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Rocks Keep Cracking My 4runner Windshield In The Winter!

awonderingdawn

Member
TTC Chicks
Every winter, it never fails, a rock will fly up- smack into my windshield, and leave a huge crack. I know this is really common in Alaska, because the well below freezing weather contrasting with the heated inside of the vehicle makes the glass more fragile. It seems like everyone I know has replaced a windshield at least twice. Is there an alternative to this though? Is there some way to help prevent your windshield from cracking from rocks in very very cold weather?
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
No way to really prevent this problem from happening except to back off from trucks or other vehicles that might throw rocks around. For example I never follow directly behind any type of dump truck if I can help it, I'll leave and hit the brakes and let 5 or 10 car lengths get between me and a big truck like that, even if it's covered.
 

rickc5

Our back yard
Staff member
100 Posts
Community Leader
I try & do the same things Steve does to avoid rocks, but they seem to come out of nowhere, and SMACK! Luckily, most just leave a chip and NOT a crack, although we have replaced many windshields since moving to Colorado 30 years ago.

Newer windshields are thinner (to save weight) than those on older cars, and to maintain the strength, they are more rigid and brittle. This results in more damage when a rock hits one.
 

tbplus10

Moderator
Staff member
1000 Posts
Community Leader
Maybe a"Safari" windscreen guard would work.
If you have a brush guard and a roof rack you could run guide wires from brush guard to roof rack and then strtch a mesh or wire screen across the guide wires from side to side.
Ive seen this used a lot in Africa to keep brush and debris from breaking wind screens.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
I know that police have used these types of things on their light riot gear vehicles,.But didn't know they were commercial.

 

rickc5

Our back yard
Staff member
100 Posts
Community Leader
Most of the rocks that I get hit with would go right through that mesh. They're small, which is probably why they mostly leave chips, not cracks.
 

awonderingdawn

Member
TTC Chicks
Love the guard- that's really interesting. Is it legal to drive with that installed? It looks like something that would raise a red flag on the highway, but definitely something that could help. Most of the rocks that have hit and cracked my windshield tend to be a little bigger (Alaskan roads rarely use pebble-sized gravel because it's ineffective with our constantly shifting grounds- it just gets sucked down in), so maybe this would help.
 

toyotafan

Toyota Truck Club Founder
Staff member
1000 Posts
Love the guard- that's really interesting. Is it legal to drive with that installed? It looks like something that would raise a red flag on the highway, but definitely something that could help. Most of the rocks that have hit and cracked my windshield tend to be a little bigger (Alaskan roads rarely use pebble-sized gravel because it's ineffective with our constantly shifting grounds- it just gets sucked down in), so maybe this would help.
Yeah, all of the examples that I've seen are from non-us websites, so is it legal? Who knows? lol.
 

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