Road rash on windshield

Been noticing a million tiny little road rash nicks on my windshield when the sun is in a certain spot,its a 2015 truck rarely driven off road,so I am guessing cheap Toyota quality glass,as its the factory windshield.Anybody know of a way too buff some it out ?

 

I've always thought the original windshields were of higher quality than aftermarket.

You're in Las Vegas and I grew up in southern Arizona. In both places, wind blown sand destroys windshields. Eats them up. Doesn't matter if you're off road or not.

Always seemed like the replacements needed replacing faster than the originals, though (that's why I though the originals were higher quality).

The only solution I ever knew was.... new windshield. Every hundred-thousand miles or so.

To be sure, some people claimed some goop or other when applied to the windshield eliminated the pitting. But it seemed all it did was fill in the pits and, in the right lighting, make it *look* better. But, when the sun (bright southern Arizona/Las Vegas sun, ya know?) caught the windshield just right, the goop lit up light a thousand tiny lasers and, typically, burned your eyes clean out. I never used anything like that after getting blinded once.

 

I have to replace my windshield every two years, either because of major rock damage or tons of minor damage. I don't think it is the glass honestly. I think somehow the shape of the hood and the glass play into it. I just bought a new one a couple of months ago and I already have a star in it. I'm planning on making a pretty substantial wind deflector out of lexan to mount at the leading edge of the hood. I did that to another truck years ago and virtually eliminated all that minor damage. If a golf ball size rock comes your way, you are still screwed but the little stuff gets blown up and over.

 

Never had road rash on any of my Ford trucks,so who knows

 

I do have this issue.... exact same issue...........

 

My understanding is that trying to buff or machine polish out chips in glass is that it can't be done evenly. Waves are created in the glass distorting how things look through it. It can become worse than the chips. I was at a car show where a vendor was hawking some kind of clear bra type material that could be applied to the glass, but I would think that this would best be done on a new windshield. Sorry, don't know the name of the company.

 

Really ticks me off that the windshields don't last more than a few years.

 

The go-to glass polishing process is CarPro Ceriglass (cerium-oxide slurry) used in conjunction with their rayon glass pads. Most effective on a rotary polisher but can be done with a DA.

What’s the catch? It’s an extremely messy process, hard work, and takes a long, long time. Hours. And if you’re not careful, you might make it worse (hazing, swirls). It can be done, but considering the price of new glass, you won’t want to hire it done.

There are some good how-to tutorials over on the Autogeek forum if you’re serious about giving it a shot. It’s easy(er) to get rid of swirls and minor scratches than it is to get pits removed.

You know how hard glass is. To remove pits, you’re essentially leveling the glass to the base of the pits. Think about it. Wearing down a few square feet of glass with a microabrasive is going to take time.

I’d love to hear about your experience if you decide to give it a try.

 

I think maybe buying an ugly bug guard will help a lot.

 

Weathertech makes one that really doesn’t look too bad. I’ve had two and have been very happy with them.

 

I will take a look at them.

 

Have the same problem on my 2012. Had same problem on 2005 also and we had bug screen on this one, but big rock hit it and got new replacement. I live in the northeast, and with all the sand and salt put down on the roads, when it dries, it just happens. Really hard to see when bright sun hits you at right angle.

 

I've had this issue with every vehicle I've ever owned the past 35 years. My 2015 Tacoma has 156,000 miles on it....I drive 60,000 miles a year for work, mostly highway.

 

Pilkington is the OEM supplier (at least for my 2015) and also the aftermarket/replacement supplier, replacement for my 2010. Windshields are cheap, less than 150 bucks on my 2010. I agree, the rake of the windshield and aerodynamics of the vehicle play into the damage that can be done by just "driving"

 

Buffing THAT much glass off to fix tiny dings (which always happen, you cannot avoid that) is doable but very risky if you have no experience.

I would take to a pro detailer for an opinion.

I’ve buffed my windshield and glass to clean it but not to actually polish it.