As a youth I do not recall many windshields with large cracks in them. Sure a rock here and there. Considering the manufacturers are now putting electronics in the windshields replacement has gotten quite expensive. Any thoughts?

They’re thinner glass to save weight.

Or, maybe continued weathering on the Earth has created more rocks that are now available to strike windshields since you were young?

There are definitely more rocks around now than when I was younger, and more of them seem to be inside people's heads!

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Originally posted by arfmel:
They’re thinner glass to save weight.

They sure seem to be thinner. This seems antithetical to their job as a structural member of the cabin.

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Originally posted by arfmel:
They’re thinner glass to save weight.

This, some replacements are even lower quality. Almost have to use exclusively OEM glass nowadays.

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Originally posted by Shifferbrains:

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Originally posted by arfmel:
They’re thinner glass to save weight.

They sure seem to be thinner. This seems antithetical to their job as a structural member of the cabin.

Unibody construction is now stiffer and stronger than unibody construction of yore.

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:

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Originally posted by Shifferbrains:


They sure seem to be thinner. This seems antithetical to their job as a structural member of the cabin.

Unibody construction is now stiffer and stronger than unibody construction of yore.

Tis true in some respects. The following is excerpted from Safewindshields.org.

The windshield provides a significant amount of strength to the structural support in the cabin of the vehicle. For instance, in a front end collision the windshield provides up to 45% of the structural integrity of the cabin of the vehicle and in a rollover, up to 60%.

The windshield is an integral part of the safety restraint system in your car. It keeps the roof from crushing in on you in a rollover, it allows the airbags to deploy in the correct position to cushion passengers, and prevents you and your family from being ejected in a serious collision. It’s important to your family’s safety that the automotive glass in your vehicle be installed properly.


VIDEO

This video explains the duty and regulations pertaining to auto glass.

An owner of an auto glass service told me most replacement glass is sourced in Mexico and is substantially inferior to virtually anything it replaces. Of course the factory glass alternatives are much more expensive. The glass on my Volvo is all original and is marked Pilkington. It is an old car. He said I should avoid ever replacing it and repair whenever possible. That if I went with the typical cheap glass, I should expect to replace it regularly from then on, probably every year or so if I wanted to remain crack free.

I went years without replacing a windshield. We currently have three cars (2012,2015, & 2017) all have had the windshield replaced. We seldom drive on gravel roads.

I don't know the answer. I will say, in 34 years of driving, I have had only two cracked windshields, and four chips.

That is until my 2013 Subaru WRX. I have had to repair eight chips in the windshield in the last two years, and on 4th of July weekend, I received another chip that I have yet to fix.

Besides that, there are all kinds of little blemishes, very small nicks/chips all over the windshield.


ARman

I've had to replace the windshield on my 2014 Jeep Wrangler about 7 times now.

Heard someone argue that the improved aerodynamics on newer cars allow more sandblasting to happen and rock strikes than on old cars.

Click and Clack the Tappet Brothers had a question one time where the caller was asking why it was so hard to see out the windshield at night especially in the rain. they explained it was all the little pits in the windshield causing glare... and that windshields should be replaced every 5 or 7 years and some cars had better quality glass than others.

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Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
I've had to replace the windshield on my 2014 Jeep Wrangler about 7 times now.

Mine (also a '14) has cracks in several places, fortunately not in the critical sightlines. I should probably replace it, but don't want to spend the money. It's insured in New Mexico, and the policy does not cover glass replacement.

Got a rock strike in my Mazda3 a few years back. Said to myself right after it happened, "I need to get that chip fixed ASAP." Right after that, *snick*, it went all the way across the windshield. Grumble, grumble. Fortunately, the Mazda is insured in South Carolina, and the policy there covers glass replacement.

All of the above plus :more cars on the road so it looks like more cracked glass.
More miles being driven by people on average then 50 years ago making more chances to get hit.
Speeds are up causing more stones & increased speed they hit with.
And I think a lot of people just don't get cracked glass replaced as promptly as our parents did.

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:

quote:

Originally posted by Shifferbrains:


They sure seem to be thinner. This seems antithetical to their job as a structural member of the cabin.

Unibody construction is now stiffer and stronger than unibody construction of yore.

Tis true in some respects. The following is excerpted from Safewindshields.org.

The windshield provides a significant amount of strength to the structural support in the cabin of the vehicle. For instance, in a front end collision the windshield provides up to 45% of the structural integrity of the cabin of the vehicle and in a rollover, up to 60%.

The windshield is an integral part of the safety restraint system in your car. It keeps the roof from crushing in on you in a rollover, it allows the airbags to deploy in the correct position to cushion passengers, and prevents you and your family from being ejected in a serious collision. It’s important to your family’s safety that the automotive glass in your vehicle be installed properly.


VIDEO

This video explains the duty and regulations pertaining to auto glass.

Right. I'm not saying the windshield isn't structural. I'm just saying that engineers have more latitude to make windshields thinner and lighter because car frames are being engineered to be stronger and more rigid.

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Originally posted by Aeteocles:


Right. I'm not saying the windshield isn't structural. I'm just saying that engineers have more latitude to make windshields thinner and lighter because car frames are being engineered to be stronger and more rigid.

Gotcha, and agree.

As a bit of a geezer I have to say that IMO the glass in cars today is not as tough as back in the 60's, 70's and 80's. I do NOT remember my father EVER having to replace a windshield. In fact the only glass I remember needing replacement was rear view mirror on Old Buggy Betsy, a 1948 Nash that was my Mom's daily driver until she got the 1961 Olds 98 Town Sedan. Back in 1985 I purchased a Monte Carlo SS, which I still have. The windshield was still factory when I restored the car but had to replace it then due to the windshield cracking when it was removed. Also purchased a 1986 Olds Cutlass from my brother in 1996 and drive that until 2012 when I purchased another 1986 Cutlass. Yeah I really like the G car platform. One thing is certain about those cars, they had some very tough windshields. On the first 86 Cutlass I had a stone hit the windshield hard enough to have my ears ringing for 20 or 30 minutes and it didn't even put a mark in the glass.

At a hunch I would say the cause for more windshield replacements today is most likely because they are thinner. Because automakers still do try and keep the weight down and glass is heavy.

Thinner and structurally load bearing in a unibody. Sheet metal has gotten thinner and stamped into more complex shapes to maintain rigidity. It's all a balancing act. Disrupt the balance with a bad chip and you can get a crank that propagates fast. Any time I've had a chip in the last 20 years, I've had Safelite fill and seal it and none have turned into cracks.

An old body on frame car, or a modern truck that still has a ladder frame put less load on the windshield.

The ever increasing fuel economy requirements along with added weight of mandatory features (and customer demanded features) pushes automakers to reduce weight wherever they can.