being interstate.
Windshields don't chip themselves, maybe it's driving habits.
Big flat windshield and driving too close could be the culprit.
I have one friend who has CJs and Wranglers for as long as I have.
He has always complained about chipped windshields and told me how lucky I was.
I told him "it's the indian, not the arrow".
Bull I had over 16000 miles many miles off road many miles flat towed behind RV 25* outside I remote start Jeep defroster comes on and windshield crack from in center bottom up 6” I no Indian it’s the arrow

482F04A5-18B1-40B1-A252-9BD9C61F498A.jpeg
 

Stampede.Offroad

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... For how “rugged and capable” these things are supposed to be seems like they might have forgotten some basic aspects of quality.
Drive on slower roads and you won't have that problem -- or go back in time to when all vehicles had flat upright windshields and were physically incapable of driving fast enough to have that problem. This engineering weakness is just part of the archaic aesthetic of the jeep.

I bet you like those chips and cracks more than getting hit in the face with rocks at highway speeds. This kind of thing happens to motorcycles/motorcyclists all the time. You'll get over it, or give it up.
 

INCRHULK

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I had nearly 200k on my Cherokee TH and it had lots of little abrasions. I was told that’s general wear and tear.

Monday of last week my JL started to crack from the edge of the windshield dead center. No evidence of an impact. It goes in to get replaced tomorrow.
 

mysto

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the FJ cruiser is roughly the same as a wrangler in terms of attracting rocks to the windshield. However because of the curved design the fj windshild is expensive to replace. About $400 at a discount shop, $600 at a dealer. For this reason I vote it the worst. I drove one for 10 years and replaced the windshield twice, but pretty much always had cracks in it. Got one of those crack repair kits to slow the speading.
 

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Flyslinger2

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Do you sniff the asshole of the driver in front of you while driving? Cuz I don't tailgate and have never had an issue. I have a small chip on mine but its not cracked across the windshield.
This was my first thought when I started reading the thread. There are the fluke situations when a projectile seemingly appears out of nowhere but most of my windscreen blemishes were because I followed to closely.
 

four low

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Subaru has a Class Action lawsuit ( one of several ) for defective windshields. Materials, manufacturing, sensors in glass, all play a part. Aerodynamics, certainly, but by no means a "Jeep Thing". Misery loves company..
 

Drytellsr

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8K miles, Semi with full mud flaps passing me, Cracked my windshield "SMACK/CRACK" instant 1 foot crack and Sphincter

And for those who don't know what a "Sphincter" is, its that one spot in your Sheryl Crow piece of toilet paper that your finger punches through.
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