driving that Dakota truck and before that crack grew longer than my arm
and was on there for over a year.
Recently, while driving the Kia, I became yet again a victim to the
shaking of going over a railroad crossing and a falling bit of stone
debris from a hauling truck. It really pissed me off that here I was
finally driving a vehicle with a pristine windshield and a loud POP
sound happened and a small crack-like chip appeared, and nearly in the
middle of the left side of the window.
I must remember to avoid that crossing or pull over further to the right
when going there when a hauling truck is there at that same moment.
Anywho, I thought "Isn't there a product for this?" Like when you get a
flat tire, Fix-A-Flat will repair the tire long enough to get somewhere,
sometimes for longer than you realize - at least until really painfully
killing cold weather comes along and presto, the tire is no longer
fixed.
But there IS. Probably from the same company for all I know. It's
Fix-A-Windshield. About $10 at Walmart. It promises to fix chips and
cracks in your windshield that aren't major (see the product packaging
to see what they claim it will fix). For my purposes, this would likely
do what I need it to do. It claims to fill in those chips and or cracks
and prevent them from spreading, at least those that don't go all the
way through and in one layer of glass.
I had to apply this in the morning before the sun came up because you
can't apply this in full sun. You have to shade the repair area until
ready to leave in the sun, because ultraviolet light cures the resin
used in this kit. Well, early in the morning before the sun is up and
with me standing over the car provided ample shade, plus the instruction
sheet placed over the apparatus also proved handy.
The Apparatus consists of an X formation of plastic support arms and
suction cups, at the center of which is this grooved hole. This is for
the Resin Chamber that screws into this. Center that hole over the main
area of your chip or crack (likely the main impact site), then turn this
until it is firmly against the glass and the hole at the other end opens
up. Then you apply a few drops of the resin (after cutting the little
bottle open), about 4 to 6 drops, into the chamber. Then you have a
Driver to screw into that. It forces air out of the chamber, and in turn
forces the resin into the crack, and hopefully filling in the cracks so
when the resin cures in the sun, they will disappear.
My experience? I might not have applied enough resin for my small chip
or maybe didn't get the driver used quite right, because the slight
crack that appeared beneath the impact site didn't quite disappear. I
waited 4-6 minutes, and even removed and re-inserted the driver thingy
like the instructions said to do. But it _did_ fill in the micro-crater
created by the debris, and when the resin cured, you nearly can't tell
how big that was. It matches the refractive index of the glass well.
I noticed a couple of nearby micro scratches so I used a drop of the
resin and the curing strips to see to that. Oh yeah, forgot those. Once
the resin has been forced into the chip or crack and it looks like the
resin has been asborbed well (the cracks should just about disappear
during this process), carefully remove the apparatus and put these clear
curing strips on top of the application area. Just lay them on, no force
is necessary. Let it sit in the sun and it cures. Also don't put the
suction cups on any of the cracks, as it says in the instructions.
Final opinion: Fix-A-Windshield definitely works! It doesn't seem to
matter what temperature it is outside when making the application, but
it might be best to do this above freezing temps. My repair attempt
might not be 100% perfect, but it did fill in the chip well enough to
suit me and hopefully prevent it from spreading a crack like before.
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