Vehicle height vs windshield damage?

[Carbon12]

Is it just me or do smaller cars with a lower vehicle height get more windshield damage and other damage due to rocks, etc ?

Had to have AC condenser coil replaced on my Cruze in 2017 due to some impact damage. Had windshield replaced last month. Changed oil a few weeks ago and AC coil leaking green refrigerant oil again.

Previous car was a Cavalier. Two different windshields cracked. AC hose was ruptured once but unsure if road damage.

Thinking of getting an SUV or small truck for next commuter with hopes it will take less of a beating.

 

[Skippy722]

Never got a rock chip till one smacked my Durango's windshield. Just luck of the draw. Higher sitting vehicle will be able to drive over something easier, but a smaller and lighter car can brake harder, accelerate faster, and handle better generally.

 

[lawrencerd]

I don't know, I think it can have a lot to do with design also. I remember seeing a disproportionate amount of damage complaints on the FJ Cruiser for instance.

 

[StevieC]

My Journey was a magnet for rocks. I had 7 chips in the paint and 4 big dings in the windshield in the 60K miles I owned it before it was in the accident.

Santa Fe had 1 stone chip in the 300K miles I had that vehicle

My previous vehicles 0 stone chips and some were really high milers.

I already have one in the Caravan and my dad's van I got one in the first week in that when I was driving that one and it has about 10 of them in the windshield currently (180K miles / 300K KM) although none of them turned into cracks yet.

 

[dishdude]

I don't think a higher vehicle will change things, it's just luck. There's a lot of debris on the roads.

 

[CR94]

Originally Posted by Carbon12
... Had to have AC condenser coil replaced on my Cruze in 2017 due to some impact damage. ...
Damage in that area is highly dependent on the size of openings in the grill, which varies widely. I covered my grill with plastic gutter-guard material to keep the larger pieces of junk out of the radiators (small one for cooling the inverter, as well as the usual one for the engine), and condenser. That also minimizes clogging by butterflies, leaves, etc.

 

[Nick1994]

I don't think it's the height, but the shape of the windshield.

Had an 04' VW Beetle that went through probably 6-7 windshields in its life until I sold it 3 years ago.

Had a 97' Camry I bought used with almost 200k miles with the original windshield until I replaced it since it was pitted.

My Sonata still has the original windshield at 91k miles. 4 chips but no cracks.

 

[clinebarger]

My wife's Corolla has it's factory windshield & one little crack that's been there for going on 5 years, My truck has had 1 replacement from a "Camping Accident" The Camaro had a cracked WS when I bought it. The Avalon has a Toyota WS...I guess it's original?

My 1969 Chevy C10 still has it's original Libbey Owens Ford glass. The old 1985 C20 Suburban had 1 replacement.

The 3 Dodge's that I've owned went though windshields at a frequent rate, The cracks would appear out of nowhere from the edges of the glass & grow all the way across!

 

[GMBoy]

I think windshield rake has a little to do with it too. My Jeep '78 CJ7 has a near vertical windshield so nothing rolls off it lol...and it takes every hit dead on. I usually replace the windshield every other year because rocks just bust it up and it's not even $100 for a new one. I just pop it in the rubber channel and off again I go.

 

[Falcon_LS]

The roads here are an absolute disaster, particularly after it rains, your vehicle literally gets blasted by small rocks.

I had windshield and paint protection film installed across the board, but I find it to be worse with the sedans - had to get the film replaced on the Grand Marquis just 4 months after I had it installed.Just yesterday, a rock took out the passenger side fog lamp on my Explorer, which has a 1.5" lift. Unlike the headlamps, the fog lamps are glass.

 

[ecotourist]

The original windshield on my Volvo chipped and cracked quite easily. I eventually had it replaced (with a Volvo windshield) and the new windshield never (or at least hardly ever) chipped or cracked over many years. So there is variation in OEM windshields or Volvo started using a different supplier.

 

[billt460]

Originally Posted by Nick1994
I don't think it's the height, but the shape of the windshield.

Originally Posted by GMBoy
I think windshield rake has a little to do with it too.

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

My 1991 F-150 is on it's 6th or 7th windshield in 28 years. It has a very high windshield angle. Most anytime a stone hits it at freeway speeds, it will create a starburst because all of the energy is absorbed due to it's very high angle. My wife's 1991 Mustang had the original windshield under the same driving conditions, when we got rid of it and bought our Jeep in 2015. The windshield was much more raked, and the stones just deflected off with no damage.

I don't think ride height has much to do with it. Stones can bounce to any height when they're slung out of a tire tread, or bounce off the back rail of a dump truck at 70 MPH. It's luck of the draw how and where they hit you. My Jeep Grand Cherokee sits just as high as my F-150, but has a much more raked windshield. It takes the same amount of hits. But like the Mustang it's windshield has a much greater rake to it, so thus far no damage.

 

[dbias]

I think rake has a lot to do with it too. I have 4 personal vehicles and only the transit connect has a rock chip in the windshield. I also have a monster Chevy Express 2500 company vehicle and it caught a rock the other day right under the drivers windshield wipers and has proceeded to crack all the way up the A pillar and is now curving back across the top halfway across the sun visor.

 

[BeerCan]

My super duty is on its 3rd windshield in 10 months. It is my only vehicle with this problem. When I had my 2011 super duty I had 4 of them in 3 years. My F150 has 80k on the original, the Hyundai's have 55k and 110k on original and the mustang is 30k. The others have unknown history.

So I think it has a lot to do with overall design. I think many super duty owners will admit they have windshield cracks, there are a few posts about it over at FTE.

Admittedly, I drive more than most people so my chances of getting a rock strike are higher. The 2017 has 32k on it already in 10 months, also our roads are filled with dump trucks and phosphate trucks that sandblast the cars on the highway around here.

 

[Danno]

The more laid down the windshield angle is, the more resistant it is to cracking as there is more glass on a hit with a laid down windshield. Think sloped tank armour as an example.
Jeep Wranglers are known to have rock catcher windshields, almost vertical.