Thread: Series windscreen - corner cracks

I suspect you answered your own question

Originally Posted by ashhhhh

Hey all,

I thought I would claim my yearly free windscreen on insurance, as the old ones were scratched to buggery.

Unfortunately the idiots doing the repair have no idea.
First off they ordered one windscreen only... I waited.
When they finally got them BOTH I found one was cracked before I even drove away.
They are ordering another...

Today I find the other one cracked too!

I fitted to used screens to this vehicle years ago, and they were fine - it wasn't a hard job.

What could they be doing for this to happen?
Crap glass? Poor technique?

Advice appreciated, I'd like to set them right when I visit.

Cheers,
Ash

Ahh... In which bit?

I have trouble working out how they managed to crack the glass, unless the frame is twisted, repaired, or something - the originals would have been toughened glass, which is a lot harder to damage. Or the glass may not be the correct size, and is a tight fit in the frame.

The only other possibility I can see is that they did not ensure that the glass nowhere touches the actual frame (OK to touch the retaining strips) as this will transmit shocks to the glass - perhaps they dropped the glass into it and hit the bottom - not used to dealing with windscreens retained like these.

John

How the heck do you crack one during install? They aren't a super tight fit, the little screws that hold the aluminium bits on are too small to overtorque, and there should be plenty of sealant to provide a bit of room to move anyway.
Do you have the windscreen up or down when changing the glass? I did mine with the windscreen down, it was exceptionally easy, didn't even need a second set of hands or any specialist tools.

The drivers has cracked in the top right, the passengers in the bottom left.

They fitted with the windscreen up. (Series 3)

The glass seems thinner than the old panels, maybe that's a contributor?

Originally Posted by JDNSW

I have trouble working out how they managed to crack the glass, unless the frame is twisted, repaired, or something - the originals would have been toughened glass, which is a lot harder to damage. Or the glass may not be the correct size, and is a tight fit in the frame.

The only other possibility I can see is that they did not ensure that the glass nowhere touches the actual frame (OK to touch the retaining strips) as this will transmit shocks to the glass - perhaps they dropped the glass into it and hit the bottom - not used to dealing with windscreens retained like these.

John

So are there meant to be strips between the glass and the frame John?

It should be smaller than the outside dimensions of the frame to allow for flexing. If it's too tight and there's movement well you've seen what happens. It could also possibly happen if it was fitted hard into a corner and there's no room in one direction (sorry for using that term).

The top right and bottom left could be where it was hard against the frame.

I've always just used silastic and made sure they were centred before fiting the strips but as Mark said, do it flat. Much easier.

Sweet, thanks mate. :thumbup:

It's not that easy to do these flat because you have to unbolt the front of the roof, and even then it's hard to fold down. The upper and lower seals also tend to balls up, they did for me anyway. (Stuck and tore)

I'll give them some friendly advice, I'm sure they'll love it.