Someone here once posted that there are different grades of window glass for a windshield.

What exactly are the differences between windshields?

Thanks

 

I believe that the person who posted that was not stating fact, merely expounding a personal opinion.
Call your friendly, local auto glass shop to get the most accurate information.

I've replaced windshields in three vehicles, and don't recall being offered different "grades of glass". I was offered different BRANDS of windshields, and some with various types of tinting, but no glass grades were mentioned. They ALL have to meet certain specifications set forth by our beloved DOT.

Larry
code5coupe

 

Hi, I researched this topic extensively and got a new windshield recently because mine was so old that it was causing lights to streak. I got a PPG windshield and I am happy with it. That was $623 Cdn. installed and I would have been looking at about $1000 Cdn. more if they had not been able to replace the moulding (OEM), but they were! I phoned every shop in town first. Some said that they just replaced the moulding every time, but a couple said they would take the time to carefully dig it out and try to reuse it, if possible. I chose the shop which said they'd reuse it and that they had done a C4 before. I am happy with the results, and when they had it apart they removed some surface rust inside too. I hope this saves you hours of research!

 

Windshields have to meet minimum DOT requirements, although I don't believe there is a limit at to how far they can exceed the minimum requirements. There aren't that many auto glass manufacturers.

PPG and LOF tend to be on the high end of the spectrum, and Safelite is definitely on the bottom. I really don't think the quality of the glass is the factor. The fit is what's more important.

 

there has been a lot of glass coming out of the far east lately. It's mostly crap. Distributors buy "lots" of glass and know that out of 10 windshields, 6 may be usable. Usually what you will find with poor quality glass is it is wavey. This is especially noticable when driving at night. The light off the street lights will look like a wave as it dances over the windshield. It gives some people headaches. It is very anoying. The other problem is if the windshield is out of tolerance around the edges it won't seat right and could leak. At the least you will go out in the morning and the windshield will be fogged from the inside because the windshield is letting in moisture.

I own a restoration shop. The more windshields you see the more you notice the difference between good glass and crap.

Your best bet is OEM, PPG or Pilkington glass. Most of the rest is crap.

Hope this helps,

Brian
VTvette

 

Im in the process of doing mine now.There was rust in the frame aswell.LOF is now Pilkington.Use an OEM windshield.

 

The biggest problem with cheap windshields is cheap installations. You get what you pay for. The cheaper places are making money in volume, not quality of installations. I had a customer come in with a 1980 Corvette last year complaining of a leak. He thought it was his T-top seals. He was shocked to find that the entire windshield frame had to be replaced - at a cost of $2800.00. At some point someone had replaced the windshield. When they did they used a razor edged tool to remove the glass. Nothing really wrong with that but the problem was that whoever installed the windshield didn't prime over the scrapes he made in the windshield frame. A few years later bam - the entire frame needs to be replaced.

We have a Coupe Quattro in the shop now with the same problem, but luckely for the owner his windshield was only a year or so old and the rust is only surface rust right now. The car is gone for a little while but when it comes back I'll post pic's. You can see where the windshield installer scraped the windshield frame all the way around the frame, and it's starting to rust. A few more years and the whole frame would be shot.

the glass guy I use is the best in town. He's always carefull and always primes the window frame on every car before he puts a new glass it just in.

Hope this helps,

Brian
VTvette