Stopping bugs from hitting windshield

[Les Hurdle]

Just got back from a Long trip and of-course my new windshield is covered in bugs.  By the time I got to them they were well and truly stuck on.

Has anyone seen, does anyone make a deflector which can be attached to the front of the cap below the windshield which would deflect wind upwards and hopefully away from the windshield pushing bugs over the top?

Les

[96 EVO]

I just steer around them 🤣!

[Tom Cherry]

Try googling….

Class A Motor Home Bug Deflector

BUS bug deflecror

NADA a HIT for a Class A, shoe box MH.  Yes….semi’s with a long hood or nose.  If you keep trying words…..and “RV”….pages….except, they are from a “RV Parts Vendor”.  There is a custom one, molded and in stock, for every SUV or PUT you can imagine….save Musk’s “CyberTruck”.

MY curiosity….and answer….NOPE

BUT i have seen “things” in campgrounds that baffled logic and amazed me….but never a BUG DEFLECTOR….Bug Screens….YES…Deflector NO…

BUT do the googling yourself. I did the search here.  NOPE….

[Dr4Film]

[PeterSchweizer]

One of the best ways I've found to stop bugs hitting the windshield and roof top stuff is not to drive the coach. Works every time!

[tmw188]

Maybe Rainx might keep them fro sticking so bad

[Les Hurdle]

Than you all for the chuckles.............. sorely needed in this day and age.......not sure I understood dismiss !....  I did ask of Google where I might find a magic piece but only found such for the back of pick up trucks etc.........   Some may recall back in your youth American station wagons had a device on the roof which shoved air down to the back window............ my thought is such might work at the front of an RV......hmmmm but of-course, shove the air and bugs up.  ......  what I did do today was wash the windshields with a soft brush, spray with very diluted white vinegar and water then I used a 'squeegee/sponge' at Harbor Freight near Morrow Bay which had the current excuse for cleaning cloth on each side.  I soaked said device in Rainex bug cleaner for windshield washers and lo........ most of the bugs slid off.  Some little blighters which had impacted in swarms had to be removed via the fingernail process.   BTW........ if I may, first thing I learned as a pilot of small aircraft was ONLY wash etc windshields vertically........ I do the same on my RV and might suggest y'all do the same.......... helps lessen refraction and all that technical stuff.

Peace.

[96 EVO]

Yeah Les, I think it's much easier to direct air at the back, coming off the roof, than a big, nearly flat windshield!

[Hancoman]

Had the same problem going through Oregon. I thought it was the bugs who were duck fans and after the Huskies beat the ducks twice this year they were getting their revenge

[96 EVO]

Speaking of Oregon, I had a HUGE bug (about a 30-40lb turkey), walk into my lane on the I-5, while I was doing about 72mph, passing 2 semi's 😮!!

He / she, stopped in the middle of the lane, and starred at me barreling down on him! I couldn't get too hard on the brake because I had several vehicles catching up on me that wouldn't see why I was slowing quickly!

Last second, he / she turned around and waddled off the road, the way he came from.

All I could think of was " There goes my front cap"!!!!

Edited May 13 by 96 EVO

[StellaTariche]

Ok, so I am (1) in the same boat (ok, land yacht ) as all of us, and (2) a physics junkie with two sons and a nephew who are all recent electrical engineer physics junkies.  I also have a staff of 12 EEs and MEs who all jumped in to this discussion. My neighbor who is also a Lt. Col and aeronautical engineer who teaches at the USAFA also chimed in. He has a phD in laminar flow dynamics and access to a Mach 6 wind tunnel at Purdue University if we want to try this on a scale model.
 

Two ideas:

(1) Create an artificial air deflector out of moving air. Aim it at the correct (calculated) constantly changing position and angle and deflect any and all bugs, rain, and potentially small rocks.   Examples of this working are the pointy nose-cones on the inlets of the SR-71 blackbird.  Same principle as the air deflector on pickup truck, Formula One cars and front motor class 8 trucks.

Note that my main office is (literally) on Kelly Johnson Blvd in Colorado Springs.  Kelly Johnson and his team designed the SR-71.

Pros:  it will work on our 40 ton loaf of bread shaped toys

Cons: biiiiiig fans needed (or we have to be driving about 175mph) for it to create a wind “shock wave” that will clear the top of the rig windshield. Might be a bit noisy 🙂 

The guys shared the math on bar napkins (Note: why yes. Yes alcohol was involved. You really needed to ask?). It seemed to be kosher.

 

(2) Lasers on the front. Hear me out…..

At 70 mph, they can easily track hundreds of bugs with an off the shelf Nvidia graphics card, some machine vision, and a couple sensors (high frame rate cameras) and zap them.  We do it already (Lead Free Design, my company) when sorting items to be recycled moving on a quickly moving treadmill. We track each fast moving piece of unknown material with cameras in 3 dimensions, very quickly zap each piece of material several times with a special laser called LIBS (Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy), looks at the returned “fingerprint” reflected by the laser, based on the spectrum (Ai machine learning) decide what substances are in the material and which direction that piece needs to be heading, blast it with a tightly controlled column of air, and it ends up in the correct recycle material path/bin. In use this exact system at our partner’s labs in the EU (EARN - European Advanced Recycling Network).

Pros: Works really well for plastics, metals, and fingers. Knows (or can be taught) the difference between your index finger, a protected species of bird, and a giant Florida June bug.

Cons: DOT might want to have a say in this contraption. Expensive because ….. engineers.

  
- John

More realistically, there is an external clear conformal film (like window tint, but applied to the outside and perfectly clear) that can be applied to the outside of the windshield.  It blocks heat, protects against rock chips, bug juice rinses off with ease.  lasts about 3 years. Wipers don’t scratch it.   Couple of hundred bucks.  Works best on new windshields. 

Edited May 13 by StellaTariche

[Garage Monster]

The comment about washing windshields only vertically does not apply to your RV.

The windscreens on planes and helicopters are plastic and do scratch. The windshield on your RV is glass and does not care how you wash it. It you were right, a car wash would have made all cars undriveable by now.

Yes, I do have a pilots license.

[StellaTariche]

Direction in which you wash it depends on if you want vertical bug streaks or horizontal bug streaks.  The wipers will make them all semicircular almost immediately, so it is purely a appearance preference 🙂 

[georgecederholm]

I bought a windshield brush/squeege on Amazon and attached it to a wooden broomstick. Looks just like the ones at any truck stop, except I added a stainless screw to hold the head from turning when I apply a little extra torsional pressure. I also got a gallon of the Rain-X Windshield Washer fluid that’s supposed to help with bugs. After a driving day, I put a cup of that in a dishpan, add a little hot water from the faucet in the wet bay, and have at the job before the buggers dry on. Seems to work fairly well, although I’m probably due to get the ladder and razor blade to scrape all the stubborn bits off. I do periodically use the actual Rain-X product but probably not as often as I should.

I met a guy once who was using a spray bottle to wet the windshield before scrubbing and scraping. He said he was using Hydrogen Peroxide to soften any “organic material” and swore by that technique. I haven’t tried that yet.

We are currently 14 days out of Phoenix (Peoria), traveling west to I-5 then north to Eugene (work done at Coach Glass), and now headed east to Connecticut for the summer. In Billings now, Box Elder next, and expect to be at the kids’ place by Memorial Day. Bugs have been very active since we went through the Central Valley. And we haven’t even gotten to Cicada territory yet! “Honey, where do we keep that bottle of Peroxide”? 😂

[Les Hurdle]

Since you mention glass......... I'm sure I'll get detention for this........ just had one side of my windshield replaced by BUSTER 661 810 3551. [Palmdale Lancaster CA area but he will travel]..... he told stories about glass shattering, popping out, he'd seen it all.  So far mine is still in place.

[StellaTariche]

I popped mine while learning how not to use the jacks. Yup, expensive lesson.

[Bill R]

9 hours ago, georgecederholm said:

although I’m probably due to get the ladder and razor blade to scrape all the stubborn bits off.

Use 0000 steel wool soaked in warm water with Dawn dish soap to get the hard bits off.   Won’t scratch the windshield. Follow up clean windshield by wiping down with spray wax to make future cleaning intervals easier.  

[96 EVO]

1 minute ago, Bill R said:

Use 0000 steel wool soaked in warm water with Dawn dish soap to get the hard bits off.   Won’t scratch the windshield. Follow up clean windshield by wiping down with spray wax to make future cleaning intervals easier.  

Bill, that's what I use before I start a trip!

Never found anything that can clean the windshield as well !

[saflyer]

On 5/12/2024 at 12:38 PM, Les Hurdle said:

Just got back from a Long trip and of-course my new windshield is covered in bugs.  By the time I got to them they were well and truly stuck on.

Has anyone seen, does anyone make a deflector which can be attached to the front of the cap below the windshield which would deflect wind upwards and hopefully away from the windshield pushing bugs over the top?

Les

Won’t keep the bugs off but 4/0 steel wool removes dried bugs without scratching the glass.

[Tom Wallis]

I wash the windshield at the end of every travel day with just water and a car wash brush. Then I dry it and apply Wash Wax All with with the mop that comes with the Wash Wax All kit. I apply it by just spraying some on the wet side of the mop, drying with that side then flip it over and finish with the dry side. This leaves the windshield beautifully clean. No Rain-x is needed, the bugs always come off with just water and the car wash brush, and I use the Wash Wax All on the whole motorhome when washing it.  That works for us and the wife loves how clean the windshield looks each day when we start.

Here's a link to the kit on Amazon. Once you have the kit you can purchase Wash Wax All in a gallon bottle for refilling the sprayer.

Aero Cosmetics Waterless RV Aircraft Boat Wash Wax Mop Kit

[Les Hurdle]

link sent back to Monacoers !

[Tom Wallis]

Sorry, just look up Wash Wax All on Amazon.

[Tom Cherry]

2 hours ago, Les Hurdle said:

link sent back to Monacoers !

Link works….goes directly to a $220 KIT.  YEEOUCH.

BUT simply putting  WASH WAX ALL in Amazon search gets you this….see screen shot.

My solution is easier.  Rainex in washer fluid. Portable A FRAME LADDER. Two bottles of “InvisibleGlass” window cleaner.  One plastic mesh dishwashing plastic “Brillo Pad”….  Two GK’S who’s job it is to clean daily….if needed.

I or DW referee and point out spots missed or such.  GK’s learn “TEAMWORK” and bicker less.  I shot some pictures of them working….one outside and one inside.  DW added to their travel scrapbooks…

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!  LOL  They still laugh about their chores….

 

[StellaTariche]

RE: using an adjustable frame ladder propped against the front cap to clean windshield

Tom and I do the same thing, EXCEPT I have come so close to breaking my windshield with a extending frame ladder that flexes, I use this instead:

Gorilla Ladders 4-6-ft x 2-5-ft Aluminum Heavy Duty PRO Slim Fold Work Platform 4 Adjustable Heights 375 lbs Load Capacity

It fold flat, has extending stabilizers, lets vertically challenged people (i.e. me) reach the top of the rig.

I only have to move it once to cover the whole windshield.

$160, but it fits in the second bay back on the drivers side, and folds flat.

Also great for waxing and polishing the sides where a normal ladder would be in the way.

 

[96 EVO]

I do use Invisibleglass, but I've tried Rainex on windshields, and don't like it!

Seems to me to leave 'smears' on the windshield when you use the wipers at night.