Just got a crack on the Pug 206SW, no chip, nothing, just heard a 'click' and there was the crack, originally about 6 inches, 50 miles later 8 inches, overnight (minus 2 degrees) had grown another inch or so.
Question being, I need to use the motor next week for at least a couple of days, this will be around 200 miles a day, mostly motorways, A roads, at speed, so should I be driving at a slower speed and hoping for the best, laying off the fast stuff and just toodling along, or just sod the work and get it into a windscreen replacement place ASAP? Suppose I am basicaly saying ,is the screen going to suddenly shatter at 70mph showering me with chips of laminated glass which will ruin my barnet?
Cheers All
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Drink Lager, Talk Piffle !
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"suddenly shatter at 70mph showering me with chips of laminated glass which will ruin my barnet?"
I don't think laminated glass does that - think it was the old toughened(??) stuff that went into "chips".
Phil
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A laminated windscreen crack can be repaired (see, for instance, tinyurl.com/dcolj www.rac.co.uk/contactus/faqs/auto_windscreens/ and tinyurl.com/c5kmu).
Toughened glass, as PhilW states, disintegrates into tiny chips if the screen is hit, for instance, by a stone flung up by another vehicle (I know, it happened to me once)..:-)
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I wouldn't want to drive anywhere with a cracked windscreen. It's illegal aside from anything else.
Surely you can just get it replaced by a mobile firm? Get it done through your insurance and it's £60, they work 7 days a week, and it only means not driving the car for a couple of hours.
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I wouldn't want to drive anywhere with a cracked windscreen. It's illegal aside from anything else. Surely you can just get it replaced by a mobile firm? Get it done through your insurance and it's £60, they work 7 days a week, and it only means not driving the car for a couple of hours.
Or if you're prepared to risk it, get the mobile people to visit you at work.
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"It's illegal aside from anything else"
Depends where it is, surely? We've had one in the middle of the screen for ages...
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Windscreens these days add to the vehicle's structural strength. Once a windscreen is cracked, that strength is then weakened.
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and to follow it could be the reason it broke, the vehicles structure could have twisted in a pot hole and caused the crack,you have to be careful how you even jack some cars these days,off to watch top gear:)
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>>Windscreens these days add to the vehicle's structural strength.
I thought the idea was to prevent driver/passenger pushing the screen out during an accident causing more harm to those going through,not to add to vehicle`s structure
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Steve
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Steve,
"The windscreen provides up to 30% of your car's structural strength, so it could protect you and your passengers from being crushed if the car rolls over.
Many passenger airbags also rely on the windscreen to work properly."
www.autoglass.co.uk/FAQ/Security/importanttosafety...p
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corblimeyguvnar,
If I were you I would make every effort to ensure that the replacement screen is either a genuine spare or is at least made by the same manufacturer as the original. I fell into the trap of accepting a non-genuine replacement and I've regretted it ever since. Never again!
One of the latest problems I've noticed is that if I look (from the driver's seat) through the upper left hand part of the screen there is serious distortion of the view. (I spotted this when I happened to glance at the guttering of the neighbour's bungalow.) There is also distortion at the bottom left hand corner. Although this is not a problem ~ I only see it when I look at reflections from the outside ~ it is another indication of the poor quality of the screen.
The other problem I've just spotted is that the outer surface doesn't appear to be very durable. After barely a year there are areas corresponding to the limits of travel of the wiper blades where the surface is wearing and is taking on a frosted appearance. Fortunately I don't notice this when the screen is dry, but I do notice it when the wipers change direction and when I clean the screen with my latest purchase ~ AutoGlym Car Glass Polish which I think is brilliant. I can also feel the roughness in the affected areas with my fingernail. I don't think it is due to worn wiper blades because the blades were renewed at the same time as the screen.
(The screen is marked "Solarshield Safevue" ~ mods, delete this make/model information if it conficts with Backroom policy.)
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L\'escargot.
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>>AutoGlym Car Glass Polish which I think is brilliant.>>
As I've said before in the forums it's the best glass cleaner I've ever used in 40 plus years of motoring.
Trouble is the other half has learned this as well and it's being used all round the house.
Told her to buy the next bottle..:-)
Re windscreens. The means to repair them has been around for a long time and presumably it's regarded as safe, otherwise the big organisations wouldn't offer the service.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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"The means to repair them has been around for a long time and presumably it's regarded as safe, otherwise the big organisations wouldn't offer the service."
within clearly defined limits re size and location. A lot wont touch cracks, most wont if its over a certain length.
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RF - currently 1 Renault short of a family
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"It's illegal aside from anything else" Depends where it is, surely? We've had one in the middle of the screen for ages...
Chips, yes, you're right. But a crack? I'm pretty sure that's illegal altogether. As Dave says, if it's cracked, it's structurally unsound.
Anyway, even if it's legal, I certainly wouldn't drive around with a crack in the windscreen.
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it's worth bearing in mind that one stone hitting your cracked windscreen could result in you sitting in your seat covered in shattered glass & thats if your lucky, it could certainly cause you to have an accident if you're very unlucky - IMHO get the thing changed ASAP, if something hits your windscreen now any protection it may have afforded you will probably be lost, very risky !!!
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it's worth bearing in mind that one stone hitting your cracked windscreen could result in you sitting in your seat covered in shattered glass
Laminated windscreens don't shatter.
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>> it's worth bearing in mind that one stone hitting your cracked >> windscreen could result in you sitting in your seat covered in >> shattered glass Laminated windscreens don't shatter.
But the hypothetical 'thing' which is hitting your 'screen might just come straight through rather than bouncing off.
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laminated windscreens are made of glass a plastic laminate and glass all bonded together they are very tough but in an unknown equation something would go through them,the worst things i see are the imprints of peoples faces on the screen where they have had an accident and not been wearing their belt,As said previously get it changed but get a quality co to do it there are different qualities of glass and there are bodge ways of fitting it as well,ideally the car needs to be parked up in the cool for at least 2 hours and not moved so the sealant can cure properly.Different co"s us different applications as well some use hot sealant some cold it all depends on who is fitting it,but its best not to have one fitted on the m6 if you can help it.
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