Anyone had to replace their windshield yet?

Gonna go with OEM? Mine isn't cracked but it's sandblasted. Thinking about a replacement.

 

Yes getting done tomorrow and it's going to be OEM. With just under 9,000 miles on a 2018 my insurance company as most will put OEM as standard practice. Took a rock or something on the highway it had the nickel-sized mark where it hit then a line quickly spread out maybe 5-6 inches. Inspection sticker time in September also so I got right on it.

 

mines getting done in the morning. I have a limited...so is there something I need to look for to make sure its a limited windshield compared to a regular? I saw the other guys posts about there being a difference or something?

 

Yes, I got almost twenty years out of my factory windshield.....

 

Does the windshield cowling have to come off to replace the windshield? If so, those clips that run the length of the underside can be fragile. Just be careful.

 

My windshield got a star chip last week. My insurance company covered the repair 100% that was done by Safelite. The repair doesn't look perfect and the Safelite guy was trying to talk me out of getting it replaced because the sheet metal is really thin where the windshield is glued on. Although they apply primer to it, there is still a chance that it can rust and eat through it. He said he seen rust most of the time after someone else did the replacement before him on 4Runners & Tacomas. So I don't know now if I should just wait for more severe damage before replacing it.

 

well...mine was done yesterday and the windshield looks fine. I can see the heater grid stuff a little easier on this one than the other I had, but still looks fine.

 

Mine's been done a month or so now and all appears fine. Sits in the garage a lot and have only washed it once since the change out but didn't notice any leaks or anything like that. My insurance sprang for OEM as it's a 2018 most companies will on newer vehicles. The glass company told me there's no difference just the little "Toyota" printed on the glass, I have no clue but the woman said it's the same glass off the same production line either way.

 

I live in CO and everyone has cracked windshields so when I bought my T4R I negotiated the permaplate glass protection package. I usually repair my own chips unless they are big. I am at 55K and on my 4th windshield. The coverage I have is for 5 years and up to $5K in repairs. I took it to the dealer for two of the installs and used Safelite for the others - same glass in both cases. Repair cost to the insurance company is about $500 a pop so I can get 9-10 windshields. I think one issue is the upright nature of the glass - obviously not as bad as a Jeep but still attracts rocks. I figure when I get to the end of 5 years and have some coverage left I'll just take a hammer to it one last time

 

At less than 2k miles on my 2020 TRD ORP, I now have a 6 inch edge crack from a stone. My deductible is $500, no third party glass available yet, the cost of the OEM glass out of pocket is $800. Based on experience with my wife's Rav4, calibration was not needed, but unsurance company are obligated to have it done. I am hesitant to claim under insurance as I know from experience, premium will go high on renewal then record stays for 5 years. That's 5 years higher premium. That's based on experience. So in the end, I bought a DIY crack repaur kit from crackeraser.com, watched a lot of the guy's video's and did the repair myself.

 

How'd it turn out? Pretty easy to do?

Do you just inject some resin and and use a suction cup to distribute that resin through the crack?

 

I used the cheap kit here: https://crackeraser.com/collections/all-windshield-repair-kits/products/diy-103. The owner has tons of video's on youtube on how to do it.

It went well the first time I did it, but there were like 1/16 " air gaps in 3 different places after the resin cured. Being a little bit of a perfectionist, I tried to put a few drops along the crack and left it overnight with the plastic curing tabs, thinking the resin will get in via capillary action. When I got up in the morning, the air gaps are even larger. I emailed Tim, the guy who sells/owns the kit and he replied it happens especially when you try to get in and out of the vehicle which disturbs it, well I guess he knows his stuff. he's right.. and he said there is nothing much i can do to fill the voids, but he said the crack should be stable.

I will try to redo it again today if I get the courage .

The plastic kit is really good, I have used numerous cheap Amazon ones on my other vehicles before so I have a little idea of how the kits work. I am actually thinking of buying the metal ones he sells. I should have bought them in the first place.

edit: the most scary part was the "drilling and tapping" to make a bullseye at the tip of the crack to prevent it from getting longer. The drill and tapper from the kit works great and made the job easy. In the past, I have used a high speed dremel and tiny drill bit which burned my windshield. So lesson learned, use the proper tools to do the job! If you are thinking of doing it, don't hesitate... if a guy like me can do it, everybody can!

 

I owned an FJ from 2011 until i purchased my 5th gen 2020 4R TRD OR in July. In the 9 years that I had the FJ, I replaced the windshield 6 times. Seems that the vertical windshield would be damaged by nearly every rock that hit it. I have found with the new 4R that the windshield (which is not nearly as vertical) is much more tolerant to rock strikes than was the FJ.

 

I had our 17's windshield replaced recently, and it was in dire need. There were probably 4 different cracks through the middle, along the bottom, and then cracks up and down linking the two horizontal cracks. Cracks started as rock strikes and then were exacerbated by body flex and heat/ cold cycles.

We used a local guy who put in a non heated windshield for $300. It frosts here like once every 3 years so that's a non- issue, and the unheated one is cheaper.

Interestingly, after the install there was a hellacious amount of wind noise. He came back and reinstalled a new windshield (free) and the noise was still there. He ended up reinstalling that second windshield but adjusted it ever so slightly upwards - like a mm - to tighten up the gap between roof and top of windshield... noise totally gone.

He said he'd never done a 5th gen before so he was glad to know there was a "trick " to getting it set up perfectly...

 

Good info! Thanks!

 

Glass repair is FREE here in Massachusetts. Didn't know you have to pay a deductible in other states?

 

I'm in Az.. yes we didn't pay anything for glass repair/replacement last time.. but Az has the highest number of glass replacement in the country... I think the insurance scam changed 2 years ago.

 

I've had a small chip in mine for a year and the other morning it decided to finally spread its little wings and fly across the windshield. So time for another replacement...

 

I don't know where you are, but if you're near Houston try Texas Quality Glass - (281) 961-0342

Demas and his team are straight shooters, excellent techs and like their name says, they did a quality job for a very fair price...

 

I had to replace mine after a crack started from using the heater for the wiper blades. There wasn’t a chip that started it. I was driving home on a cold snowy day and heard a pop with no other cars around me. Went out the next morning and a clean crack had started. The next day I decided to use the heater again and I assume that water had got in the crack and blew out this chunk on the way to work. Again there was absolutely no chip, it started at the base of the windshield and started moving across the bottom toward the driver side. After spending $800 getting another factory glass piece I won’t be using the heated wiper function again.

 

That is disappointing!
I live in the cold snowy northeast and I use the rear & front wiper defrost all the time.
Hopefully not a common problem?
Anyone else heard of this?

 

I use the front window heater all the time and haven't had this issue, I think its more just bad luck. Now having said that these windows seem to crack and chip if you look at them wrong, they seem stupid thin. I even use mine in the summer just to get a little heat into the wipers, they seem to be a little more pliable.

 

I had to have my OEM windshield replaced after only 4 months of buying my new 4Runner. Driving the 95 got a few big rocks hitting it. So did the Safelite thing thru Geico, only cost me $50. I was stoked. But 2 months later driving down a small street and a small rock got kicked up by another car. I heard it hit but no mark. Put the truck away that night only to find a huge Crack the next morning. Safelite glass is cheap glass from China. I'm going to replace with another OEM windshield this time.

 

OEM sucks too as it pits really bad

 

I put three in my 19 4 Runner within 14 months I had OEM installed the 3rd time and within 6 months it’s looked like someone took a sandblaster to it....

 

Maybe Corning Gorilla Glass would be a good solution. But I don’t believe it’s offered for 4Runners yet.

 

gorilla glass still break thoug, just like on phones... it's just scratch resistant...

 

Will need to replace my 2021 windshield soon do to pitting and I can hardly see out of it sometimes....

 

My 2010 FJ Cruiser is in it's 3rd windshield. Trading it in this coming Friday as my new 2021 4R TRD/ORP came in. Much agree with the more upright windshields. Jeep Wranglers have a severe case of this. Less ability for a rock to glance off the windshield. More like a rock hitting a straight wall.

Rick

 

Yeah, what’s up with that? I have a 2018 and when driving toward sunlight I see it’s terribly sandblasted.

My previous 2000 4Runner windshield lasted 17+ years before looking this bad.