Rear window in RT/10 shattered!!!!

[01 RT SNAKE]

I tried to have my rear window tinted at a very respectable shop in town and after keeping it for a day said they wouldn't do it because it wasn't glass. The reason was because the window flexed, it couldn,t be glass. So I just shelved the idea until I read this post. I looked at the window and it has an official etching into it leading me to believe it is glass. My question is this, does the factory glass flex alot...like 2" up and down on the ends?

With all the tiny glass fragments I've pulled out of my fingers the past day cleaning the frame and locks up, I can assure you 100% that the window is, in fact, made of glass. At least in 2001 they were.

I don't recall my window flexing 2". Maybe that's why it broke.

 

[Viper Wizard]

Did you find any bullet holes in the back of the seat?

funny you mention that, we were right near the Ben Avery shooting range but there's no way it was anything like that.

I'm wondering if a small rock or something flew in the car and hit the back window causing it to shatter? I didn't see anything fly in from above, however, it's not out of the question.

A remote possibility, projectile entering from the rear....stray fragment? Just a thought.

 

[Freddog11]

A couple of years ago I found a local glass shop, Desert Breeze on Baseline in Mesa that was able to get me a new back window including the glass, gasket, and hardware for under a hundred and fifty bucks. I can't find their card but I'm sure they are in the book.

 

[v10Muscle]

I made some practice side windows from a cheaper acrylic sold at Home Depot for storm doors. I used the tool to score a line (many times) and it snaps to a nice clean break. After my practice sizing, I made some windows of the 0.093" Lexan. Do the same score and snap, except it won't snap. Score some more, no snap, score until the tool breaks through in some spots, but all it will do is bend with a tough rubbery feel. It almost needs to be scored through completely to finish the cut line. It is indeed a tough material.

That sounds more like polycarbonate than lexan.
Acryllic is very brittle. Lexan is halfway in between.
McMaster Carr sells all 3 in sheets.

 

[J&R3xV10]

Tom I agree with v10Muscle whatever you had was not Lexan. Polycarbonate tends to be very "gummy" when cutting. The best way to cut any plexi, lexan, or polycarbonate is with a router and to prevent stress cracking where you drill holes is to drill a smaller hole with a very sharp bit then widen to size with correct sized bit in reverse on high speed. This will melt the hole and soften the edges to allow more flex at the connection.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

Good hint about small hole/bigger hole. Thanks. I bought both sheets at Home Depot. Sticker said Lexan, and Google says Lexan is a polycarbonate. But there are several types of polycarbonate, too. Makrolon seems popular at the glass shops and is claimed to be equivalent to Lexan.

 

[Ratical2]

Lexan is the brand name for PC. It is available in alot of different recipes.

PC is scratch resistant and won't shatter.

Acrylic is brittle and much easier to scratch. It will shatter if over stressed.

Both need to be drilled with a special plastics drill bits or as Robert suggests.

Plastic Drill Bits for Plexiglas, Lucite, Acrylite - chip-free drilling

 

[eucharistos]

very informative thread,

if nothing else, makes me want to tint my rear window just to keep the pieces together if it ever shatters

 

[cayman]

I'm wondering if a small rock or something flew in the car and hit the back window causing it to shatter? I didn't see anything fly in from above, however, it's not out of the question.quote]

I'd say this is the more likey scenario. A small BB will shatter glass, even being shot out of a very slow BB gun. Don't ask how I know this. At 50 mph, all it would take is a small piece of gravel hitting that back glass just at the right spot. And at that speed, you probably wouldn't see it fly by your head, especially if you weren't expecting it. Were you on a two lane and if so, did it happen as another car went by the other direction? Add more opposite momentum to the projectile speed equation at impact and........

I've also had a piece of gravel hit and crack my winshield from another car in front of me that had to be a hundred yards or more away.

Freak incident, regardless. Sorry to hear about it but thank God you or the wifey didn't get hurt. Very scary. I'm going to be paranoid now next time I go out on the road with the top off and back glass still in.

 

[Russ M]

Could be wrong here, but I am fairly certain that leaving the rear window out is actualy causing more resistance when driving down the road than less. Leaving it out just beats the crap out of the back of your head and body, and it gets much worse the faster you go. Have had the car to about 160 with the back window out and the top off, it was far from a joyful experience.

 

[eucharistos]

my understanding is that that air is entering from the rear (being sucked in), not swirling from the top, like when rear glass in

note the smell if any cat work done

 

[Ratical2]

I'm wondering if a small rock or something flew in the car and hit the back window causing it to shatter? I didn't see anything fly in from above, however, it's not out of the question.quote]

I'd say this is the more likey scenario. A small BB will shatter glass, even being shot out of a very slow BB gun. Don't ask how I know this. At 50 mph, all it would take is a small piece of gravel hitting that back glass just at the right spot. And at that speed, you probably wouldn't see it fly by your head, especially if you weren't expecting it. Were you on a two lane and if so, did it happen as another car went by the other direction? Add more opposite momentum to the projectile speed equation at impact and........

I've also had a piece of gravel hit and crack my winshield from another car in front of me that had to be a hundred yards or more away.

Freak incident, regardless. Sorry to hear about it but thank God you or the wifey didn't get hurt. Very scary. I'm going to be paranoid now next time I go out on the road with the top off and back glass still in.

This scenerio is possible. One day while driving to work in my Miata at 65mph with the top down a rock appeared out of nowhere, just clearing the top of my windshield and hit me in center of my forehead. Very painful! When I got to work, I had a whelp the size of a quarter and no one would believe how I got it. Glad it wasn't about an inch lower and to the right of left. I probably would have lost the eye.

 

[Ratical2]

very informative thread,

if nothing else, makes me want to tint my rear window just to keep the pieces together if it ever shatters

I am curious if the back window is made with safety glass like the front and side windows. If it were, it should not have shattered as described.

Maybe Dodge didn't feel it was neccessary as it is a sheltered location and not likely to receive an impact.

 

[01 RT SNAKE]

I believe it is safety glass. It did shatter into a thousand little pieces. Some of the glass was still stuck together in the frame while some of it just fell straight down on the rear decklid. Going 50 mph, the wind swirling around in the cockpit, it was no wonder that glass flew everywhere. I still have not gotten all the glass off the dashboard (tiny little fragments you can see when the sun hits it just right). It did make a very loud sound when it broke. I thought a giant rock had smashed the windshield it was so loud.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

When using Lexan for display cases, are the parts fastened or is there a certain glue?

 

[J&R3xV10]

Tom you can use acrilic epoxy glue to attach the fastners, but be sure it is an acrilic glue or it will just melt the plexi. The best bet with dislpay cases is to use a thicker piece and drill 3/4 of the thickness then glue the post in or drill all the way through.

FYI the best way to see glass shards is to but the car in the garage with the lights off and use a flashlight to spot the glass.

 

[Ratical2]

What Robert said!
Lexan/ Polycarbonate requires an epoxy type adhesive or mechanical fastener.
Acrylic can be chemically welded in addition to epoxy adhesives or mechanical fasteners.

 

[Venomiss]

Pick up the tiny shards with tape. Lightly with a roller or wrap in around your hand.
If small parts are still in the frame wrap up a single finger with the tape.

 

[SkyBob]

I believe it is safety glass. It did shatter into a thousand little pieces.

Isn't safety glass laminated with a thin sheet sandwiched between two panes of glass, so that when it does break it doesn't shatter into many little pieces? Or does the lamination serve to have the glass break into many tiny pieces instead of a few large aorta-slicing pieces?

 

[Ratical2]

Isn't safety glass laminated with a thin sheet sandwiched between two panes of glass, so that when it does break it doesn't shatter into many little pieces? Or does the lamination serve to have the glass break into many tiny pieces instead of a few large aorta-slicing pieces?

That's why I asked the question earlier. Safetly glass won't prevent the glass from shattering but most of the glass should remain bonded to the center gel.

HowStuffWorks "How does safety glass work?"

 

[J&R3xV10]

Bob you are right in both questions. It is "tempered" so that it will shatter into shards rather than large pieces but automotive safety glass should also have a laminate on it to hold it together better but not all applications utilize this technique.

edit: I noticed Raticals post after I typed mine(slow typer). If you read the second paragraph in the link you will see that side and REAR windows are only tempered and do not have the laminate to hold them together.

 

[SkyBob]

How about if the origiinal poster made his rear window out of Pyrex? That's not supposed to break, is it? I imagine the cost to make one might approach the cost of a 2010 ACR.

 

[01 RT SNAKE]

For those of you who are wondering, the back window did not have any laminate holding it together. The sections that did not fall onto the decklid from the initial shock fell out as soon as I pulled the window out. Those sections broke into small (something like 6mm cubed) pieces. I don't know what was holding what was left of the window together but it wasn't laminate. I'm assuming it's some kind of safety glass. It has to be. There were definitely no giant shards of glass.

 

[JjohnsonRx]

dealer charges $500 for a new back window...

 

[jk]

We have a plastics fabricator in our club who made me up a new rear window for my 2000 RT/10 after I broke mine (dropped it in the garage). First attempt matching the original thickness of the glass was too flexible. He replaced it with a thicker piece and machined a thinner profile on the edge for the gasket to fit properly. I still use this for the few occasions I put the window in, but it is still a lot more flexible than the original tempered glass.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

We have a plastics fabricator in our club who made me up a new rear window for my 2000 RT/10 after I broke mine (dropped it in the garage). First attempt matching the original thickness of the glass was too flexible. He replaced it with a thicker piece and machined a thinner profile on the edge for the gasket to fit properly. I still use this for the few occasions I put the window in, but it is still a lot more flexible than the original tempered glass.

Is that bad?

My glass one bends when I get one pin in place and have to push the other end of the glass so the second pin can latch. I would rather have a material that tolerates bending... I think.

 

[jk]

Is that bad?

My glass one bends when I get one pin in place and have to push the other end of the glass so the second pin can latch. I would rather have a material that tolerates bending... I think.

Maybe. Though I haven't tried, I think it is flexible enough that you could bend one end in and force your hand into the cabin and maybe reach the manual door latch.

 

[Tom F&L GoR]

That would be bad if one had a manual door latch... Do you recall what thicknesses were used in your two attempts?

Anyway, I have left over Lexan and may try it. If someone didn't know it was not glass they wouldn't think about bending it, either. Really, while I have a glass window in one piece is probably the best time to copy it.

 

[eucharistos]

while I have a glass window in one piece is probably the best time to copy it.

eagle scout thinking there tom, getting my sharpie

 

[DodgeViper01]

Did you find any bullet holes in the back of the seat?

I guess it is a NY thing because I thought the same thing at first!

But seriously glad no one got hurt from the stray glass.