Air bags, seatbelts, and windshields have a common purpose: enhance your safety. A vehicle’s condition is known by how these parts are maintained by the owners. Out of these three, the windshield is the most important because of its additional features and benefits. It is apparent in how it keeps up the structural integrity of the vehicle when dealing with the heat often seen during the summer in Arizona City.
In this article, we will see how worthy are the windshield repair and other auto glass replacement services. The components of a windshield might give some clue to how it is repaired. Two sheets of glass are laminated using a layer of polyvinyl butyrate (PVB) to make a piece. A chip or a crack is the most common problem and it tends to spread over a period. An early repair can save a lot of time and money. The manufacturers’ specification of installing a windshield is nearly impossible to duplicate as well. Therefore, in many cases, replacement is not advisable.
Arizona City Windshield Replacement – Cost Factors
In the event of an accident, the windshield of your vehicle is just as important as the seat belts, airbags, and other safety features of your vehicle. Windshields are specially constructed to provide support and integrity to the vehicle's passenger compartment, and to prevent as much injury as possible to the occupants. For this reason, it is important to make sure that your windshield is structurally sound and not compromised in any way.
How are windshields made?
Windshields are constructed from laminated glass. This laminated glass is composed of two or more layers of glass, with a thin plastic sheet in between. This transparent sheet of plastic is actually called polyvinyl butyrate, or PVB, and is fused between the layers of glass in an adhesion process which utilizes pressure and heat to bind the layers together.
The PVB film keeps the glass from shattering in the event of an accident. On impact, most of the glass is kept from entering the vehicle's cabin, and can even act as a retainer to keep objects, including you, inside the vehicle.
Auto Glass Repair
Modern windshields can contain a plethora of features and technologies within the windshield proper. Some of these features commonly include heating mechanisms, sensors, tints, coatings, and radio antennas. They may even contain more sophisticated features including heads-up-displays (HUD) and satellite uplinks. With these kinds of features, it is not hard to understand why windshields can be expensive. This is also why windshield repair is a common solution to cracked, scratched, and damaged windshields.
During a windshield repair, the technician uses a specially formulated resin, injecting it into the damaged area of the glass. The resin is then cured, restoring the windshield's integrity, and polished to restore the clarity of the glass.
Auto Glass Replacement
13-14 million windshields are replaced annually in the United States, most commonly caused by flying debris, vandalism, and collisions. It is important to realize that windshield replacement is a complicated, challenging process that should only be performed by properly trained professionals.
Replaced windshields must be perfectly positioned and installed as to not compromise the integrity of the vehicle's cab. The windshield provides essential support to the passenger compartment in the event of an accident, especially in rollovers. Think of the windshield as the keystone of an arch.
Auto Glass Service
Whether needing repair or replacement, it is vital to hire a qualified professional to perform the required task that is needed. All newly manufactured vehicles are required to comply with standing FMV safety standards for auto glass before being sold in the United States. The same guidelines do not apply to replacement windshields. National Glass Association (NGA) certified technicians should provide an installation that is comparable to these standards upon request.
Windshield Replacement - A Major Safety Precaution
People have died because their windshield was improperly replaced. Others have been crippled for life. Maybe someone you know, or knew, was a victim.
It's tragic, senseless, and utterly stupid that people have died and been seriously injured due to the negligence, ignorance, and laziness of untrained or uncaring glass technicians. And there's no shortage of those. This article will attempt to teach you how to protect yourself from unqualified repairmen.
Windshields and the other glass in your vehicle are required by federal law to help protect you in several ways. For example, if you should be involved in a roll-over accident, your roof must be partially supported by the glass, to keep it from crushing in on you and your passengers.
If you're involved in a head-on crash, the windshield must stay in place to keep you inside the car and to keep flying debris out. If the windshield flies out, so too may you or your kids. Improperly installed windshields can easily be dislodged during a crash.
Did you know that your passenger airbag is designed to explode out of its container and bounce off the glass at 300 miles per hour? If the windshield is not properly sealed, it can be blown right out of your car, resulting in catastrophic injury.
Most of us don't spend much time thinking about these kinds of things in our life, things that are not readily obvious to us but might completely change our family's future. We depend on experts to guide us to quality and value.
Here are 5 TIPS that could help you survive a disastrous auto accident. Next time you get a new windshield installed in your car, look for these things:
* Be sure the technician is trained and certified. Anybody can get into this business and it often attracts the kind of people who are looking for a quick buck at your expense. If a tech takes the time to get quality education and training, he's probably also interested in building and maintaining a good reputation through high quality work.
* Observe the process and be sure the tech doesn't scratch the metal framework of your car when he cuts out the old glass. If he does, then he must prime that area to prevent rust. Rust can break an otherwise good seal. When the tech prepares your glass for installation, he must clean it and prime it, while wearing rubber gloves to prevent oil from his hands getting on the glass.
* After installation is complete, in almost all cases you must not move your car for a specified period of time. Each urethane manufacturer provides guidelines that depend on time, temperature, and humidity factors. If you drive off in your car before the "safe drive-away time" is up, it's likely that you will compromise the seal and experience air or water leaks in the future. Of course, a faulty seal also risks your safety.
* The quality of your windshield is important. Even though regulated by federal standards, some glass is better than other glass. OEM, or Original Equipment Manufacturer windshields are the same ones that are installed at the factory into new cars. These are also available in the aftermarket through distributors. OEM glass is made to exacting standards and can be trusted. Some glass is imported and can be excellent or marginal, depending on the manufacturer. If OEM glass is available for your vehicle, that should be your choice.
* By law, you have the right to choose your own shop when it comes to insurance claims. There is a nefarious practice in the insurance billing industry called "steering". When you call the number on your insurance card, you are usually connected to a middle-man billing and network company that works for the insurance company, not the insurance company itself. Some of these networks have their own glass shops and they will illegally try to steer you to their own shop. One of these networks was investigated by the 20/20 TV news show a few years ago and was found to be in violation of many of the safety principles described above. On the same show, they cited statistics for how many people were killed or gravely injured because of careless windshield installation. Demand your rights when it comes to picking your own shop. Do your homework and you and your family will be safer for it.
As a final note concerning insurance companies, read some startling information about how you are being tracked by them at http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/06/earlyshow/contributors/raymartin/main1779882.shtml.
Auto Glass Replacement: Why It Is Very, Very, VERY Important