Hairline crack in windshield

[Campnjoe]

So we went to pickup the coach from storage and discovered a hairline crack in the windshield. Its about a foot long starting at the seal and moving straight down to just slightly past the transition line. Its about a foot in from the side, almost inline with the center of the steering wheel.. Any ideas on what happened here? I don't recall it being there when we dropped it off and we cannot see any impact marks. Would this be a warrenty item? A stress crack? We have had the coach for around 5 months. Its odd that it is so straight. Should we drive it like this? We have a trip planned for this weekend?

[cavie]

Yes, it would be warrenty. In Florida it would be insured at any time.

[Bob Denman]

How about your Insurance? Put in a claim for it, and it can get fixed quicker.
The "How did it happen?" question isn't as important as the "How quick can we get it fixed?" one right now.
Good luck!

[paulwadley]

It needs to be replaced as soon as possible. The crack will continue getting bigger causing more issues down the road.


Paul

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by Campnjoe

So we went to pickup the coach from storage and discovered a hairline crack in the windshield. Its about a foot long starting at the seal and moving straight down to just slightly past the transition line. Its about a foot in from the side, almost inline with the center of the steering wheel.. Any ideas on what happened here? I don't recall it being there when we dropped it off and we cannot see any impact marks. Would this be a warrenty item? A stress crack? We have had the coach for around 5 months. Its odd that it is so straight. Should we drive it like this? We have a trip planned for this weekend?

Cracks start at the edge when there is defect in the glass or something is pressing at a point on the glass's edge. Cracks are only bad when the vehicle is equipped with air bags, as the windshield is an integral part of the safety restraint system. Cracks are fairly common when the chassis racks traveling over rough surfaces. The bigger and hotter the windshield the more susceptible the windshield is to cracking. Fortunately, most windshields are not made of tempered glass, so they crack rather than shatter like tempered glass.

My Hurricane has a small crack in the lower left corner I would much rather live with it, rather than take a chance on a new windshield that leaks. As my coach doesn't have airbags and the crack does not effect my vision, I am more than happy to live with it.

[Bob Denman]

Originally Posted by paulwadley

It needs to be replaced as soon as possible. The crack will continue getting bigger causing more issues down the road.


Paul

https://www.thorforums.com/forums/at...1&d=1600094682

[Laco]

Probably a stress crack, could have happened just from sitting in direct sunlight and heating the glass. Some of the class A's, used to have lots of problems, when the one piece windshield first started being installed, with stress cracks, from frame twisting, heat, and in some cases windshields actually popped out a corner.

[macdaddy1111]

Originally Posted by Campnjoe

So we went to pickup the coach from storage and discovered a hairline crack in the windshield. Its about a foot long starting at the seal and moving straight down to just slightly past the transition line. Its about a foot in from the side, almost inline with the center of the steering wheel.. Any ideas on what happened here? I don't recall it being there when we dropped it off and we cannot see any impact marks. Would this be a warrenty item? A stress crack? We have had the coach for around 5 months. Its odd that it is so straight. Should we drive it like this? We have a trip planned for this weekend?

what model you have and year?

we had 2016 vegas, it ate 3 windshields in 2 years, they dropped the windshield size by a foot in 2017! know issue!!

Thor paid for one, we paid 500 deductible 1st time and 350 2nd time.

traded it in for 2020 hurricane and then ......

[mcr1010]

Ours cracked a few years ago from the lower left drivers side upwards for a couple of feet. It was out of warranty, so insurance picked up the tab. It took a few weeks to get it ordered and replaced at a special glass shop. In the mean time, I used clear packaging tape on both sides of the glass to keep it from cracking more.
The next year, you guessed it, my ins. premium increased.

[Campnjoe]

Originally Posted by macdaddy1111

what model you have and year?

we had 2016 vegas, it ate 3 windshields in 2 years, they dropped the windshield size by a foot in 2017! know issue!!

Thor paid for one, we paid 500 deductible 1st time and 350 2nd time.

traded it in for 2020 hurricane and then ......

Ours is a 2020 hurricane 29m.

[Campnjoe]

Originally Posted by Beau388

Cracks start at the edge when there is defect in the glass or something is pressing at a point on the glass's edge. Cracks are only bad when the vehicle is equipped with air bags, as the windshield is an integral part of the safety restraint system. Cracks are fairly common when the chassis racks traveling over rough surfaces. The bigger and hotter the windshield the more susceptible the windshield is to cracking. Fortunately, most windshields are not made of tempered glass, so they crack rather than shatter like tempered glass.

My Hurricane has a small crack in the lower left corner I would much rather live with it, rather than take a chance on a new windshield that leaks. As my coach doesn't have airbags and the crack does not effect my vision, I am more than happy to live with it.

How small is the crack on yours? This one is about 12-13 nches. How many miles have you driven yours with the crack?

We have a trip planned this weekend and my wife would love to still go.

[Campnjoe]

Originally Posted by paulwadley

It needs to be replaced as soon as possible. The crack will continue getting bigger causing more issues down the road.


Paul

Thanks, we plan on getting it replaced asap but wonder if we can use it in the meantime while waiting for parts.

[Bob Denman]

I guess that would depend on how far you'll be driving...
Look at it this way: Would you want to drive your car; if it's windshield was cracked like that?

[lwmcguire]

If you do choose to use it drill a small hole in the end of the crack, usually takes a glass bit. Usually that will stop the crack from spreading further and just drill through one layer of the glass

I have done that many times over the years and keep a glass bit in the tool box for road trips

[simidrm]

I just had my windshield replaced for the same reason, My advise to you is insist on the original manufacture windshield,because the after market windshields are a few mm thinner which is why they are cheaper but they wont seal right and you will end up with it leaking and the water damage from a leaky windshield isnt worth the price difference.

[Campnjoe]

Update: we filed the claim with our insurance. I called every dealer within 50 miles and the only one who did windshields said it would take "awhile". I also spoke to Thor and they said it was a warranty item, but it doesn't really do us any good to have warranty work done at a snails pace. Hopefully the insurance claim doesn't take as long. I also told my insurance I wanted an oem windshield. Let's hope it all works out.

[Marsha]

It will take as long with insurance as going thru Thor. Because the windshields are not sitting around like car or truck ones. A rock hit ours, we were going into the dealer for warranty work. The dealer would not let Safelite Onto the lot to repair the divot, when we picked it up, it had cracked from bottom at the original divot to the top. It took 6 weeks to get a replacement. We filed with our insurance. Our rates did not go up, FL is a full replacement state, as is AZ. If we had let the dealer fix it, it would have been the same 6 weeks to get it and 100 mile R/T . It was replaced in our RV Port.

[Oldman1952]

Originally Posted by Campnjoe

So we went to pickup the coach from storage and discovered a hairline crack in the windshield. Its about a foot long starting at the seal and moving straight down to just slightly past the transition line. Its about a foot in from the side, almost inline with the center of the steering wheel.. Any ideas on what happened here? I don't recall it being there when we dropped it off and we cannot see any impact marks. Would this be a warrenty item? A stress crack? We have had the coach for around 5 months. Its odd that it is so straight. Should we drive it like this? We have a trip planned for this weekend?

Had the same thing with our 2017 Thor. Crack started at bottom center, swerved and began crawling along the bottom about 8 inches above the bottom of the windshield. Noticed it when we were about 1,800 mikes from home. Drove the rest of the trip and it only moved another 7 or 8 inches. We had 103 degree heat and rough roads. So, if your trip isn’t too far, you may be okay until you get back- but I’d keep an eye on it. BTW, the cost of replacement was $3,500. My deductible was only $100.

[flipper003]

I have a 2015 Thor Axis 25.1. It cracked when it was parked a friends place 1800
miles from home. Was on passenger side - started about 2' down from top, went
about 5" toward center, then down 18" then about 7" more towards center. I
drilled it and it didn't move anymore. Drove it about 3k more miles then filed
an insurance claim and they fixed it at my home where I keep it. I had the $1k
deductible so paid that - no problems since. They used OEM glass, waiting for my
insurance renewal to see if there is any impact. The glass is laminated on mine and only one layer cracked, so I wasn't worried about catastrophic failure.

[bobj73]

We have a 2017 windsport ( which we bought new )with 5 stone chips in the windshield now
I go to a local automotive store and pick up a repair kit. They seem to be working great, haven't had any of the cracks travel, and repaired most of them so you can't even see them.
Now I carry a couple with me so I can fix them as soon as they happen.
We seem to be a stone magnet, lol.