Windshield "shade" question

[204 Escape]

My wife put one of those fold out reflective windshield thingies in her truck yesterday. The truck was parked under a shade tree. Windows, were down about ", and moon roof open.

She came out about hours later and the windshield was cracked in about places. I figure she might have had a small chip, in her windshield and not noticed it.

My questions are: Do you use one?? Have you had any problems?? Does the reflective piece put too much heat on the glass ??

 

[nikon]

Re: Windshield "shade" question

I use one, only thing I notice is my suction cup gps holder falls off the windshield occasionaly when I use it. So yes it must get damn hot. You sure your wife isn't coming up with excuses?

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Windshield "shade" question

204, I had a crack in my windshield about 4 inches long prior to this summer's heat and using the shade. The second day of using the shade, the crack spread. NAd spread the next day too. I took my car keys, and at the end of the crack, lightly scratched the windshield in the direction I wanted the crack to spread, and the crack has stopped expanding. Even with even higher heat and continued use of the shade.
I used one religiously on my 1990 Cavalier when I lived in Florida. The windshield had NO chips, and it never cracked. So I would say yes, your windshield probably had chips in it, and the heat reflecting caused them to expand.

 

[Fireman431]

Re: Windshield "shade" question

My wife uses one religously and we have never had an issue.

 

[Av8nBill]

Re: Windshield "shade" question

I use one daily on my pickup and it's been over 100? every day for over a month. I have one windshield chip that has been there since 2004 and hasn't gotten any bigger.

I'm sure it's possible that the windshield was under some tension and the heat caused the crack to expand. My in-laws just had their 8 foot patio door spider web because of the heat. They watched it slowly crack and spread until the whole door was cracked. Thank goodness it's double-pane and was the outside pane.

 

[mcgyver210]

Re: Windshield "shade" question

We use the Silver reflective type on all our vehicles & have never had an issue but I am very anal about getting windshield damage fixed or replaced.

We do have one repaired spot on one of the trucks & it is holding up fine also for 2.5 yrs now.

 

[drrpm]

Re: Windshield "shade" question

I use a windshield reflector about 6 months out of the year and have done so for 17 years without any problems. On a side note, I had a small crack in my Odessy's windshield and it expanded completely across the window on the way to get it repaired. The windshield would probably have cracked with or without the reflector.