Cannot find clear quarter glass for my 1997 4Runner

D

dakrause

New member
Greetings folks,

I am looking for a replacement right quarter glass for my 1997 4Runner. A local junkyard offered a replacement, but the tint was too dark to match, and all the online searches offer either "light tint" or "privacy tint".

Can you folks kindly tell me what glass I should be looking for and where I might find it (I live in northern Virginia, zip code 22201)

The damaged window (showing other windows for shade reference):
6mmdm1d.jpg


A typical online search only showing only "light tint" glass("clear" glass does not appear to be available):
0NCpvRe.jpg
 
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I don't recall ever seeing a 3rd gen with perfectly clear quarter glass, are you sure you didn't have factory tint on it?
 
UnderFire said:
I don't recall ever seeing a 3rd gen with perfectly clear quarter glass, are you sure you didn't have factory tint on it?
Click to expand...

That's what I was going to say, I thought every 4Runner has tinted glass. I don't rememeber ever seeing clear windows in the back.
 
dakrause said:
Please let me know if the above picture is not clear enough, and I will get a picture of the undamaged side!
Click to expand...

No I get what you are saying, I see that the other side is definitely not tinted. I was just commenting on that I've never seen one like that before so you might have a really hard time finding a replacement. Does the window have the lines in it for the antenna? Maybe that's the piece we are missing here, every single 4Runner I've seen has the antenna in that window that's broken but yours does not appear to have it. Maybe it is not a stock window, or maybe the non-antenna is indeed not tinted.
 
gamefreakgc said:
Does the window have the lines in it for the antenna? Maybe that's the piece we are missing here, every single 4Runner I've seen has the antenna in that window that's broken but yours does not appear to have it. Maybe it is not a stock window, or maybe the non-antenna is indeed not tinted.
Click to expand...

It appears the window did not have an antenna:
3KrUR0f.jpg
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gamefreakgc said:
No I get what you are saying, I see that the other side is definitely not tinted. I was just commenting on that I've never seen one like that before so you might have a really hard time finding a replacement. Does the window have the lines in it for the antenna? Maybe that's the piece we are missing here, every single 4Runner I've seen has the antenna in that window that's broken but yours does not appear to have it. Maybe it is not a stock window, or maybe the non-antenna is indeed not tinted.
Click to expand...

The in-window diversity antenna wasn't brought out until later, 1999 I think, no 97 ever had it.
 
I can't help you with sourcing a window, but I can confirm that some trucks did indeed come with absolutely no tint from the factory, including mine, though I'm tinted at 15% rear now.
 
dakrause said:
Please let me know if the above picture is not clear enough, and I will get a picture of the undamaged side!


.
Click to expand...
perhaps not ideal, but why not get both sides in the tinted flavor? that way they at least match. but in light tint, it wouldn't look bad.
 
UnderFire said:
The in-window diversity antenna wasn't brought out until later, 1999 I think, no 97 ever had it.
Click to expand...

My 97 limited has the diversity antenna. I'm pretty sure it is the original window as I doubt anyone would go through the trouble of installing the window and running the extra cable and all that to the stereo.

Perhaps though only limited models had it in the early years? Or maybe models with the upgraded cd changer/cassette head unit?
 
StreetCreeper said:
My 97 limited has the diversity antenna. I'm pretty sure it is the original window as I doubt anyone would go through the trouble of installing the window and running the extra cable and all that to the stereo.

Perhaps though only limited models had it in the early years? Or maybe models with the upgraded cd changer/cassette head unit?
Click to expand...

Possibly, I have never seen one older than a 98 in the junkyards with the antenna, but it may have been an option of some sort in 96-97, I know it became standard equipment at some point.

I've heard of a few people adding it, and it's not really that much work on top of replacing the window, I know I would add it if I ever had to replace the window.
 
StreetCreeper said:
My 97 limited has the diversity antenna. I'm pretty sure it is the original window as I doubt anyone would go through the trouble of installing the window and running the extra cable and all that to the stereo.

Perhaps though only limited models had it in the early years? Or maybe models with the upgraded cd changer/cassette head unit?
Click to expand...

Yeap my 97 sr5 has it also.
On topic, out of the 15 or so local t4rs in junkyards, I don't recall seeing any untinted glass.
 
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UnderFire said:
The in-window diversity antenna wasn't brought out until later, 1999 I think, no 97 ever had it.
Click to expand...

My '97 SR5 has the in-window diversity antenna, and the glass is tinted from the factory.

I am the original owner, so it has never been altered.

I've noticed that the clear glass seems to be on Base model 4Runners. The OP's 4Runner does appear to be a Base model.
 
Some pure base model trucks came with no power windows, untinted glass, etc, not all 3rd gens have privacy glass.

I'm not quite sure where one could find a replacement, surely they do exist somewhere. Toyota may have them, otherwise you'll have to find a dismantler who has a similar base model truck.
 
It takes a village to figure this one out! Seems like there's more options in the 96-98 years than most of us were aware of.

For the record, my 98 SR5 is tinted and has the antenna.
 
Learn something new every day I guess. Hell, it might even be possible that my 4Runner came with no tint at all from the factory since it's a base model and had aftermarket tint on it when I bought it.
 
Bummer... That's an expensive piece of glass to break. It is far easier to replace just about any other window on our trucks. I had mine break as I was driving on I-5. When and if you do track down your elusive piece of glass, go some place that knows what they are doing, (unless you are doing it yourself). Apparently, the trick to this piece of glass and setting it correctly depends a lot on the rubber gasket that goes around the glass.

When I had to have mine replaced I gave the cheapest guys a shot. A sad mistake. The glass was scratched to hell and the gasket was all jacked up with some of it running an overbite, some under bite as far as fitment was concerned. I was pretty hot about the hack job they tried to pass off as legit. I had em take it out and I insisted on OEM and went with another shop. They did a much better job and they pointed out that the previous shop didn't bother to properly prep the surface area to make sure any scratches didn't rust down the road. Lucky for me, it was covered by insurance.
 
I'd just get a tinted winder then have a reputable shop tint the rest to match. Save you some time/effort, but probably cost a couple hundred more dollars.
 
FIXED! A junkyard about 100 miles from the original dealer had quarter glass from the same model year, so I went to investigate. Turns out that this junkyard's definition of "light tint" was different from other junkyards and matched my tint.
Thanks to all, and special thanks to nevada for the "plan B" that I was prepared to carry out!

QWfGp36.jpg
 
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