Does your motor vehicle’s front windshield have minute chips in it? If so, are you considering leaving them until they form long cracks, resulting in the need to replace the windshield? Are you aware that you can get the cracks in your car’s windshield repaired?
By way of answering these questions, let’s consider the following points:
A windshield’s primary function
It’s vital to be mindful of the fact that a motor vehicle’s front windshield is not just a piece of glass. It is an essential component and forms part of the integral structure and safety of the car’s passenger capsule; thereby, keeping you safe as you travel between destinations.
Motor vehicle insurance statistics show that windshields are the most common insurance claim in the USA. In other words, up to 30% of all insurance claims are to repair or replace the related car’s windshield. And, edge cracks account for between 70% and 80% of all of these claims.
Why?
Succinctly stated, edge cracks occur because the first two inches around the windshield’s perimeter have a manufacturing defect known as “residual stresses.” Therefore, this area is the weakest part of the windshield, and it cracks easier than the rest of the windshield.
Should a windshield be repaired or replaced: A case study
Let’s consider the following scenario. While driving from your home to your vacation destination, a vehicle in front of you threw up gravel stones from its tires, and several stones hit your car’s windshield causing three pinhead chips or cracks in different places across your windshield.
What do you do?
Here are a few tips to help you solve this scenario
Consult with an automotive windshield specialist
The first thing to do is to take your car to a reputable franchise windshield repair shop where an expert at fixing and replacing windshields can take a look at your vehicle’s windshield. You can determine the reputation of a business by analyzing their reviews on various review websites like Google, Yelp and Facebook to name a few.
If it is possible to repair the pinhead cracks before they start spreading across the windshield, it is the best route to take. Not only is this option much cheaper than replacing the windshield, it is also preferable not to remove the original windshield from the car.
Do not leave these cracks until they start spreading
When the automotive windshield is cracked, even if it is a pinhead crack, the structural integrity is compromised.
Think of a windshield fitted in the motor vehicle as an elastic band stretched between two poles standing straight up, kept upright, and an equal distance apart because of the elastic band’s tension. If something nicks one side of the elastic band, it will stretch on that side. The perfect balance will be compromised, and the poles will start leaning to the side.
If this scenario is not attended to, the small nick will grow, and the elastic will eventually snap, causing the poles to fall over. Ergo, the elastic is responsible for keeping the poles standing up straight. A motor vehicle’s windshield operates in the same way. If it cracks, no matter how small the crack, it will start twisting in its frame and eventually break.
Thus, it is critical to attend to these pinhead chips before they grow and eventually destroy the car’s windshield.
