WINDSHIELD DAMAGE

[Rado]

IMO today the windshields are not made as well as they used to be !
For lack of a better word I say the glass is a bit softer so chips/sand bast easier
Maybe not heat treated as long to save a buck or something like that !

 

[Jerrybob]

What I have on the front of MY 19 5th Gen, helps but no way U can eliminate karma.

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Got the exact same thing.....helps a bit IMO.

 

[Mike Wenrich]

I too have noticed an increase in bug hits on the new truck. I thought it was just the environment but now I'm thinking that deflector might be a good addition. I've had one on my 2004.5 Dodge since new and only recently replaced the windshield. I put one on my 2014 2500 and one annoyance with that one was whenever there was fog or high humidity moisture came over the ends causing me to use the wipers when it should not have been necessary. Might have been the design but more than once I considered removing it. Sold that truck so no issue now. I would be interested to know if the Aeroskin does that.

 

[jimmyfjk]

most likely a two fold problem. my 21 has had a windshield replaced at 1150 miles for a crack. The replacement cracked during install of all things. I think the quality of **** coming from FICA is lousy now. My 12" screen gets out of whack and has to be reset. The outside temp sensor gets out of whack. I think it is just the overall quality of RAM now., Never again will i spend money to buy a new truck from FICA. My sons jeep tons of problems.
The second part of the issue i believe is this; with the way things are now with local govs are not doing the maintenance and cleaning on the roads like it used to be. Add in many more drivers being allowed in the country (wont even get into the political crap) and all the construction taking place i think these is just more debris on the roads to be thrown up on our windshields.

 

[Rayzaa]

Knock on wood after this but my Ram is 17 years old and ive replaced the windshield one time. No cracks in the current one.

 

[RD Holland]

I think its the glass. My 2019 Longhorn has a cluster of scratches from the windshield wiper. At the start near the bottom it is a fairly wide set of scratches and by the time it is up at the top it is just a few. A nice "radial" set of scratches starting right about the middle of the driver side wiper blade. I swear, I had some leaves on the truck when I turned on the wiper to get them out of the way and that was the result. I have tried a number of things to get rid of the mess left behind. The scratches are not deep at all but I guess I'll have to do some sort of glass fill treatment. Now I remove leaves by hand lest another one get partially lodged under the blades and do more damage. I have never had anything like this occur on any other vehicle in my nearly 50 years of driving.

 

[Gramps58]

I have a 2023 Ram 1500 Crew Cab & at least once a day, I hear the loud "craaaack" of a rock hitting the windshield. I had to replace the original windshield when the truck was less than a week old (12" long crack on the passenger side). Since then, I have accumulated at least 15 chips in the windshield (luckily no more cracks). I have owned Fords, GMs, and even previous generations of RAM, and have never had this problem. My driving habits have not changed. I'm not following vehicles any more closely, yet I am averaging a rock per day. The only thing I can think of is maybe the rake of the windshield is more vertical than on previous trucks? Very strange and VERY annoying...

 

[Gramps58]

With aftermarket windshields the quality isn’t as good. I barely touched mine with wiper arm and cracked it

 

[Timsdually]

Commercial vehicles are required to have comprehensive insurance to operate and if you can record a license plate with a time and location you may be able to be reimbursed for damages.
A dash camera also is helpful but not always necessary.

I had a Dakota years ago and was coming up I 95 in VA and a dump truck pulled in front of me. The idiot had chunks of broken asphalt on the bottom lip of the tailgate. You guessed it, truck it a bump in the road and about a 2" chunk fell off and hit my hood and then the windshield. I tried to flag the driver down ( a woman), but she refused to stop. Called the cops and they came and pulled her over. I couldn't believe how much asphalt chunks she had on that lip. She tried to say she isn't responsible for anything the truck kicks up. I told she is responsible for cleaning that off. Cop told her to give me her insurance info, but didn't write her a ticket or even tell her to clean the tailgate off and she drove away and probably cracked a few more windshields down the road. I got a check for full reimbursement for the windshield and paint work for the hood damage.

Another time I had my Dodge D150 I was driving down the interstate and same thing, dump truck pulls on the highway in front of me and he is hauling pea gravel. His tailgate isn't completely closed so the small pea gravel is dropping out. Cars are swerving all over to get out from behind him but I got hit. I tried flagging the guy down and he just pointed to name on the side of the truck. This was pre-cell phone time. I called the company number and got an answering machine. Two days later there was an article in the paper about the owner getting killed riding his motorcycle. I ended up paying for that windshield.

 

[Tominator223]

Windshields have to be asi cert. and can have dozens of cracks & chips. And they will still do their job. Don’t believe the ads that show . Oh I have a chip it’s time for a new one. BS. I’m on #2 in 20yrs 400k +. A lot of hwy miles . Have seen 2 lug nuts hit.on the one in truck now . Had no place to move. So just took the hit. And the chip repair places. Just cost everybody’s ins. To go up. I’ve got at least 12 chips now. Clear view for drivers side. So I’ll probably wait till I get a few more before changing . However if you have what looks like fog in the windshield the laminate is starting to separate it’s time to change. Or if you’re selling or trading in. Change it. My buddy had a 2x4 come through the pass side of his work van windshield while he was on a call with a customer. He had no chips & the 2x4 came in about a foot. So it did it’s job. Any passenger would have been ok. Other than tiny glass everywhere. Also it’s road debris not anyone’s fault. Maybe a lil karma. & don’t follow any vehicle because a rock or something hit your windshield. Now if they throw something at you get a plate #. And maybe ask yourself why they threw something at you. Just my 2cent. Don’t put that on me RB.

 

[lazer]

I bought my 13 used and it had a small chip in it when I got it. I did notice something odd that happens sometimes when I'm driving. Whether going straight or turning, I hear this noise from my windshield that sounds like the glass is straining or twisting and I wait to see cracks shooting across it, but the glass never cracks. Started when I first got it and to this day, maybe once a week or two,

 

[Marshall]

Damn now i'm feeling lucky,my 14 still has it's original windshield,lol

I am the same , thought it is getting sandblasted . and a couple smaller chips I had filled.
I have $100 deductible insurance on the glass, it has the rain sensors in it= $$$$$
I bought a new one in 2005 and as I was leaving the dealer , In Edmonton, a cattle trailer pasted me and tossed a large rock up right in my sight line.
Trailers are always tossing rocks , even on good pavement.
Winter here , they don't use salt in town, but spread sand on the streets.

 

[Marshall]

BTW I did have deflectors on my older ones, usually stainless or chrome, 94 was black so that was a plastic one , I think it does help, but I have never bothered on this one with the sport hood.
I am not on country roads much anymore.

My last heavy truck had a large one, about 8 in high and it never got a rock and most of the time it was on gravel roads.

I changed the windshield in my New Yorker and a couple days later it got wacked again,
Cash sale $400.oo First one was was good for 150,000 miles , second one 50 miles .
The gremlins where out and no gun. Damn.

 

[RamDiver]

IIRC, I discovered the benefits of a windscreen deflector back in the 80s and have had one on every truck I've owned since.

Reducing the amount of bugs splattering on the windshield is more than enough to offset the cost, in my mind. If it also helps to potentially reduce stone chip damage, that's just an added bonus.

Again, IIRC, I've only replaced 1 windshield ever in my 45 years of driving. I drove the Tundra about 160,000 miles over 14 years. It had a few minor dings in the windshield but nothing bad enough to replace it.

I believe another benefit to having a windscreen deflector is that the visibility is often less impacted by rain and snow. For the improvements gained, it's just a no-brainer in my mind.

Then again, just like buying one of the best sets of tires for summer and/or winter driving is not where I choose to save a buck, all my vehicles get a windscreen deflector.

YMMV

.

 

[Wild one]

If anybody in Alberta is interested,i have a basically new bright white standard flat hood that's complete right down to having the washer nozzles and underhood pad,that has a bug screen on it,i'll let it go for $400 Canuck,lol

 

[Fatitud]

I just had the windshield on my 2012 RAM 4X4 Quad Sport replaced last week. I had accumulated 4 quarter-sized chips and dirt abrasion over the years, most of them between 2019 and 2022 when I was going back and forth every few weeks from So Cal to Carson, NV on CA395 through the desert. The last w/s chip was in the drivers' line of site. Zero deductible Collision meant that Allstate paid for the replacement but the side and cowl moldings were shot and not covered so that part was out of pocket. Not a huge deal but the original w/s had the RAM-head logo behind the rear view mirror in the "black dot mask" that borders the entire windshield and the replacement just has the "black dot mask" - no logo.
Lately, with all of the potholes on all of the roadways and the loose gavel from them, I'm pretty sure that it is a strong contributor to w/s damage from the gravel and rocks being kicked off the roadway as tires hit the potholes.

 

[truck2569]

The problem I have here in Maine is what I call Sand Blasting effect on the windshield :O
Little spots/chips the do a white out effect when the sun is bright ! :O
Had it happen on my 2011 Chevy when I had it, My 2015 RAM and even my 2023 Car I purchased in March !
IMO like most things today
They not made like they used to be and use cheaper material or manufacturing process

Nothing is made in America anymore all overseas.

 

[Rado]

Nothing is made in America anymore all overseas.

Truth to that ! IMO they do not heat treat the glass like they used to so it is softer /easier to chip
Just look at Tools/metals that come from China ! They break easier because of poor heat treating

 

[Timsdually]

Truth to that ! IMO they do not heat treat the glass like they used to so it is softer /easier to chip
Just look at Tools/metals that come from China ! They break easier because of poor heat treating

Do they?
Or do they break easier because some cheap company gave them specs to make them weaker and put more money in their pockets.

 

[Justin33]

The problem I have here in Maine is what I call Sand Blasting effect on the windshield :O
Little spots/chips the do a white out effect when the sun is bright ! :O
Had it happen on my 2011 Chevy when I had it, My 2015 RAM and even my 2023 Car I purchased in March !
IMO like most things today
They not made like they used to be and use cheaper material or manufacturing process

Hey fellow Mainer this is spot on. My 14 looks like it has been sandblasted or like sand is permanently stuck in the windshield.