Hello All. This is my first post but I felt like I should put this out there. Maybe someone has an answer, maybe this will prevent someone from having the same thing happen to them...at this point i'm not really sure myself. I have used the collective wisdom of many of you to make many of my design decisions, so thank you for that!
I purchased my 2020 XLT medium roof passenger van March 2021 and have been slowly renovating it into my swiss army knife vehicle. This includes making some insulated window covers (made from Thermozite) that attach to the inside of the windows (using 3M Ykk snad fasteners) and can be rolled up and bound with velcro straps when not in use. The reflective side of the thermozite faces out and sits directly on the glass and the carpet (fabric) side faces in. The covers snap at the top and are held in the perimeter of the window by filling the void between the trim and the window.
I made covers for all the side windows and the two back windows. I rolled up the window cover for the slider and the cover for the window directly across from it, but left the other covers down.
About two weeks after installation I was driving the van early in the morning on residential roads (no rear window defroster on but heat was on). It was a cooler morning (about 45F) and about 15 minutes into my drive I pulled up to a stop light and heard a loud boom. I didn't realize what happened until I pulled into a nearby parking lot and saw my drivers side rearmost window completely shattered with about 1/3 of the window missing.
I scoured this board and other sources and came to the conclusion that the window must have had a crack (or some other imperfection) that finally failed or it was improperly installed. I could not find any posts that led me to believe the window covers were the issue.
I got the window replaced, reinstalled the rear window cover and continued driving the van. Fast forward a few weeks. I was driving the van on a cooler morning, no rear defrost on, and the heat was on. I drive on the expressway for a short drive (~10 minutes), get off the expressway, stop at a light and boom, the driver's side rearmost window blows out again! At this point I feel like an idiot (that's two of the same window) but am now wondering if the window cover is the issue?
I am going to leave the covers completely off the rearmost windows for now but am still trying to figure this out.
1. Could the window covers possibly increase the force on the glass when pressure changes in cabin (closing doors, driving down expressway, etc.) which over time fatigues the glass? The timing of both breaks makes me think this could be a possibility. This would also be more significant on the rearmost windows since the force would be perpendicular to the glass vs parallel to the glass for the side windows.
2. I was thinking maybe the temperature differential between the cover side of the glass and outside of the glass could cause the failure. But, I read on many forums about people using a similar design in varied climates (with greater temperature differentials), over long durations, without issue.
3. Could I just be really unlucky and have received defective glass, or have some kind of structural defect that leads to only that panel failing? I'm leaning toward no since that glass was fine until I installed the covers.
Am I missing something here?
Thanks for reading, if you have any suggestions, insight, comments, I would appreciate it - thanks for reading!
I purchased my 2020 XLT medium roof passenger van March 2021 and have been slowly renovating it into my swiss army knife vehicle. This includes making some insulated window covers (made from Thermozite) that attach to the inside of the windows (using 3M Ykk snad fasteners) and can be rolled up and bound with velcro straps when not in use. The reflective side of the thermozite faces out and sits directly on the glass and the carpet (fabric) side faces in. The covers snap at the top and are held in the perimeter of the window by filling the void between the trim and the window.
I made covers for all the side windows and the two back windows. I rolled up the window cover for the slider and the cover for the window directly across from it, but left the other covers down.
About two weeks after installation I was driving the van early in the morning on residential roads (no rear window defroster on but heat was on). It was a cooler morning (about 45F) and about 15 minutes into my drive I pulled up to a stop light and heard a loud boom. I didn't realize what happened until I pulled into a nearby parking lot and saw my drivers side rearmost window completely shattered with about 1/3 of the window missing.
I scoured this board and other sources and came to the conclusion that the window must have had a crack (or some other imperfection) that finally failed or it was improperly installed. I could not find any posts that led me to believe the window covers were the issue.
I got the window replaced, reinstalled the rear window cover and continued driving the van. Fast forward a few weeks. I was driving the van on a cooler morning, no rear defrost on, and the heat was on. I drive on the expressway for a short drive (~10 minutes), get off the expressway, stop at a light and boom, the driver's side rearmost window blows out again! At this point I feel like an idiot (that's two of the same window) but am now wondering if the window cover is the issue?
I am going to leave the covers completely off the rearmost windows for now but am still trying to figure this out.
1. Could the window covers possibly increase the force on the glass when pressure changes in cabin (closing doors, driving down expressway, etc.) which over time fatigues the glass? The timing of both breaks makes me think this could be a possibility. This would also be more significant on the rearmost windows since the force would be perpendicular to the glass vs parallel to the glass for the side windows.
2. I was thinking maybe the temperature differential between the cover side of the glass and outside of the glass could cause the failure. But, I read on many forums about people using a similar design in varied climates (with greater temperature differentials), over long durations, without issue.
3. Could I just be really unlucky and have received defective glass, or have some kind of structural defect that leads to only that panel failing? I'm leaning toward no since that glass was fine until I installed the covers.
Am I missing something here?
Thanks for reading, if you have any suggestions, insight, comments, I would appreciate it - thanks for reading!
