Safe and Sound Glass

[Brent Deines]

It sounds like laminated side glass will become more main stream very soon. It will be interesting to see how well it holds up in side lite applications. So far there just hasn't been enough of it on the market to know if it will offer much of a benefit to windshield repair technicians, but if it is going in inexpensive cars like the Malibu we should know before too long.

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/st...04790615&EDATE

[starstruck]

I hope they all end up going that route. It only makes sense. And I think it will be a benefit to those of us who do windshield repair!

[Glasseye]

From what Iv'e read up on this, as well as being laminated, the glass is also semi-toughened. Has any one repaired one of these glasses yet and does the toughening affect the repair in any way?.

[Brent Deines]

I thought I had read about that as well but couldn't find any detailed information so far and haven't had time to talk to the manufacturers to get the scoop.

[Nomad]

All I know is that a guy I know has installed some of these and said that most of the time it is totally split out and unrepairable immediately after being hit. Haven't heard anything more than that.

[Glasseye]

This link provides the information on laminated side glass

http://www.pilkington.com/About+Pilk...sidelights.htm

[StarQuest]

I have 2 of them from a glass shop buddy of mine (for practice pieces) They were both cracked and not chipped. He stated somebody tried breaking into vehicle not aware side glass was laminated. Not sure if laminated side glass will bring in much work for us, unless it gets hit from a stone that a lawn mower thrown.

Still not sure about providing any long crack repairs on these. A windshield is glued in stationary while side glass is not.

[ghost rider]

HI, first time poster here. have been watching in the background for a while, thought i would jump in. i had two failed repairs last year and one already this year, al three on acoustic shields in Denali's. there may be something to the hardening theory. any thoughts?

[starstruck]

Who knows? Could be a coincidence or..........? I guess only time will tell but if stats prove over time that there is a direct connection between failed repairs and that type of glass then I won't be accepting jobs on vehicles that are equipped with it. No point in working on something that is destined to fail. I wouldn't want to waste my time or tarnish my business image with failed repairs.

[ghost rider]

I have repaired many lam sidelites and sunroofs. they are not new. almost all cars back in the 30's and 40's had lam lites. chev suburban had lam sidelites until late 70's or early 80's. you might be surprised how many you will be asked to repair if we get the word out that they are repairable. I have done long cracks on sunroofs, sidelites should have less stress than a glued down shield. I think long cracks should repair very nicely