Cracked Windshield due to Pressure/Temp change

[PolarVortex]

Thanks everyone for the input. I did notice a very tiny dot of an impact point (very very low) that, combined with that morning of extreme cold, most likely caused the big crack. Anyway, Safelite very quickly and nicely put on an OEM windshield and recalibrated everything and it's back to new. Cheers

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[lapazleo]

Like every one said it can start from a small chip or crack you didn't notice. Fyi a word of advice when starting a cold vehicle keep your defrost temp at warm instead of full on hot that will lesson the chance of a crack forming. And yes this can and does happen to any vehicle.

 

[RedPandaMonium]

Same thing happened to me on the way up to the mountains to ski. Didn’t seem like a rock strike, just a crack that got bigger while driving. Farmers insurance charged $100 to replace.

 

[PolarVortex]

Same thing happened to me on the way up to the mountains to ski. Didn’t seem like a rock strike, just a crack that got bigger while driving. Farmers insurance charged $100 to replace.

Gotcha ok..... that's a shame....I guess it's a crapshoot with these almost vertical windshields. Also I found out I have a small camera mounted in windshield for accident avoidance/emergency braking I didn't know about.....apparently all trims have it. Good to know.

 

[Muffin Top]

Stress cracks are 12mo/12,000 miles. The hard part for the dealer is proving it is a stress crack so Ford pays the claim. If it is a stress crack, you have to find the root cause (glass not centered in opening and contacting frame, some other hard object or trim putting pressure on glass) or it could happen again. There have been some outside cases of some A-pillars not being welded well to the roof or cowl panels which let everything flex and eventually crack but that was years ago.

Thanks, that's good to know about. I've just had a non-impact stress break at 1,300 miles (I picked up a new 23 that had been sitting when I discovered there's no 2-door OBX in 24). This discussion about the root cause has me worried. Does the dealership look for root causes?


I'm a bit surprised by all the posts about rock chips. I have 75,000 miles on jeeps with upright windshields, never a chip. 1,300 miles on El Bronco, and I heard a lot of creaking before the breaks appeared.

 

[Sparkherd]

About a week ago when we had really low temps here in VA, it was about 10 degrees one morning. Started to drive up my driveway, after my Bronco had been slightly warmed up, climate control on, front defroster on etc, and I heard a crack. Looked at my windshield and watched as a crack steadily got longer and longer, about a foot and a half long after it was done. It's low, not directly in my road field of view thankfully, in the shape of a handlebar mustache so stopped/contained on left and right and then down on each side so it can't expand any further. Glass not covered under my warranty but I'm getting a factory replacement today installed under my insurance plan with zero deductible (through Safelite).

Just wondering if anyone else has had this happen in their Bronco or any other vehicle for that matter - guessing just an extreme temp change from cold to warm but it's never happened to me before.

I got a crack the day after our first real cold spell at Christmas, 2022.
Bronco had 1184 miles on it.
Took it back to Jordan Ford since Ford has a "12 month/12,000 mile windshield stress crack warranty".
Short, fat dickhaid climbed up on my hood and proclaimed it to be a rock chip.
Cost me $480 to replace.
Thanks Jordan Ford.

 

[flip]

Thanks, that's good to know about. I've just had a non-impact stress break at 1,300 miles (I picked up a new 23 that had been sitting when I discovered there's no 2-door OBX in 24). This discussion about the root cause has me worried. Does the dealership look for root causes?


I'm a bit surprised by all the posts about rock chips. I have 75,000 miles on jeeps with upright windshields, never a chip. 1,300 miles on El Bronco, and I heard a lot of creaking before the breaks appeared.

There is a job aid that has illustrations to help the advisor make the call. In the end it's still a judgement call and incumbent on the dealer to support the decision, either way, with pics and good write up. Delamination, poor adhesion, visual irregularities due to lamination issues are pretty straight forward and easier to verify and document compared to stress cracks. If I had to guess at frequency of stress cracks as a percentage of all Ford glass warranty claims, it would probably be sub 5%.

 

[Muffin Top]

I got a crack the day after our first real cold spell at Christmas, 2022.
Bronco had 1184 miles on it.
Took it back to Jordan Ford since Ford has a "12 month/12,000 mile windshield stress crack warranty".
Short, fat dickhaid climbed up on my hood and proclaimed it to be a rock chip.
Cost me $480 to replace.
Thanks Jordan Ford.

That's what I was afraid of. There's a common issue, which is going to be "managed."

 

[RR25HB]

Same. Very disappointed when I backed my 2025 Heritage Edition Bronco out of the garage yesterday after to attend an appointment and I noticed a 6" to 8" hairline stress crack immmyn

 

[RR25HB]

Same. Very disappointed when I backed my 2025 Heritage Edition Bronco out of the garage yesterday after to attend an appointment and I noticed a 6" to 8" hairline stress crack immmyn

... Truck has been garaged all week -- not in any snow or ice ... not that we saw much in Charleston SC ... so it wasn't weather and it wasn't any object strike if any kind. I'm now seeing in various online message threads that this has been happening since 2021!!?? Bad engineering design in no change to rake angle or material has been changed in 5 years. Also ... asking for a friend ... how in God's green Earth are these trucks supposed to survive real off road adventures? ..... like the one I've planned out west in April? Ford used to o.be the "better idea" people. I live my truck, Ford ... but how about a better idea. Please. At a little over 4 months and 3,000 miles, I don't want to do this a few more times, even if covered under warranty until 12,000 miles.

 

[23OBX2.7]

... Truck has been garaged all week -- not in any snow or ice ... not that we saw much in Charleston SC ... so it wasn't weather and it wasn't any object strike if any kind. I'm now seeing in various online message threads that this has been happening since 2021!!?? Bad engineering design in no change to rake angle or material has been changed in 5 years. Also ... asking for a friend ... how in God's green Earth are these trucks supposed to survive real off road adventures? ..... like the one I've planned out west in April? Ford used to o.be the "better idea" people. I live my truck, Ford ... but how about a better idea. Please. At a little over 4 months and 3,000 miles, I don't want to do this a few more times, even if covered under warranty until 12,000 miles.

Too much torsional body flex MUST have B&C brace kit installed.

 

[RR25HB]

... and like clockwork, the Ford service advisor denied my warranty claim for the cracked windshield. At 4 months old and barely 3000 miles in, he said something must have hit my windshield. About an inch into the now 8" crack he felt something I could not. Odd how (a) I never remember anything hitting my windshield; (b) the truck has been garaged for nearly a week and I never noticed it until leaving for a medical appointment a Wednesday afternoon (2 days ago); (c) the truck was not exposed to any ice or snow this past week (as it was in the garage) and we got cold weather in Charleston but only an inch of snow.

Frustrating that Gird won't of own up to a known, pervasive problem.

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