Scuba6
Member
I bought the AVS after the second ding, hoping that would solve the problem. Unfortunately it didn't for me. I wish y'all better luck than I've had!
Toyotas: a magnet for windshield cracks
- Thread starter limamike
- Start date
I bought the AVS after the second ding, hoping that would solve the problem. Unfortunately it didn't for me. I wish y'all better luck than I've had!
limamike
New member
Not encouraging. :redbrick: I was getting hopeful about these past two AVS posts because I just installed one today (coincidentally) because I had a few rock chips in the front of the hood.
Windshield Cracks
I must have been lucky. My wife and I owned 12 Toyotas since 1978 (2 being 4 Runners) and two different model Lexus vehicles. Lived in CA, NE, and now DE and have driven across the country twice and throughout every state west of the Missouri River and to date have not experience one crack. Mileage on the vehicles averaged around 70 to 80K when being sold. Maybe I should not have said this(may have a crack the next time out of the garage).
I must have been lucky. My wife and I owned 12 Toyotas since 1978 (2 being 4 Runners) and two different model Lexus vehicles. Lived in CA, NE, and now DE and have driven across the country twice and throughout every state west of the Missouri River and to date have not experience one crack. Mileage on the vehicles averaged around 70 to 80K when being sold. Maybe I should not have said this(may have a crack the next time out of the garage).
Scuba6
Member
Maybe it's just me, but I found it funny that you're wishing your windshield would crack, and your signature block says, "If brute force doesn't work, you're not using enough of it." Seems like you just answered your own problem! :biggrin2:
rickwol
New member
I try to do the same but have been surprised at how far I've kept vehicles in front of me and still have gotten hit! Biggest windshield crackers around my parts are flat beds on the highway. If I see one in front of me I'll slow down until he's out of site. I've had mixed success trying to pass them.
SilverKast
New member
Up in our part of Canada they use gravel all winter for the snow and ice, and since we always get chinooks that melt all the snow the roads are covered with gravel.
My 4Runner already has huge cracks all across that will require a new windshield - once spring has come and they clean all the rocks off the road at least. I've only had it 6 months so far too...
My 4Runner already has huge cracks all across that will require a new windshield - once spring has come and they clean all the rocks off the road at least. I've only had it 6 months so far too...
If a rock gets kicked up by a truck and breaks my windshield, my insurance will cover the full cost of replacement. But I won't break it myself -- that would be fraud.
Ian97
New member
I'd had mine less than 48 hours, put less than 50 miles on it and a rock hit it on the highway yesterday, it took about two miles for the crack to develop....insurance took care of the bill to get it filled.....$62.50...
On my 97, I think i'd gone the last 6-8 years without a rock chip and I know it took a few rocks to the windshield in it.....
-Ian
On my 97, I think i'd gone the last 6-8 years without a rock chip and I know it took a few rocks to the windshield in it.....
-Ian
4Run4YourLife
New member
I put 3 windshields on my '04 4runner in the 8 years I owned it. Also, I sold it with a cracked windshield, so it needed another one.
My '12 4runner got a chip in the windshield the very first week! :sobbing:
To be fair, I do mostly highway driving. I put 200k on the '04.
My '12 4runner got a chip in the windshield the very first week! :sobbing:
To be fair, I do mostly highway driving. I put 200k on the '04.
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I am not being judgmental here, but really, are we maybe doing a little tailgating? Here is why I say this. Many years ago, for about 4 years, I owned a 66 Chevy van. Google a photo of this wonderful rig. Notice the windshield. It was like driving behind a sliding patio door! The wind shield was very large and almost straight up and down.(No aerodynamics here). I never had a chip, crack, or any other annoyance but dirt. This, while driving in Oklahoma and Oregon which means gravel roads, sand/rocks vs. salt in the winter etc. etc. (and cross country getting from one state to the other).
One thing I did do however, is stay well back from vehicles in front of me. I did this because there was very little "protection" up front. In this van, (as well as most others of that time period), the driver and front seat passenger sat next too and a little bit forward of the engine. The engine housing or (dog house) as it was lovingly called, was the center counsel in these vehicles. The front tires were actually right below the seat and slightly behind the driver, so you really had to learn how to turn these vehicles a bit differently then regular autos. The driver and passenger were seated in an area protected by just about 10 inches between the floor board and the outside of the front fender.
But my point being, I never had a rock chip or crack. Was the glass just that much better back then? Could be. Or, just maybe more aware and kept my distance. (For other reasons, but the results were beneficial....) Just saying.
One thing I did do however, is stay well back from vehicles in front of me. I did this because there was very little "protection" up front. In this van, (as well as most others of that time period), the driver and front seat passenger sat next too and a little bit forward of the engine. The engine housing or (dog house) as it was lovingly called, was the center counsel in these vehicles. The front tires were actually right below the seat and slightly behind the driver, so you really had to learn how to turn these vehicles a bit differently then regular autos. The driver and passenger were seated in an area protected by just about 10 inches between the floor board and the outside of the front fender.
But my point being, I never had a rock chip or crack. Was the glass just that much better back then? Could be. Or, just maybe more aware and kept my distance. (For other reasons, but the results were beneficial....) Just saying.
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limamike
New member
Seems like you are being judgmental. The last windshield strike was from the left most lane and I was in the center lane at least four car lengths back and to the right.
Yea, your probably right. Sorry about that.
Victor_inox
New member
its not toyota specificissue,every modern car has ****ty glass windshield, they make it thinner to save weight -more easily CRACKED. IN COLORado you can consider yourself lucky if your windshield survived for 3 years.i replaced 2 in my ridgeline in 2 years.
rocklighting
New member
I was always curious about this. It really is all dependent on how angled the windshield is. I had an 06 corolla before my '11 4Runner. 6 years of driving that car through the entire Northeast, snowstorms, hail, rocks, salt nothing cracked that windshield. But since it was angled so much, it was never hit with a direct shot.
The 4Runner's windshield seems to be closer to a 90 degree angle so rocks and other road rubbish would have a good chance of making a direct hit. The one major plus I've seen in my short driving period, is since the front end is higher up, I haven;t noticed anything make it that far up yet.
The 4Runner's windshield seems to be closer to a 90 degree angle so rocks and other road rubbish would have a good chance of making a direct hit. The one major plus I've seen in my short driving period, is since the front end is higher up, I haven;t noticed anything make it that far up yet.
I've had rocks kicked up by trucks that were more than 10 lengths ahead of me.
