It's like Christmas morning! I am getting a new windshield! In Florida the law requires a zero deductible for windshield damage. And I have disliked mine since I got my van three years ago.

During my test drive I never exceeded 50 mph, but after I bought it and got it on the highway I noticed some wind noise at the top passenger side of the windshield. Also I have a very tiny water leak ( only when water is sprayed upward, like from a garden hose during washing LOL ).

When looking at the windshield from the outside, I can see there is a 2 foot radius that is flat compared to the rest of the windshield's contour. It is right next to the wind noise and water leak.

So anyway, I walked out to my van today about 11 AM and there is a nice 18 inch horizontal crack right in the middle. As soon as I saw it I was very very happy.

So I called my insurance company and they said they would hook me up with service from the well-known company called Safelite. My thoughts immediately went to the advice of our FTE member JWA: so I told the insurance company I wanted a Ford replacement. She made a call and came back and said it is $274 more than the usual Safelite service.

I have to give credit: She got on a mission to give me what I wanted. In the end, she and I did a three-way call with Glass America in Orlando and the person there said they use Carlite glass which is from the same factory Ford gets theirs.

What do you think?

 

this is true Carlite has been the Ford OEM/aftermarket manufacturer for decades.


be sure you are getting new windshield to body seal too, it should come with the new W/S.

 

Good call, Jerseymike. I'll ask about that.

My biggest trouble right now is scheduling the 2-3hours of downtime during business hours. At my job i am busier than a one-legged-cat-...... I work 7am to 6-7pm every day, plus a short day every Saturday.

And then after the windshield is installed I'll have to schedule another 2hrs at my tint guy for the tint. (Windshield tint is the best mod ever!)

Ok too far off track sorry. This post was about advice on windshield supplier/service advice.

Geez I wonder why JWA hasn't jumped in. He's always so helpful with everyone.

 

You work too much
you can never make time, only money

 

Carlite is OEM Ford glass so far as I know and hopefully is still good stuff. PGW (formerly PPG or Pittsburgh Glass) and Pilkington are presumably good brands also. Safelite OEM glass is mostly Chinese and may or may not be good--I would avoid it.

Windshield tint below the AS-1 tint line is illegal in Michigan and as a bicyclist, vehicles with tinted front side windows and windshields are a hazard to me as I can't see if the driver is looking at me or down at their cell phone, ready to kill me, when I have the right of way. So I'll assume you're tinting legally above the band.

Hope you get a good job with no leaks or problems. And try to get some leisure time built in to your life. I always found a 40 hour week about right for me.

Take care,
George

 

Amen to window tint, George. 40+ years of daily commute on a motorcycle gave me some interesting moments. jim

 

Fully agree it's very hard to see in, and makes eye contact much more difficult.

I just can't shake the flip side improvements to the driver (me). Man I promise you it makes the A/C work better. And the reduced eye strain is beyond measure.

 

So you choose to break the law?

There is this remarkable new invention called "sunglasses" that you might want to research They can be removed at night or in dark places also.

 

Of course I break the law by speeding

 

I used to break the law of gravity with acceleration on my old sport bikes. Never got a ticket from a physicist, though.
jim

 

Yes I do choose to break the law. Windshield tint in Florida should be mandatory. I will never again own a vehicle in Florida without it.

I've lived up north in Michigan so I know what that's like and it is like a whole different sun between the two states.

The benefits of windshield tint are far better than sunglasses. As matter fact I often wear sunglasses even with the windshield tint to make it even better.

The air conditioning works better, and I get the protection from UV on my skin. Also the dashboard is about 40° less hot. I spend 20 to 25 hours per week in this van.

I agree the windshield tint can subtract some safety in the evening/night, but the rest of the time it increases safety.

And no disrespect intended to you YoGeorge, nor anyone else, but I'm not remotely concerned with bicyclists/motorcycles/pedestrians. They should be watching out for big white vans if they're going to be on the roads.

You don't put a rabbit inside an elephant habitat and then tell the elephants to watch their step.

 

Buses and semis probably think the same way about big white vans ...

However, anyone who rides a motorcycle and does not know that it is invisible is destined to get run over. Fact of life. jim

 

IM, there is something you are not getting here. In the last 30 years, I have ridden probably 50,000 miles on my bicycle and have never once made hard contact with a car despite many motorists doing their best to kill me. People open doors in my path, they make right turns across my path, and hostile motorists buzz me and try to hit me with their mirrors. It has gotten worse in recent years, and distracted drivers are worse than drunks in many cases.

When I go out to ride 20 miles, I usually ride on thru streets (not busy ones) with a 30-35 mph limit, and likely go past 200 intersections where cars are supposed to stop at a stop sign and give me the right of way. My approach is to be cautious and make eye contact with the drivers who are stopped, and give them a smile and a nod when I confirm they see me. If their windows are tinted I CAN'T SEE THEIR EYES, so I will prepare to brake, and it seems more likely to me that those drivers with tinted windows are distracted with a cell phone or something and are likely to take off at a bad time. They often choose to accelerate right when I'm almost in front of them. Yes I see them. I want to know they see me. If they have the right of way, I stop and wave them thru with a smile.

I am a firm believer in treating others as I would like to be treated. If I am stopped at a stop sign in my car and I see a cyclist or motorcyclist who has the right of way, I give him/her a smile and a wave to let them know I am aware of them. I have added tint to 2 of our cars behind the driver's window, which is within the law, so I understand about keeping cars cool.

As prez of a bike club with 350 members and thousands of riders on our group rides, I attend more than one funeral every year, most often for a cyclist who was killed because a motorist "did not see him". Just yesterday some reckless idiot maimed 2 cyclists in one of our local groups taking an unexpected right turn into them in his van.

Think about the eye contact thing if you would...

George

 

Excellent post, George.
When I finally got around to taking a motorcycle safety course (after 26 years of accident-free riding), our instructor was a retired CHiPs officer. I told him I thought it must be nice riding a big police bike so folks would notice you. He said it did not make a difference if he was riding the police bike or his personal bike, he still had to dodge people. jim

 

I fully agree that eye contact and waving and nodding is helpful and safe and courteous. I do those things, where appropriate, albeit through a tinted windshield.

I also agree there's a lot of idiot drivers out there. But the common denominator is not tinted windshields.

If I was riding a bicycle on the streets with cars/vans, I would try to have the same actions that you described. And if I couldn't see into someone's tinted windshield, then I would yield 100%. YoGeorge, I don't understand why you are painting a different picture than that. My apologies if I still misunderstand you.

Public streets are for cars and vans etc. Elephant cages are for elephants. If anyone wants to bend those commonsense rules, it is fully their own responsibility to survive.