has anyone use single layer safety gl*** as a windshield? what has been your experience with a rock chip? normal windshields are two layers of safety gl*** with the the laminated plastic sheet between them. can't believe that the early cars all had laminated gl***. i don't mean to set off a storm of safety laws quoted by osha representatives. just asking a question.
Are you asking if anyone has used tempered gl*** for a windshield? Laminated safety gl*** started in use roughly 1930.
There's a good reason why laminated gl*** is required. A quick search, not verified, looks like laminated windshield gl*** is required in your state and,I think, is a national standard.
Common in the UK in the 60s. A single rock chip can completely obliterate visibility through the entire screen. The only advantage over laminated is they were tougher to start with but when they go its spectacular. You get a pile of gravel shaped gl*** in your car.
The problem with single-layer tempered gl*** is it's an all-or-nothing deal. As Gizmo says, it doesn't chip; it completely shatters with any penetrating break in the surface. It is illegal for windshield use, but has been required for rear windows starting in the '40s. That's why most post-war cars had curved tempered rear gl***. You couldn't subs***ute cut laminated safety gl*** as it was flat. Laminated safety gl*** for side windows disappeared in the late 50s/60s.
You certainly don't want to be involved in a accident with a non safety gl*** windshield, a erratic rock will explode into knife shaped shards of gl***, the safety gl*** will shatter but it won't be cutting a driver or p***engers up and possibly kill the occupants. This is one place you shouldn't cut corners. HRP
Laminated gl*** doesn't shatter, it cracks. The pieces stay attached. Tempered gl*** shatters into tiny pieces. Normal gl*** can crack or shatter, when it does so the pieces tend to be large and very dangerous.
What is “single layer safety gl*** “? Only safety gl*** I’ve ever heard of has two layers with the plastic laminate in between. Tempered gl*** isn’t “safety gl*** “.
Tempered gl*** is indeed safety gl***, compared to non tempered gl***. The only reason they temper it, is to make it safer. But yeah, you can argue that laminated gl*** = safety gl***, if you want to be pedantic. Have fun.
I always thought of the “safety “ term applying to the fact that stuff won’t come through it. The rock, or bird, or whatever won’t shatter the gl*** and end up in your face. If a big rock would hit a tempered windshield it would surely end up inside with you, as well as a million pieces of gl***.
Tempered gl*** is designed to break into very small pieces, none of which is large enough to do major damage to humans. At worst you'll look like you had a run-in with a very pissed-off cat. But in the event of a head-on collision, there will be nothing there to keep you in the car. This is one reason laminated gl*** is required for windshields; the safety gurus have proved statistically that staying inside the vehicle is safer than being ejected. It's not liked for rear/side gl*** because of its ability to retain its basic shape. Large chunks of broken gl*** flying around inside the vehicle or at window openings can cause major injury.
Not to mention possible pieces of safety gl*** headed for your eyeballs in a head on collision at the exact moment your trying to pay attention to what's going on around you. I sure wouldn't want a safety gl*** windshield in front of me. Laminated only. .
When I was doing that kind of work, extrication on vehicles involved a simple spring loaded punch to remove tempered gl***, and a gl*** saw or axe to remove laminated windshields.
No one would ever use anything but double laminated safety gl*** for a windshield. Polycarbonate (lexan) is used in race cars but is not DOT legal. Tempered safety gl*** is for modern door gl***.
Laminated side gl*** is common in late-model vehicles. I believe they use it because it is supposed to be quieter than tempered gl***,
Really? I thought modern regulations required tempered side gl*** for easy smashing during emergencies.
If someone as cheap as Henry Ford used it starting around 1919, I’d probably follow his example. Common sense safety came long before OSHA
In one of the biographies of Henry 1 I've read, one of the stories about safety gl*** was that Henry was dragging his feet on it because he loathed having to pay royalties to anyone. One of his engineers got him in a car for a 'test drive' and he purposefully ran the car off course and into a tree. They both got cut up slightly from the broken windshield, but Henry did concede that it was needed after the experience.
The guys pretty well stated solid reasoning as to why you don't want a tempered gl*** windshield. Remembering that my buddy broke every tempered side gl*** in his motor home when he threw up some gravel with his mower. That same gravel would have made a few rock chips in the windshield that may or may not have ever cracked but then the crack would only be on the outside and not the inside of the laminate. As far as tempered vs laminated gl*** on the side windows, If you haven't had a door gl*** broken/cracked by someone slamming the door on your older ride you haven't been around older rides for very long. The tempered gl*** will stand up to that nonsense better and it is a lot easier to do curved shapes with. I don't know of any cars or trucks with curved laminated side gl*** and most of that didn't come about until the late 60's making most every Hamb friendly vehicle having been built with Flat laminated side gl***. I can't find anything in the CFRs or RCWs saying that it is required instead of laminated in side windows though.
I have no idea about reasons or laws regarding tempered gl*** for side windows but when I had the side windows cut for my '39 p/u the gl*** guy sold me tempered gl***. He's been in business for a long time and he's a hot rodder. Good enough reason for me. On a different note, when I built my shop it had windows in the upper floor. But I'm in a so called fire zone so the windows all had to be tempered gl***.
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