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If you’ve ever owned a car or truck, there is a good chance you have sustained a small crack in the windshield at some point. Windshield cracks can occur when any airborne object of some substance collides with the windshield. This can happen while the vehicle is in use or when the car or truck is parked. Fortunately, you do have a couple of options when it comes to windshield repair. You may be able to fix it yourself, but larger cracks need to be repaired by a professional.
Your first option with windshield crack repair is to seal the crack yourself. This is a viable option if the crack is very small, perhaps no more than an inch or two (around 2.54 to 5.08 cm) in length. You can get everything you need from a local automotive repair store. There are even small kits that are designed for this type of simple windshield repair jobs. Tell the sales associate “I have a crack in my windshield,” and he or she can direct you to the kits that are in stock. Look over each kit carefully, as some require mixing compounds and also give very specific instructions in how to apply the sealing compound.
Hairline Crack Across Windshield
Crack Across Entire Windshield
Most windshield cracks start with a small chip from an object hitting it, such as a rock or pebble, while driving. A crack can spread across a windshield, becoming unsafe and requiring immediate replacement. If your windshield has started to crack, it may require professional repair at some point. Aug 31, 2016 Because of this, there are certain laws and rules that govern the quality that a vehicle’s windshield must be in. Cracks occurring in windshields are sometimes not allowed, but they sometimes are. Where the crack occurs, the severity of the crack, and the state that you are driving in determine whether or not the windshield needs to be replaced.
Crack Across Windshield Replacement
- Stress Crack – A crack that occurs without anything hitting the windshield, typically due to a large variation in the temperature. One situation that might cause stress cracks is when a car becomes overheated from sitting in the sun, and then the air conditioner is turned on high or the car is washed.
- In the interest of science I am thinking of letting it spread all the way across the windshield to see what would happen. My girlfriend says that one day, going over a speed bump, the windshield will explode and we will both be covered in dangerous glass shards. I say that the crack can spread all the way across without the windshield breaking.
- One of our cars has about a foot long crack right in the middle of the front windshield. It has been there a while and doesn't appear to be growing. From an aesthetic viewpoint it doesn't bother me, but my question concerns safety.
- The crack you see is in only one of the layers, which is why the windshield will not leak. It also will not easily break into bits and come back at you. If you took a baseball bat and whacked away at it, it would break into lots and lots of jagged shards all still firmly glued to the flexible plastic, which is still pretty much in an unbroken sheet and attached to the frame on all the edges.