How to Prevent Your Windshield Chip from Cracking

At long last, Arizona is cooling down again. Temperatures are dipping well below freezing at night and hardly reach into the 50s during the day. Of course, I speak of Northern Arizona, Phoenix never really gets cold, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

As for those of us in the mountains of AZ, there are some things that we must pay mention to during these winter months. Being an Auto Glass Repair and Replacement company, you can take a wild guess. That’s right, windshields!

Windshields, like all glass, are susceptible to temperature fluctuations. They expand in the cold and contract in the heat. This isn’t a problem for an undamaged windshield, but that’s just where the problem comes in.

Rocks are plentiful in Arizona and therefore so are windshield chips. Now, when you subject a windshield chip to such temperature fluctuations, they grow.

Why is this a problem?

Well, the thing about chips is that they are only repairable when they are under a certain size. If they grow too big or crack out completely, the entire windshield needs to be replaced.

Don’t Worry

If your windshield chip does crack out, don’t worry too much if you can’t get it fixed right away. For one, the windshield won’t fall in on you. If you’ve read our other article about the anatomy of a windshield, you’ll know why that is.

The only other thing is, if a police officer stops you because of a cracked windshield (it can and does happen), you can tell them you have an appointment scheduled and you should be fine.

Prevent the Chip from Spreading

You might want to know how to prevent a chip from spreading to a crack this winter. A valid question that we have some suggestions for. However, it is important to understand you can’t control the temperature outside (obviously) and that the chip might turn to a crack regardless of what you do.

For starters, garage your car. This will help regulate the temperature extremes your car experiences.

Don’t blast your heater. This increased the temperature difference and the contraction/expansion rate of your windshield which places stress on that windshield chip.

Keep water and snow out of the chip. Water expands and contracts even easier with temperature changes and will cause your chip to crack out.

Final Advice for Your Windshield

Our final advice is to get the chip repaired, which we’d be happy to take care of it for you. If the chip cracks out, give us a call and we’ll happily replace your windshield (check your insurance, you might have glass coverage!)

Happy Adventures!