QX56 windshield = pebble magnet?

[Fly'n Family]

Not sure what the deal is, but it seems our 12' QX windshield is an absolute pebble/small rock magnet.

Our first road trip, bang - two dings. Drove it today to the dealership, about 30 miles away - and two more dings. These are in addition to numerous smaller varieties over the 1000 miles we've put on it in two months of ownership. No dirt roads, all on interstate where I've never had an issue. Same roads I've driven our Armada on for 80,000 miles without a hitch.

Anyone else running into this? Would one of those plastic air foils on the front of the hood help with this? Very frustrating as I'm going to have to replace the windshield soon.

 

[Kcrebel]

Traded our 12 in a few weeks back and it had accumulated 15 dings since we had it. 75k miles. Several of them ran creating a nice longhorn display of cracks that ran up each side where the windshield bends. I would tend to agree it is a pebble magnet. I can only hope the 15 is not...

 

[marctronixx]

i have the OEM front hood spoiler thingy and have had it since day one on the 2012 I have. rocks? what rocks??

the design of the front spoiler is so that (most) bugs fly way over the windscreen--this includes small pebbles.

cheap investment.

 

[Sjyokel]

That's good to hear you've had success with the front spoiler. I hate the way those look, but will be investing in one when I replace the windshield. I've had the same experience: 8 semi-large impact areas, one 11" crack across the bottom that is just below the visible area, and countless small impact marks. My 11 year old said our windshield is more resin than glass when I was patching the last chip.

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[Fly'n Family]

I wonder why these trucks are so prone to chips? We have an Armada and have never had an issue with chips, the QX.....hell, it comes out of the garage and get's chipped.

Looking at the windshield, I don't imagine these are cheap either.

 

[marctronixx]

the hood spoiler (smoke) is hardly noticeable. it blends in well and is low profile that it is not an eye sore.

blends in nicely in my opinion. raw untouched photo.

 

[Sjyokel]

I agree it looks great on your black QX and took me a little while to find it in the picture. On my silver one, I fear it's going to look much more like this:

 

[Gumbey]

So the issue isn't just the leading edge of the hood. It is literally the entire front end. Lower fascia, hood, fascia over top of the head lights etc.

I have the 3M protection on the Hood back to about 5 inches and side fenders. On the fascia over top of the lights and on the side Mirror caps. Let me tell you how much that has saved that area...BUT the non protected areas lower bumper are horrible. Chips galore.

My windshield had one bad chip that turned into a crack from end to end. Replacement can only be done at the dealer and it is upwards of $2500, beware...

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[cbkqx56]

I got my window replaced at the dealer and I think it was $1100.

-Chris

 

[Rsanders24]

Yep...me too...dealer replaced mine and it was like $1250...OEM glass

 

[Fly'n Family]

Well, made the mistake and took it out on the highway again today, first time since I started this thread.

60 miles later and about 5 miles from our exit......pop / crack.

Took a hit about 3" below the top on the passenger side - instant 4" crack. Shit..... Stopped to get some hockey gear for my son - and the damn thing grew another inch while we were in the sporting goods store.

Drove home, and now all said and done - we have a nasty 9" crack in the glass.

What the hell is with these things? Drive the same roads for years in numerous other vehicles, nothing. Can't even take this one on the freeway without it getting chipped every time, and now a huge crack.

This sucks.....it's getting old real fast when it can't be driven on a damn highway.

 

[marctronixx]

98% of my driving is highway--101, 405, 170, the 5 all in LA. 3 years. no rocks or such damage.

perhaps the bug guard shield thingy works after all...

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[Rsanders24]

Hmmm...maybe your highway just has a lot of loose gravel.

 

[Fly'n Family]

98% of my driving is highway--101, 405, 170, the 5 all in LA. 3 years. no rocks or such damage.

perhaps the bug guard shield thingy works after all...

Might have to go that route when I replace it. Don't really want to, I had one on my Armada, worked great for a couple of years then some small angle changed and it would howl at 55+mph. Got sick of it and took it off, and where the "dimples" touched the hood, there were paintless rounded notches in the hood.

 

[Fly'n Family]

Hmmm...maybe your highway just has a lot of loose gravel.

I-25 well north of Denver. Surrounded by farmland pretty much. Have driven multiple cars, trucks, and SUV's including an Armada on this road for years......and nothing.

Don't know.....