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OE windshield quality is going down!

Posted: July 8th, 2008, 9:55 am
by scratchy
This issue has to be adressed somewhere once and for all.
Nissan across the board and GM large SUV's are cracking out like I have never seen before. You are darn lucky to find a star that is fixable and not spreading 2 feet plus.
This is a recent trend I have seen beginning with 07 and up models.
Does anyone think this huge drop in quality is due to cost cutting of the manufacturer?
There are more makes and models following this trend but GM and Nissan are the first coming to mind.
I have yet to see if the PPG and Pilkington replacements are of a better quality.

Re: OE windshield quality is going down!

Posted: July 8th, 2008, 11:59 am
by SGT
Scratchy,

I have a few accounts of each brand vehicle you speak of and I have not found that to be the case on new or old models. That certainly does not mean that the quality in glass has not gone down though.

Re: OE windshield quality is going down!

Posted: July 8th, 2008, 1:18 pm
by screenman
Now I could be wrong but I just checked the temperature for Fort Worth and it said 95 I think that is more likely to be your problem rather than faulty glass. I would certainly welcome more comments on this subject. If it is too hot to put your hand on it it is too hot too repair, heat will make a damage run far quicker than cold will in our experience.

Re: OE windshield quality is going down!

Posted: July 8th, 2008, 2:25 pm
by GlassStarz
I know its 107 here today projected 112 tomorrow sinc emoving here i have seen a bunch of crack out chips the heat and then the air con on the inside and POP!!! not a lot of old breaks here gotta be the same in Texas

Re: OE windshield quality is going down!

Posted: July 8th, 2008, 8:16 pm
by GlasWeldTech
Not a problem here and it is HOT also. SLOW down and cool windshield and should be OK. A lot of the new GM truck lines have CRINAMEX Glass in them from Mexico.

Re: OE windshield quality is going down!

Posted: July 8th, 2008, 8:54 pm
by GlassStarz
My point was they are broken before you get to them dot see a lot of old breaks here 112 dry heat outside air con on the inside POP!

Re: OE windshield quality is going down!

Posted: July 9th, 2008, 2:13 am
by Glasseye
Temperature control of the glass is critical, too cold will make it difficult to achieve good resin absorption, too hot, the interlayer will soften allowing the glass to move under pressure more easily increasing the risk of breakout. I normally work in a temperature range of 13-22 Centigrade glass surface temperature. If you work in a hot climate I would expect more instances of breakout from a chip because the outside of the glass will be hot and the inside will be cooled by aircon, causing the extra stress leading to cracking. Funnily enough the glass I find in the UK I have to be wary of is Mercedes??

Re: OE windshield quality is going down!

Posted: July 10th, 2008, 12:38 pm
by scratchy
They are running instantly 2 feet plus. Any near edge hit is a W/S killer. There is no saving them as even attempting a repair is not going to work. They keep spreading later even after a great repair. The W/S's are spreading apart on the laminate. The newest Honda's are junk too. I hate to be the bearer of bad news but somebody is cutting cost on production and these OE's are poop. Lets hope PPG and Pilkington are doing it right for the next round of glass!!