4th crack in windshield. OMG I’m so done

[MountainBikeDude]

Given all the talk about how bunk Rivian glass was, I expected a gentle rain to cause it to blow out.

My experience has been quite the opposite. I'll drag up the Road-Cam footage later, but Ive had two major incidents where the windshield should have been fucked up beyond belief.

First was a dump truck full of fill driving down the highway spilling it all over the middle lane. It sounded like I was under a tin roof with a hailstorm above, my truck was being pummeled by rocks of all sizes, I had to go against the median and punch it up to 130km/hr to get away from guy. No damage.

Second was driving down the highway with a lifted Jeep Rubicon ahead of me. I saw something fall from the under carriage which was about a 1-1/2" bolt. It bounced around under his rear diff then flew back toward me (wife screaming bloody murder as it was coming at us) crested just over the hood and impacted just above the dash on the drivers side. That one caused the glass to spall, but only over an area a little more than a quarter in size. scraped out the glass bits, and filled it with a RainX compound. No further cracks.

All in all, pretty impressed. But no different than any of my other vehicle experiences.

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[mikehmb]

Thanks, I deal with stats everyday. It’s also probable, there’s contributing factors from the glass or the vehicle.
my 3 other cars have gone years without any cracks over this time and similar driving conditions.

What really is worrisome is how minor a hit has caused all 4 cracks. And that EVERY impact has caused a crack. Literally every time the glass has been hit, it has cracked. That’s very very very unlikely to be random.

I went through 4 windshields on my Tundra in 2 years. Unfortunately, sh*t does happen.

Are you using OE glass for all of the replacements?

 

[swflor]

@Cary Hawk
Windshield PPF is the way to go here.

Is if fail proof, no…nothing is….but if you cut your windshield replacement in half or a quarter…it’s well worth it.

Can help with this if you want to explore.

Knightdale is open now so at least it’s closer than ever before….

 

[COdogman]

Since this is an unofficial poll now, I have only had 1 chip in 1.5 years AND I live in CO, the place where bad windshields are sent By the windshield gods to be punished for all of eternity…

 

[Riviot]

FUYAO!!!

 

[Ingen]

fwiw, I happen to know that there are 15 million replacement windshields sold in the US every year. But I too have lost a windshield on my R1.

Has anyone tried the xpel windshield protection film?
https://www.xpel.com/products/windshield-protection-film

I literally just got back from getting my Xpel windshield protection film installed. I also got it put on the back window (R1S), since I had read some posts about rocks kicking up from the rear wheels, bouncing off the bike rack (1up-USA racks in particular, which is what I have) and breaking the rear window.

I'll update you on how it holds up. However, my installer did give me a lot of caveats before I installed it:
- It's so new that XPel hasn't even sent out warranty cards for it.
- My installer has only put it on 3 cars, mine being the 3rd.
- Unlike PPF, they can't tuck edges so there might be peeling eventually.
- The only other company that used to offer windshield protection film (Astek) apparently no longer offers it because they couldn't get it to last under the wear of windshield wipers. (unverified, that's what my installer told me).

I currently only have 7700 miles on my R1S, but all of those miles are roadtrips through the California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, and Texas. 90% on freeways and maybe 2% off-road... and no chips on my windshield. Hoping the Xpel keeps it that way.

 

[risingphoenix]

I put Ceramic Pro on my R1S including windshield upon purchase 1.5 years ago. I live in Colorado, where I'm convinced it rains rocks. No chips or cracks. Not foolproof OP but I will always put protective coating on my windshields as it can prevent a rock from creating a crack.

 

[strykerwsu]

40k miles on 2 r1s and no cracks. One chip from a Jeep but not big enough to fill.

Don't get me started on our Bronco. 2 replacements in 10k

 

[Singletracker]

Reduce your chances of getting tagged by flying debris - consider not tailgating. Keep a reasonable distance from the vehicle in front of you. Let’s face it. The closer you get to the source of those rocks, the greater your chances of getting tagged. To be clear, I’m not accusing anybody on this thread of being a tailgater, nor am I saying this is the reason for all these damaged windshield reports. However, if a person has a habit of tailgating, besides being damn annoying to other drivers, they should probably expect more damage to occur from flying debris. Just sayin’.

 

[risingphoenix]

Reduce your chances of getting tagged by flying debris - consider not tailgating. Keep a reasonable distance from the vehicle in front of you. Let’s face it. The closer you get to the source of those rocks, the greater your chances of getting tagged. To be clear, I’m not accusing anybody on this thread of being a tailgater, nor am I saying this is the reason for all these damaged windshield reports. However, if a person has a habit of tailgating, besides being damn annoying to other drivers, they should probably expect more damage to occur from flying debris. Just sayin’.

This is reasonable advice. I also never get behind a large vehicle (with big tires) if they don't have low hanging mudflaps.

 

[Donald Stanfield]

I agree with other posters that OP needs to increase his following distance.

 

[eskudo12791]

I put Ceramic Pro on my R1S including windshield upon purchase 1.5 years ago. I live in Colorado, where I'm convinced it rains rocks. No chips or cracks. Not foolproof OP but I will always put protective coating on my windshields as it can prevent a rock from creating a crack.

ceramic will help with ease of cleaning and water repellant but isn't stopping rocks. ceramic coating is rated on the pencil hardness scale, not mohs, anyone that says its a higher hardness scale than diamonds is selling snake oil.

 

[Ecupip]

No issues with mine, but I want to protect it. I sent this company a request to consider making a version for the Rivian. Maybe if others send in requests they will.


https://windshielddefense.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopwdEvsDl_RG8XecIQEcZ4aW88Jc5edZ-8g2lyLPKaup3MqpIQv

 

[Cary Hawk]

I went through 4 windshields on my Tundra in 2 years. Unfortunately, sh*t does happen.

Are you using OE glass for all of the replacements?

Yes, OE for all replacements

 

[risingphoenix]

ceramic will help with ease of cleaning and water repellant but isn't stopping rocks. ceramic coating is rated on the pencil hardness scale, not mohs, anyone that says its a higher hardness scale than diamonds is selling snake oil.

They have windshield protectant film that is absolutely better than nothing. Which was the point of the post in an attempt to give OP some ways to minimize risk.

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