Poll: How many windsheilds replaced due to chasing

[Jason Foster]

After years of talking about it, and recently pointed out in the 'veteran' thread...I was thinking it's time for a poll on the subject of how many windshields you have broken/replaced.

Please note, rental cars count as replaced, even if you didn't replace them yourself.

Like an SAT questions....pick the best answer, even if it isn't exact. If you are know sure which one is best, just ask, I'll help guide. I don't think I can revise the poll once it's started.

Chase related causes are 1)hail 2)tornado debris 3)flying cows 4)stuffed animals 5)houses; and are meant for when the chase is active.
Non chase related are 1)rock chips from trucks 2)non-flying cows 3)snow balls 4)Turkeys are are meant for non-active chase times (including driving to an initial target).

THIS POLL IS FOR TORNADO/PLAINS RELATED CHASES....DO NOT COUNT SNOW, TROPICAL AND OTHER CHASES.

 

[Mark Blue]

1 so far, but then I'm not much for core punching if I don't have to!

 

[Jay McCoy]

4

2 - hail
1 - rock chips becoming cracks across whole windshield
1 - pheasant (already had rock chips and a crack from hail though)

 

[Jeff Passner]

1

After 27 years I finally had to replace a windshield... Got hit with a rock in the Texas Panhandle last April.

 

[Skip Talbot]

1 cracked from hail last June, haven't replaced it yet

 

[Jason Foster]

OK, weird...you guys were able to reply before I finished the poll...didn't know you could do that. (note: I also edited the first post)

 

[Dean Baron]

Haven't been in a car that has lost a windshield due to anything chase related so I voted none. I did have to replace one on my car in 2007 after something hit the windshield while parked in our driveway. Never figured out what happened, walked inside, come out 20 minutes later and the windshield has a nice crack. Hopefully this won't jinx me this season.

 

[Steve Miller]

4/5/03 in Tulsa and 5/5/09 in Breckenridge, TX - both of these were complete losses and required next-day attention.

More times than I can count, we have had cracks and spiders from a central hit. This thread is about total loss though so I answered 10+ years 1-2 windshields.

 

[becca hudson]

1 chase season and 1 windshield replaced. Had it busted in Oregon, MO last year.

 

[Adam Lucio]

Ive never replaced a windshield. I got a crack in mine while chasing on 3-23-09 which I think was caused by a rock because we didn't get in hail larger than penny that day. After that the windshield took on tennis balls on 4-25-09 and survived without the crack growing. I was wiping dirt off the windshield a few months later and must have pressed too hard because the crack more than doubled in size.

I wont replace it until it becomes an absolute necessity...or I get a ticket.

 

[Chris Carter]

I had to replace 2 from rocks on the highway, that will teach me for following a semi too closely.

I replaced another one a while ago due to hail, but i wasn't even chasing.

 

[Jason Boggs]

3

Rock chips eventually becoming large cracks. Never had to replace one due to a chasing incident.

 

[Jason Foster]

My official response:
I have only replaced windshields due to non-storm related issues (rocks on hwy for example).

Always the rock from a semi for me. Total of 4, none more than once per season.
1) 2002 on a local Florida chase...not sure where it came from, but it was on the way to the target..not during a chase.
2) 2003 with Weathervine in a rental...unknown semi truck rock
3) 2004 with Weathervine in a rental...loose dump truck rock from hwy...within 20 minutes of picking up the minivan on a three week chase trip
4) 2006 almost impossible to get a chase related crack this year!!! another hwy rock.

 

[Wes Carter]

Lost my windshield in my Ford Ranger on my very first chase. It started out as a small crack and one morning I came out and it was all the way across the windshield.

I bought a Ford Taurus recently and it had a small chip and crack in the windshield. I checked with Safelite about fixing it and they wanted $85. I decided to go to Carquest and buy that $8 self repair kit. It worked much better than I expected. I have to really look hard to see where it was. It filled the crack 100% and left no evidence it was ever there. However, where the chip was it is not perfectly flat so you can find it if you look hard.

 

[Jerry Prsha]

I'd replaced my windshield 5 times before I switched to Lexan. None were from hail. The windshield is so vertical in a Wrangler that hail never hit at at the proper angle to bust it, however, rocks from other cars always did.

Now I've have the same windshield for 4 years and it's full-steam ahead! If I get hit, i hear a good "thunk" and I see the windscreen bounce but it never cracks.

It's the best investment I've made. I never slow down in larger hail now and it glances off the car a bit more; never hitting at a right angle any more.