Will The Expected Windshield Crack Be Unsafe?

[Seward G]

2013 Monaco Monarch.  Our windshield was chipped by road debris in the lower center.  Now we have a crack running vertically about five inches long.  Yesterday a glass technician attempted to drill and then fill the crack at its ends to keep in from running further, but thinks his fix is temporary at best.  We on the Oregon coast, on our way to motor through Canada to Alaska for the summer.  I'm expecting this crack to run all the way to the top of the windshield, and probably on this road trip we will get more dings.  The technician said the inner glass layer is intact and that would prevent us from getting hit by glass in a catastrophic failure.  Our Progressive insurance policy covers the windshield.  

If the crack crosses the windshield and we get hit by more debris will it be unsafe?  What is the worst case scenario?  How badly could the driver's vision be obstructed?  What would you do?

[Tom Wallis]

I don't imagine it will cause any serious problems if you wait. However, I would just go ahead and replace it now so you don't have think about it anymore. You won't necessarily get any cracks or chips traveling in Canada and Alaska. I've been to Alaska and back twice without getting any. It would just bug me having to look at it every day.

[Tom Cherry]

39 minutes ago, Seward G said:

2013 Monaco Monarch.  Our windshield was chipped by road debris in the lower center.  Now we have a crack running vertically about five inches long.  Yesterday a glass technician attempted to drill and then fill the crack at its ends to keep in from running further, but thinks his fix is temporary at best.  We on the Oregon coast, on our way to motor through Canada to Alaska for the summer.  I'm expecting this crack to run all the way to the top of the windshield, and probably on this road trip we will get more dings.  The technician said the inner glass layer is intact and that would prevent us from getting hit by glass in a catastrophic failure.  Our Progressive insurance policy covers the windshield.  

If the crack crosses the windshield and we get hit by more debris will it be unsafe?  What is the worst case scenario?  How badly could the driver's vision be obstructed?  What would you do?

Having had an entire Driver's side glass, which is TEMPERED but has an air gap, take a projectile and craze or shatter....then triple taping (Gorilla clear and regular duct tape), the panel and driving from Seattle to NC via Elkhart where I was able to have the frame repaired with the ORIGINAL glass, I can speak with a smidge of knowledge.

The windshield is Laminated SAFETY GLASS.  You are safe, for all practical purposes.  Note how many older cars you see running around with a massive crack in the windshield.

The issue is finding a glass replacement that fully understand that seating or installing a MH glass is TOTALLY different from doing a pop in car windshield. The technique and the sealant(s) are TOTALLY different.  Many have had glass techs pop one in and several months later, it cracked....some were from structural issues that should have been addressed as the behemoths will VIBRATE and Monaco, despite overall good assembly and fiberglass molding techniques...goofed a time or two.

My advice....LIVE WITH IT and DO NOT STRESS OVER YOUR TRIP. If you bolt down some rutted highways....YES, it will crack further.  You need to get back home.  Contact and talk to reputable glass installers, including the services that your insurance company uses. BUT, you MUST have a technician that understands that this is NOT an automobile install....  You will also then be in your home base so if something does go awry later, you have a fallback to the installer.  I sweated it....and eventually my glass actually started to bulge outward...on the outer pane.  I even taped lightweight aluminum strapping to stabilize it.  YOU HAVE NONE OF THOSE ISSUES, due to the windshield being a laminated panel....DRIVE ON....slow down a few MPH say, 10, if you hit a stretch of bad road. You will enjoy the scenery anyway if you drive slower.  We did...

NOW...from an "Engineers can fix anything" perspective and TOTALLY off base.  Which ever side, probably the OUTSIDE, the crack is....or maybe BOTH SIDES.  Find some CLEAR GORILLA TAPE at Lowes or any building supply house or most hardware stores. Cut a strip that is about 2 " longer on each end...or 4" longer and put it over the crack...both sides if it is cracked on the interior also.  That should slow it down....and you will get a new windshield anyway....

Have a good trip and don't let this be a source of stress....

[Ivan K]

4000 miles like this. 2 rolls of Gorilla tape as the cracks continued all across. I marked the cracks and every day they got longer. Ugly as sh!!t but we finished the 7 months trip as planned until I could fix it at home. It was bowing in when meeting trucks but held and yours does not sound bad, being a single crack. Even so, since you are in Oregon, I would get with CoachGlass, they know how to replace it right and your wife will get nicer pictures on the way.

[jacwjames]

I had what sounds like a similar crack.  In fact ours happen in Alaska on the drive from Denali to Fairbanks.  I took it a glass shop in Fairbanks and they drilled a small hole at the end of the crack and filled it with epoxy.  The crack did not get any longer for the rest of the trip, probably +8K miles total since on the way back we detoured down to the west coast. 

My suggestion would be to keep an eye on it an wait as long as you can.   The risk if if it does fail somewhere it might take a while to get a replacement.  In my case I didn't have a choice.

There is a good chance you may get another chip/crack on your trip.

[Gary 05 AMB DST]

Just remember, at some point, a state trooper may believe your vision is being compromised. At that point you would need a tow to a shop to repair it. You don't see trucks with cracked windshields. 

Gary 05 AMB DST

[Ivylog]

Drilling it should stop it plus adding gorilla tape… one longer than the crack vertically and several 5” ones horizontally. It’s not going to fall apart and yes, there’s a good chance something else will get it. If you see a dump truck coming at you with the bed up, slowdown and move over as he’s putting out gravel which goes everywhere.

[Seward G]

Update:  We had no issues with the windshield on our adventure to/from Alaska.  The cracks have not changed in four months.  Thanks to all for the suggestions and recommendations. 

[Lee Smith]

Coach Glass handled the replacement for my 2004 Signature Conquest windshield. Progressive was great. However, Progressive farms out their RV windshield claim process to subcontractors who will try to steer you away from Coach Glass. Coach Glass made my original windshield, so I ignored all attempts to change my request for Coach Glass. Just as a side note, Coach Glass now occupies the original Monaco factory manufacturing location in Cogburn, Oregon. Then coach glass complicated things by telling me they had a three-month installation backlog. It turned out that the backlog was only for their in-house installation shops. They only have two shops. Coach Glass then they told me that they had a list of approved installers but was having a hard time finding one in my area that did not have a substantial backlog to do the work. I asked for the list of approved RV installers, and I vetted the list by checking references and reviews until I selected an installer. Next, things came to a halt while the Progressive subcontracted claims administrator rejected the selected installer's cost to install. Coach Glass then had to negotiate with the installer to get an agreeable installation cost. Once everything was approved, they needed to ship the glass to the installer. Fortunately, the OEM windshield was in stock at one of Coach Glass's several inventory shipping locations and the glass arrived a week later to the installer's shop. I quickly developed a personal relationship with the installer and was able to closely monitor the two-day installation process. The installer clearly had a lot of big glass RV experience and did a great job. The whole process took over five weeks. After all of the bad reports I have heard on big windshield glass RV replacement problems I was more than agreeable to get it done with the OEM Coach Glass replacement and the Progressive zero deductible claim.

Of course, my favorite hobby is vintage Honda and Yamaha motorcycle restoration, and I am used to the wait to get good old fashioned OEM work done. I owned several of these bikes in my youth and I feel young again by restoring the same model bikes I owned back in the day. Naturally, that was my previous hobby as my Monaco Signature is now my new hobby! 

I wish you good luck in your replacement.