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Pitted windshield

4.4K views 16 replies 9 participants last post by  Targe  
#1 ·
My 2021 JLU is a garage kept daily driver. In the 2 years that I’ve had it with just over 17,000 miles, the windshield has developed what I would consider speckles for a better choice of words. Driving into the sun is horrible. I’ve tried all types of waxes and polishing media to no real avail. I’m guessing it’s From general road debris and general dirt and dust. The Jeep is washed at least 3 times a month. I’m at a loss on how to get the windshield clear again.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
 
#2 ·
Mine is the same. I don't think there's anything that can be done about it once the pits are in the glass. There is a company that makes a clear protector like a tear off on a race car, but that would have to go over a new windshield to make it feasible. Luckily, in Florida, there is no deductible on windshields, so I just wait for the next crack and get it replaced.
 
#3 ·
I don't know what it is about 'newer' windshields --- and by 'newer', I mean in the past 25 or 30 years --- but when I was a kid, my family have various older cars, and NONE of them developed this pitting/speckling that you describe, Eddie. But I know it very well, as my 1996 Dodge Ram pickup, with 154,000 miles and the original windshield (now cracked in four places) has had that same fine pitting on it for years now, which makes driving into the sun really distracting and unpleasant.

The funny thing is, the vehicle I drove before getting this pickup in 1996 was a 1991 Eagle Talon, a very low-slung car that you would think the low-sitting windshield would have accumulated all those tiny pits and speckles in the glass even more so, but it did not. So I don't know if auto manufacturers have cheapened or lowered the quality of their windshield glass over the years, but it wouldn't surprise me at all.
 
#6 · (Edited)
Another thing that could be a significant factor in all this windshield pitting is the seriously higher speeds that many drivers are driving at nowadays.

Back in the early 1990s, NOBODY was driving 80 or 85 or 90 mph on the highway, or at least nobody was driving that fast without getting a serious speeding ticket. And since the kinetic energy of an impacting body is not proportional to its speed, but to the square of its speed (speed X speed), all those little rocks and bits of road debris are hitting windshields with 50% or 75% more energy than they would have been 30 or 40 years ago.

Although having said that, that situation does not apply to me, as I have never driven faster than the low 60s mph with this pickup in all the 27 years that I've had it. But yet, driving into the sun, you'd think that somebody had spread glitter all over the windshield, there are so many tiny pits --- and it's been that way for at least 20 years (yeah, I guess I'm just a cheapskate, to not have had that windshield replaced long ago).
 
#16 ·
Some of the problem is how inconsiderate so many drivers are nowadays. Back in the day (yeah I'm old enough to say that) people would only pass when there was enough room to pass AND get well ahead of the vehicle they just passed before moving back in front of them. Now, people pass when they can just barely squeeze by and cut back in front of you so fast you swear they're going to take off your front bumper with their rear bumper. So anything coming off their tires pummels you at close range and for several minutes after as they camp out in front of you for so long that you wonder why they passed in the first place. (All to take an exit a half mile farther down the road anyway!) Too many people have a total me me me mentality! Don't give a damn about anybody else. Also, truckers weaving back and forth in and out of the normal wheel tracks throw crap from the lane edges that would normally stay there if they watched the road instead of porn on their laptop while they're "driving"! There..... I feel better now that I got that off my chest!
 
#17 ·
Our kits are primarily made to prevent cracked windshields, but they also protect the windshield from pitting. They're significantly cheaper than replacing with an OEM windshield.

If your windshield is already significantly pitted, it won't hide the existing pitting, however, it needs to be installed over a new or newish windshield, so it's a good idea to install after a replacement if you already have significant pitting.