KootenayEV
Well-Known Member
- First Name
- Andrew
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2021
- Threads
- 28
- Messages
- 614
- Reaction score
- 589
- Location
- Nelson, BC
- Vehicles
- R1T, Tesla Model 3
- Occupation
- Environmental Engineer
- Thread starter
- #1
Hey forumites, in March we had an unfortunate incident with a teenager yanking a metal bottle out of the rear cupholder (wow that thing is grippy!) and smashing into the ceiling glass. It made a large impact zone in the outside pane of glass (much like what you would see on a windshield from a large rock), while the inside pane is intact. Over the summer & fall it has grown cracks originating from the impact zone that cross the entire ceiling glass in all directions except to the front edge. If I lived close to a service centre, I would just get it replaced, but the nearest one is a 8 hour drive from me.
I am trying to decide between:
a) Leave it for the winter, and get it replaced in the spring when I'm planning a trip to the city anyways
b) Replace it before the winter and make a dedicated trip to the SC
As the weather has cooled down with recent light freezing, I've heard the roof kind of 'creaking' occasionally as I drive. I'd rather just leave it and do it in the spring, but am wondering about two things:
1) Are there safety implications by having that many cracks running across the ceiling glass?
2) Am I risking other potential damage to the truck by leaving it?
As far as #1, I'm not really that concerned about the roof glass - it has the plastic film in between the two layers and the lower layer is fine. In a roll-over, the metal is doing all of the crush prevention, but perhaps a slight increased risk of something intruding into the cabin? It isn't clear to me how much of the strength of the glass assembly relies on both panes being intact or not. Any windshield engineers on the forum?
For #2, I suspect the seal around the glass is on the bottom pane, and so long as the film and lower glass aren't compromised, water shouldn't intrude into the cabin.
I am trying to decide between:
a) Leave it for the winter, and get it replaced in the spring when I'm planning a trip to the city anyways
b) Replace it before the winter and make a dedicated trip to the SC
As the weather has cooled down with recent light freezing, I've heard the roof kind of 'creaking' occasionally as I drive. I'd rather just leave it and do it in the spring, but am wondering about two things:
1) Are there safety implications by having that many cracks running across the ceiling glass?
2) Am I risking other potential damage to the truck by leaving it?
As far as #1, I'm not really that concerned about the roof glass - it has the plastic film in between the two layers and the lower layer is fine. In a roll-over, the metal is doing all of the crush prevention, but perhaps a slight increased risk of something intruding into the cabin? It isn't clear to me how much of the strength of the glass assembly relies on both panes being intact or not. Any windshield engineers on the forum?
For #2, I suspect the seal around the glass is on the bottom pane, and so long as the film and lower glass aren't compromised, water shouldn't intrude into the cabin.
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