Shattered TV Window

DeeDee

25 miles from home and heading toward Flaming Gorge, we hear a loud pop and our rear window has shattered into a million shards of glass. Couldn't find any signs of what might have caused the damage until we got home. Two small dents on the body of the T@B. Hard to believe a rock could bounce up and do all the damage. Has anyone else had this issue? So much for our Memorial Day camping trip.

kidware

Was a car or truck going by you in either direction at the time?  If so, that's probably the answer - a powerful ricochet.

DeeDee

No cars or trucks at the time. Lots of boondockers in the area. Our first thought was a stray bullet. Going to cost $1,000 to replace. Costly camping trip.

Roadie_O

Whoa! What a freaky, crummy thing to happen! Sorry your plans change for the weekend, but hope you can get out in the T@b near home.

RZRBUG

OMG!  How awful.  You know, it's strange how those things can shatter with the smallest peck at times, but sometimes they will withstand a major impact.  I shattered mine once by backing into a tree.  Just barely bumped it with the bumper.  Never touched the glass.  Sorry for the inconvenience.  Those little pieces can do damage to the skin.  Be careful.

Nomad

Man - Can't see a ricochet off the T@B coming off the aluminum with enough force to do that. The aluminum would absorb alot of it I'd think. Especially being kicked up by your TV.
A rear window cost a $1k - wow.

sabel

What's the TV?

larrygon

TV = Tow Vehicle

Ratkity

I've had no cars or trucks around and had a stone just flying from who-knows-where hit the front windshield and crack it (twice in as many months). One was on the way to a camping trip and the other just around town. Very frustrating and I'm sorry for your messed up Memorial Day plans!!!

I'm trying to wrap my head around how something could ricochet of soft aluminum with such force that it breaks the back window. Front and back windshields are thick and during water rescue, one is supposed to try to break a side window to escape. I keep a window-break hammer inside the vehicle attached to the carpet in day-glo yellow (easy to find in a panic).

The physics isn't adding up for me right now in my fuzzy head (I was on the bike all day in Rolling Thunder activities - sun fried brain). The loud pop (excluding a stray bullet) could be from side to side TV stress on the window frame in conjunction with the recent spell of very hot weather we've experienced. The aluminum is soft on the front of the T@B and something going the speed of a .22 would pierce the camper, not bounce to the back window with the same force it encountered initially. Does any of this make sense? The things that could accomplish this weren't in play at the time
1. No dump truck passing by at a high rate of speed spraying gravel chips (out of bed or big tires) on a 2 lane highway
2. No 18-wheeler going too fast and spewing up road debris on a 2 lane highway going past you. 

Those two scenarios would propel the rock/projectile in the right angle for the bounce-back to the rear window. I'm still not sure if it wasn't a stray pellet or bullet. Or the other less-probable scenario of weather stress/frame stress and towing stress that just popped the window without any outside help.

Either way, it's a pain to clean up, I know you wanted out of town and I feel bad your plans have changed - then the pocketbook hit. I plan to go out camping next weekend. I usually avoid major holidays. Something always seems to happen!. I hope things are fixed post-haste and your TV is on the road soon. 

Take care. Maybe a snugglie movie and popcorn at home with fav beverage will help. *hugs*

sabel

So what's the tow vehicle? 

sabel

What I mean by tow vehicle is. What's the towing capacity? Photo looks like it's a small vehicle.

DeeDee

Santa Fe, 3500lbs

sabel

Go to your Hyundai dealer and see what they have to say. Then do the math on vehicles towing capacity based on the loaded T@B, hitch capacity and gvwr of the vehicle. Our Toyota 4Runner has a tow capacity of 5000#  but when you do the math it's just about at capacity when trailer and tv are loaded.
Might be that the Santa Fe is just flexing too much when over loaded.

DeeDee

We travel lightly and well under our tow capacity but flexing is something to consider. Which would be disappointing as we bought this car specifically to tow the T@B.

Ratkity

Instead of the dealer, you could always get the weights off the side sticker on the driver's side door frame, go to a truck scale (or the dump) and weigh everything when loaded. It's just a thought. Best to you and yours!!! You'll figure this out!

sabel

The drive's side door on our 4Runner has a plaqerd that states " passagers and cargo load should never exceed 1150 lb."  A modest amount of cargo + hitch weight of 200# + two people and you're right at 1150#. That is significantly less than advertised towing capacity.

irvingj

Others have implied this, but it's true: tempered glass can shatter at the drop of a hat if it's under stress -- or has been stressed in the past. Good indication is the almost explosive nature of the break when it comes, and the result being thousands of small pieces as opposed to a chip and/or a crack.

That stress could have come from any number of sources- stress on the vehicle, perhaps improper installation, wide temperature swings, a whack on the glass at some previous point in time -- or (and?) having been incorrectly tempered to begin with from the factory (don't laugh- though not overly common, that happens more often than you'd think).

In a previous lifetime, I recall the cover glass from a pinball machine, having been slid out for playfield maintenance, was in my hands, not touching anything, suddenly exploding. One second my hands are on the left & right sides holding it, the next my hands are clapping together with nothing but air between them. Of course, in that case, that piece of tempered glass had already had a very stressful 7 or 8 years of life….

My point is that the exploding rear window might not have had anything touch it on your camping trip, and might in fact have nothing to do with anything you did. As far as cost, most auto insurance policies have a "comprehensive" section that covers glass replacement with a small deductible; you might also check to see if any of the car's warranty is still active.

ChanW

Yep, we had our rear hatch glass blow out, while our car was parked outside a movie theatre. It just happened. We were inside the theatre watching the movie. A cop came into the theatre and sought us out to tell us about it (heart in throat moment). 

Pretty weird. The car was less than a week old. The cop said 'it must have blown out, because all the glass ended up outside the vehicle, on the ground'.

I think the dealership repaired it, with some pressuring, as faulty from the manufacturer.

Nomad

Yes, it can be a "heart in throat" moment - Uhhhh, lets see, did I pay that parking ticket? When he runs my plate will something show up?

JandJ92010

Won't your insurance company cover window replacement? Mine does. Threw a stone up from the weed eater, shattered my car window, insurance covered it 100%.

Ratkity

PXLated said:

Yes, it can be a "heart in throat" moment - Uhhhh, lets see, did I pay that parking ticket? When he runs my plate will something show up?

"Will he make me open up that box and see my skirt, er kilt?" The heart-stopping questions abound!

Nomad

I gave all mine to goodwill so I don't have to worry about that ;-)

ericnliz

Kilts, or skirts Px, and did they charge you/  

Ratkity

Thread derailment! .... has this been the worst to fall off the tracks? At least it wasn't the kilts that fell... must.resist.commando.jokes.....

"There poor DeeDee and fambily wuz, trying to find a solution to their winder shatter.... next thang they read is about Goodwill and skirts!"

Photomom

JandJ92010 said:

Won't your insurance company cover window replacement? Mine does. Threw a stone up from the weed eater, shattered my car window, insurance covered it 100%.

It does if you have glass coverage. My windshield cracked last fall, the insurance company got Safelite on the phone, scheduled an appointment, and they came to the house to replace it. Third time we've had to use the coverage for various vehicles. Definitely worth the cost.

DeeDee

JandJ92010 said:

Won't your insurance company cover window replacement? Mine does. Threw a stone up from the weed eater, shattered my car window, insurance covered it 100%.

Yes, it will, but we have a fairly high deductible. Mostly wanted to find out if anyone else had this occur while towing the T@B. Hoping it just one of those strange things and will never happen again. 

Verna

Check with your insurance company. Windshields are covered under the part that doesn't have a deductible. It costs me about $2 per month for that coverage. No more sinking thoughts of "how much is this going to cost me?".

Photomom

Our insurance has no deductible on glass. I'd check.