These windshields seem like magnets for gravel. At mile 791 on the odometer during the start of a 2,000 mile road trip, a truck passed and kicked up one stone that hit the top of the windshield at the black coating. Instant 4 inch crack. Collected a few more glass pits on I-95 during the trip.

Mine cracked without a rock hitting it recently. Cold morning, turned on the defroster and crack away.

Without a doubt, the windshield had a chip before this crack propagated. The heat cycling from a convection air defrost is not nearly harsh enough to result in glass failure. If your windshield wiper defrost buss bar were to short, that could create enough localized heat to cause a crack, but still unlikely.

This may be apple to oranges but I recently had a rock hit and chip my '05 Tacoma windshield that needed to be filled. The windshield has a ton of pits but it's par for the course after a 122K miles. Ironically, the cost to fill is not that much cheaper than to replace. Unfortunately, my insurance doesn't cover it (high deductible to keep premiums low) so I elected to be cheap and just fill it to prevent the chip/crack from spreading. I wasn't tail gating anybody (no one else in front of me) either as the rock actually came from the other side of the road over the concrete barrier. The guy from Safelite said that it's actually quite common and why most never see it hit.

Nope. I'll post a pic later.

Please do. I'm a glass and materials scientist, working in the automotive glass industry.

In PA, most (all?) insurance companies will pay the fee for the windshield repair - regardless of your deductible.
>>cb drags out his soapbox and clambers up<<
Insurance in most states has two parts - comprehensive and collision. Collision pays for stuff that is your fault - running into stuff/people and things that can't be proven as not being your fault. A low deductible is expensive.

Comprehensive is for stuff that isn't your fault - fire/theft (assuming you didn't leave the keys in), wildlife hits, road debris etc. A low deductible is generally cheap. For me (in VA), a $100 deductible costs me $26 a year more than a $1k deductible.

Unless you're in a state that has a separate glass portion (or a handful of other states that has oddball insurance laws), glass damage falls under the comp portion of your insurance.

Most insurance companies will waive the deductible if you get a windshield repaired rather than replaced. They also have a deal with Safelite where they don't pay a lot for the repair.

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I'm the original owner of a 96 F350 with 215,000mi.
That windshield has bounced literally a hundred rocks off it I bet.
No chips at all, no cracks.
I asked a windshield guy about it once and he stated the newer windshields are much thinner and weaker.

Windshields are built differently as they must comply with pedestrian safety laws and airbags. They do not "chip" easier than older windshields, but there may be more debris on the roadways of our crumbling infrastructure.

About to hit 197k on my 07, have one star on passenger side low. I drive i35 and i10 and awful chip seal roads and have been hit hatd/loud too many times to count. Paint chips all around and a mystery dent on the roof (?) with no paint damage that just appeeout of the blue not long ago.
Most annoying though is my paint was holding spectacular especially on roof but in last six months the roof clearcoat has just disintegrated and fine Mystery scratches appeared all over. I've never taken it to an autumated car wash....

I'm on my 4th windshield....almost made it through last year without on lol. If i drive it to work i pass 3 quarries and get stuck behind dump trucks often....if the wife drives it she has to go to Northern Va which is always in construction. Oddly enough, knock on wood, havent had to put one in the Tahoe yet...even though it has taken some hard hits from rocks.

I agree I’m in Pa when I had my 17 Pro not long after owning it the salt put down on the Pa road and other shit went by a truck a piece hit the windshield put a little crack. Safelite fixed it not insurance cost good as new. He said the 4runners and jeeps are really high on the list with windshield chips.

Yeah the windshield is just too vertical when compared to other vehicles. Not as dramatic as the FJ but still enough to be a chip/crack magnet

Driving back and forth from SoCal to Montana, clocking 207.5K miles in 5+’years, we’re replaicing a windshield every 2 years. The worst culprits are oncoming snow plows.

Insurance covers. $250 deductible. New clear windshield every 2 years. Woohoo.

When I initially started reading this thread and saw someone complain about being more prone to cracks because of the angle of the 4Runner window, I laughed and thought to myself, I just sold an FJ that had a window if you looked at it wrong it would crack. HAHA! One of just a few reasons I wanted to get rid of the FJ. That windshield is super spendy to replace and shops don't always really know how to do it. The aftermarket trim pieces dont fit right so I always splurged for Toyota windshield and top trim piece that gets replaced every time. Glad I don't have to worry about that anymore with the 4Runner.