Window imploded

[navygz19]

Last Friday is was on the interstate traveling at about 65 mph, when all of a sudden, my (drivers side) window blew up, all over me. Aside from being involved in an accident, it has to have been the scariest thing I've ever experienced in my life. My wife and I were on our way up to Connecticut when this happened, so needless to say it made for an interesting last 300 miles of the trip. The window also blew IN, and not out at all. I was in the left hand lane when it happened, nobody had passed me and there was nobody on the side of the road which eliminates the possibility of something being thrown up at me, or tossed at me from the side of the road. The A/C had been running for a good 3 hours straight, and the windows were closed and no doors had been opened during that time either.

 

I've heard that the edges of tempered glass are the weakest, thus if there were to be any sort of rock/pebble in the track of the window, when it was closed it had the possibility of putting it under a lot of stress. In addition, I've considered the possibility that the limiter for the auto-up window may be bad which would put it under a lot of stress when closed all the way up. I've since replaced the glass and no longer use the auto-up feature, instead switch it up on my own and not all the way up either.

 

I hope this never happens to anyone else, ever! The sound alone was aout enough to make me loose my cookies (deafening) and luckily, in the ridiculous Delaware traffic we were in at the time I never lost control of the truck.

 

Any thoughts/ideas??

[Trainman]

Wow! Glad no one was hurt.

 

I have only heard on one sort of similar issue, but it was the front windshield of a full size pickup and it happened on a gravel road so a very good chance of a rock n=being thrown up.

 

That being said, I have thrown rocks onto myself and along the side without anyone else around, but no window imploding. I had the drivers side window on our Mystique replaced under warranty when it got a chip on the top edge for some reason, I did not want something like what you went through happen. Are you sure there was no chips on the glass edges? That, combined with a nasty bump or a rock hitting the window could cause this. And i doubt you would hear the rock (or whatever hit/triggered the window) as it would have been near instantaneous.

 

Again, glad no one was hurt and good driving to keep from crashing into someone else.

[navygz19]

Are you sure there was no chips on the glass edges? That, combined with a nasty bump or a rock hitting the window could cause this.

 

That's the most likely culprit...with the wheeling I do it's entirely possible there was something foreign in the track somewhere and it finally gave out.

 

That being said, make sure your window tracks are kept clean!!

[msavides]

I had a friend with a Mitsubishi eclipse have his rear hatch window do that. The thing is it was parked in his driveway. We were just standing there and we heard it just implode. All the glass was inside the car not one cube of glass was outside the car. weirdest thing I have ever witnesses. Still to this day we don't know exactly how it happened.

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

That's the most likely culprit...with the wheeling I do it's entirely possible there was something foreign in the track somewhere and it finally gave out.

 

That being said, make sure your window tracks are kept clean!!

[navygz19]

I had a friend with a Mitsubishi eclipse have his rear hatch window do that. The thing is it was parked in his driveway. We were just standing there and we heard it just implode. All the glass was inside the car not one cube of glass was outside the car. weirdest thing I have ever witnesses. Still to this day we don't know exactly how it happened.

 

Mark

 

 

Was it a very warm day after a relatively cool night? Were there storms in the vicinity (low pressure system)? My guess to that happening would be a difference in pressure between the outside and inside of the car.

[msavides]

Really can't remember. I think it was a rather warm day, something like 90-95 outside.

 

Mark

 

 

 

 

 

 

Was it a very warm day after a relatively cool night? Were there storms in the vicinity (low pressure system)? My guess to that happening would be a difference in pressure between the outside and inside of the car.

[denisb]

I was following a car in the drive thru one day and their back window did the same. It was winter and the rear defrost was on, probably had a pressure point in it and just couldn't take the difference in heat.

[Trainman]

I had a friend with a Mitsubishi eclipse have his rear hatch window do that. The thing is it was parked in his driveway. We were just standing there and we heard it just implode. All the glass was inside the car not one cube of glass was outside the car. weirdest thing I have ever witnesses. Still to this day we don't know exactly how it happened.

 

Mark

 

This happened to a friend of mine about 10 years ago with their near-new Blazer, the rear window just blew in while they were stopped at a light.

 

So I guess it does happen, maybe more often than we think.

 

As for air pressure differential, there are enough leaks and built in vents so unless it was an incredibly sudden and violent change, that should not be an issue. All I have to do is look at all the dust that comes in mine, even when the beast is parked with the windows done up

[csutke]

ive seen this happen as well by having the rear defroster on in the winter so maybe theres a reverse force when its hot outside and the inside temp is cold

[navygz19]

It was a real shame it happened to be MY window, and not the rear...that would have saved me a lot of vary small shards of glass being in places that aren't too comfy...especially for what turned out to be another 6.5 hour ride the rest of the way!

 

On a good note though, I would guess a front door window is a little cheaper than a rear one!