2005 4Runner

This morning I'm driving to work and had the rear defroster on to clear up some frost and BOOM...the rear window just "explodes". It scared the stuffing out of me and took a couple of seconds to realize what happened. By the time I pulled over a couple of blocks later, all the glass was gone out of the window. I actually looked to see if there was a bullet someplace...

I googled it and found a few similar cases. The prevailing theory is there is a problem with the defroster that is embedded in the glass.

I called a dealership and they wanted $900+ for the replacement window. A local mechanic shop is going to fix it for $270...

Just thought I'd share what I thought was a unique experience.

That would have been... interesting, to say the least.

Actually had something similar happen a few months back. Was driving down 290 and the driver side window exploded. Scared the crud out of me pulled over and could not find anything Kufic the ordinary. $100 deductible later and the window was fixed but still not sure what actually caused the window to break and will Probably never know

Had same experience w an SUV years ago

Had a massive ikea glass desk do that. Made a ridiculous mess and am lucky there was not an expensive PC sitting on it.

Tempered glass can burst if there are any defects in it after periods of heating and cooling.

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/safety-regulatory-devices/auto-glass3.htm

I had the rear sliding window burst on me besides. Glass made it all the way to the front of the f150 cab.

Of course, mine was caused by a six foot wooden electrical spool.....

I was driving on I-35, not far from the Dallas Zoo, many years ago. My driver's side window exploded. My first thought in that part of town was that someone was shooting at traffic. I didn't slow down, in case they wanted a follow up shot, but was checking myself to make sure that there were no holes in me. After I got to where I was going, I checked the passenger side for any bullet holes.

There were no bullets in me or the truck and only weak theories as to why the window exploded.

Ford did replace the window as a warranty repair.

Nickel sulfide inclusions in the glass house small air bubbles that compress and contract over time. Eventually, after enough cycles, they pop. Industry standard allows something like 1 inclusion in every 1,000 square feet of glass because it's difficult to completely eliminate.

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I was driving on I-35, not far from the Dallas Zoo, many years ago. My driver's side window exploded. My first thought in that part of town was that someone was shooting at traffic. I didn't slow down, in case they wanted a follow up shot, but was checking myself to make sure that there were no holes in me. After I got to where I was going, I checked the passenger side for any bullet holes.

There were no bullets in me or the truck and only weak theories as to why the window exploded.

Ford did replace the window as a warranty repair.

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I had it happen on I-10 in Houston 20 years ago. Had the same thought process. Didn't think to have Ford replace it under warranty. Wife was amazed that we didn't wreck from it. Took about 4 hours for the adrenaline to subside.

All car glass is susceptible to this during heating/cooling cycles, especially if there is a rock chip, flaw, etc. And of course, there are those sharp tools to bust glass in an emergency.

I had a piece of equipment get loose and hit the back window on a 4960 tractor. It's about 3 feet square. That thing shattering a foot behind your head is an attention getter.

The best story I ever heard was from a lady about my age. When she was in college, she and her friends went to Red River, NM, for a ski trip. Riding around town in a suburban one night, she decided to moon passing cars. Ninety eight point six butt cheeks meet minus ten degree glass and BOOM, instant shatter.

I bet that was fun to explain to daddy.

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I had a piece of equipment get loose and hit the back window on a 4960 tractor. It's about 3 feet square. That thing shattering a foot behind your head is an attention getter.

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Similar story: Cutting hay with a mower/conditioner in a cab tractor. Somehow the mower kicked up something and hit the side glass of the tractor. Sound like a shotgun went off in the cab.

Glass is also lighter and thinner to help fuel economy, so blame an environmentalist.

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I had a piece of equipment get loose and hit the back window on a 4960 tractor. It's about 3 feet square. That thing shattering a foot behind your head is an attention getter.

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Similar story: Cutting hay with a mower/conditioner in a cab tractor. Somehow the mower kicked up something and hit the side glass of the tractor. Sound like a shotgun went off in the cab.

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Summer job in college was on a custom wheat harvest crew. We loaded a 7720 on a trailer to move it about 10 miles. Normally we had a protective cushion on the combine windshield to protect from rocks and other road debris. Since we weren't going very far, the boss (owner) tolds us not to worry about covering the windshield.

I got about 2 miles down the road and looked in the mirror on the truck. Behind me I saw the combine windshield turn white an then all those itty bitty pieces of glass started to drop to the road.

Replacement windshield was about $1500 (1989 dollars) from JD. Owner paid the local JD mechanic cash to come on his off day to replace it. I was assigned to help. Damn, that was a really heavy piece of glass.

Bumping an old thread...BUT...I recently took my car in to a Toyota dealer for some work, and they must have updated my address in the Toyota systems. Yesterday I got a letter from Toyota about this issue and they would repair it for me, or if the issue had already occurred they will reimburse me for the repair costs. Now I hope I can find the bill for that repair!

And this is on a 2005 model...

chris1515 said:

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Bumping an old thread...BUT...I recently took my car in to a Toyota dealer for some work, and they must have updated my address in the Toyota systems. Yesterday I got a letter from Toyota about this issue and they would repair it for me, or if the issue had already occurred they will reimburse me for the repair costs. Now I hope I can find the bill for that repair!

And this is on a 2005 model...

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Did you have the dashboard issue as well?

Yep, I took it in and got the dash replaced. That was the repair that got me updated in their system.

I was lucky and the dealership had a dash in stock and replaced it same day.

Yeah, yeah great stories. How 'bout flying a 727 years ago on decent into Newark. Leaning forward, looking for traffic that ATC had just called out. Outer pane (thank goodness) shatters a few inches from my face, sounding like shotgun.

THAT will get your attention.

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Outer pane (thank goodness) shatters a few inches from my face

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Reminded me of this: