Your Guide to Dealing with a Cracked Windscreen

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Are you driving around with a crack on your windscreen? If so, you are putting yourself and your family at risk. Chips and cracks on the windscreen are common, and although they may not seem like a big deal, they can obstruct your visibility and prove to be a serious safety hazard.

Your Windscreen is Important

To understand the importance of repairing or replacing cracked windscreen, you need to learn how it contributes to the safety and stability of a vehicle.

Consider this: Windscreens have two layers of glass that are laminated together. When a windscreen is cracked, it is the laminate and the inner layer of the glass that help it remain intact. Your windshield consists of a black ceramic border around it called the frit. The frit plays an important role in protecting the glue (urethane), which holds your glass together, from ultraviolet rays and prevents it from deteriorating. In addition, urethane with a 1,000-psi holding power (approx.) reinforces your windscreen to support the overall structural integrity of your vehicle and keeps the windscreen in place.

An auto glass has high strength – it is highly unlikely for anyone to break a windscreen with just a kick (like in the movies). It also offers the same level of protection as your vehicle’s airbags or any other safety feature.

Driving with a Cracked Windscreen

With a small crack on your windscreen, driving may not be so dangerous. However, if the crack (big or small) impedes your vision, we suggest that you waste no time in getting it repaired or replaced.

Large cracks on your windscreen, on the other hand, can be a serious threat to your safety and can often compromise the integrity of your vehicle in the event of an accident.

What You Should Do If Your Windshield is Cracked

There are two ways of taking care of a cracked windshield:

  • Getting the windshield repaired (only if the crack is small enough to be filled).
  • Replacing the entire windshield with new auto glass.

Although choosing to get your entire windscreen replaced is the more expensive option out of the two, it is important to note that repairing the windscreen is only suitable for smaller cracks on the auto glass. Therefore, choosing whether to repair or replace the entire windscreen is more like the difference in treating some minor chipped paint or a complete body repair.

So, how can you determine if you should repair or replace your windscreen? The following factors can help you understand:

· Identify how big the damage is

Evaluating the severity of the damage is the best method to determine whether you should repair or replace your cracked windscreen. Seek help from an expert, or simply inspect the windscreen yourself to see if the crack is in more than one place.

· Location of the damage

Next, it is important to take note of the location of the damage. Cracks toward the edge of the windscreen spread very quickly and can prove to be dangerous.

Once you have inspected the damage, it is time for you to choose an option that best attends to your vehicle’s needs. Watch this YouTube video to get an idea of reparability of your windscreen.

Whether you repair or replace your windscreen, we suggest that you carefully choose your auto glass repair or replacement service to ensure that you don’t have to face the same problem again.

SunTecAutoGlass.com has been online since 2002 and specializes in mobile windshield repair services throughout Phoenix, Arizona in addition to providing various free resources about vehicle glass and automotive state laws.