Covid-19 changes to our business

What are we doing different to keep you and us safe?

We have always worn gloves when using the chemicals to install your glass (Urethane & Primer) to keep from contaminating them. We now put gloves on before we get in your car. These are fresh gloves for every job and this keeps us from contaminating cars.

As a secondary step we have equipped our vans and shop with disinfectant wipes. If a customer allows it we wipe the door handles, steering wheel and shift knob. We do this when we enter the car and when we leave. We also clean all of the commonly handled surfaces in our lobby. This includes the tv remote, door handles and chairs. We are also limiting to 1 job in shop at a time to limit people sharing the lobby space as much as possible.

Our technicians will not be shaking hands and doing our best to practice social distancing.

If you have any suggestions on anything else we can do to keep everyone safe please let us know.

What you can't see Can hurt you, and your car.

In our last blog, we showed some of the serious damage that can happen from having the wrong company, install your auto glass. In this one, we will show additional ways things can go wrong, and why installer experience is critical.

The windshield is a crucial factor in the deployment of many passenger air bags. The air bag actually bounces off the windshield and towards the passenger. If the urethane is not fully cured, or bonded, the windshield may not be able to handle the 2000 pounds per 1/30th of a second impact and can cause the air bag to malfunction. This could be a major problem.

The windshield became a designed safety feature of the vehicle in the late 80’s when flush mount glass became popular. As technology quickly changed, corresponding regulations emerged. Department of Transportation regulations 212 and 216 set standards for the windshield retention and roof crush during rollover. With the windshield being a designed safety feature, it’s replacement is now also a critical safety feature. According to the Auto Glass Safety Council (AGSC) in a front end collision, the windshield provides up to 45 percent of the structural integrity of the cabin of the vehicle and in a rollover, up to 60 percent.

First let’s discuss curing issues:

If we assume the installer properly cleaned and prepped you car and the glass, there can still be a curing issue. What urethane was used? They have “drive away” times anywhere from 30 minutes to 6 hours, and on average cures fully in 72 hours. So the obvious question for me is…why do I see some mobile guys using 6 hour drive away? Do you think they ask every customer how long the car will sit before they start the install? What about those people who drive into the shop and get a 2 hour drive away time urethane? Does that shop make the customer sit for 2 hours after they are done? What happens when that customer pulls out onto Dixie Highway and gets T-boned?

Now we can talk about bonding issues:

A lack of bonding is when the dried urethane doesn’t “stick” to the car or the glass or both. Not all urethane is created equal. The cost of cleaner, primer and “glue” can range from as little as $8 per vehicle up to around $20. Each product has different procedure, different workable times and different temperature limitations. If everyone of these aren’t followed, you are not safe.

A well trained technician will use different products at different times of the year. Our summer product work time goes down, as the temperature does. This means in the cold we would only have around 3 minutes from when we start shooting the urethane onto your car, to when we had to have the glass in. That’s just not realistic. So in the winter we use a product with a 12 min working time. Also there are times that must be held between priming and putting urethane on top of it. Because this all changed with temperature and humidity, we make sure all of our techs are factory certified in the chemicals we use.

The other issue is moisture. If a drop of water hits the urethane bead, it can contaminate it for as much as 16 inches. So did it start sprinkling while your windshield was being put in? What did that installer do for your safety? The sad part is we see multiple cars a month that we can push on and the windshield moves. This just isn’t safe. If your windshield is leaking…that also likely isn’t safe.

This doesn’t even get into the hidden killer where an installer damaged your car and hid it beneath the glass. A misplaced wire tool can easily cut the pinch weld in your car. This is what your glass adhere’s to. I would be willing to bet when the installer glues it back together with urethane it’s not the same in an emergency situation.

Everyone shops the lowest price, but is $20 bucks worth your families safety?

Not everyone should be installing glass.

We have had a rash of fixing other peoples faulty work lately. We at AutoGlass Rehab get to see this everyday but know that you don’t, so we want to show some of the examples of what can happen from poor workmanship.

There are many tools to remove glass. Many people debate what is the “best” way to do this. Many people lean towards the newer tools that use fiber line or “wire” to cut the glass out. These are great and we use them too. Our favorite is the WRD “bat”. There are the polar opposites who like to go old school and use “cold knives” . This is another awesome tool that not all companies train or trust their employee’s with. Then their is my all time favorite the “extractor” which is basically a sawzall fancied up for glass. Our answer is there is no best tool for every job, they all need to be employed at some point to get glass our of a car safely.

So I am telling you we like all these tools, what’s the issue then? All of these tools require training and proper use or they can damage your car or truck. This damage is not something you will necessarily see, especially once that shiny new glass is in. Their are major fails and minor fails here. So lets show you the severity of the most minor infraction.

A scratched pinch weld…

This seems minor, cars get scratched all the time. But here, where water flows and it rarely gets to see the light of day this can be disastrous. Once the rust starts eating your car you have a few different failure’s that occur. One is the glass no longer bonded to your car. This is unsafe because the glass is a structural part of your car that will effect how your car holds you in or up in an accident. The second issue is that water can start to enter this non bonded area. Modern cars are filled with electronics that can’t handle water and that can get expensive. This particular car was 100% released across the top of the windshield, we only had to remove the urethane on the bottom and sides. With the windshield in you could only see a few slight bubbles in the paint. Thankfully for this customer we were able to save it without a body shop. Our next blog will show more severe damages that required body shop repairs.

The Fleet Expands

Part of growing a company is getting your name out there and the other is backing it up. We have had a backup glass van since we opened in June , but it didn’t fit our image. The one time we needed it, it was in the shop. We decided it wasn’t something we wanted to put our name on or put in front of our customers. So we added a super low mileage 2015 nv200 as our 2nd mobile glass shop. It lacks the power and space of “VanDiesel” our extended E350 but it sure looks good and saves on fuel. We are keeping VanDiesel in service but saving it for shop glass runs and some of the larger RV and Semi windshield jobs. This is the first step in expanding our shop crew as well. We look forward to seeing everyone’s reaction to the condensed stickers on our “Almost Van” and hope your give us a honk and wave when you see us.

Grand Opening

Thanks to everyone who came out to our jeep grand opening party. We installed a hand full of Jeep Wrangler Windshields and met a lot of great people. Big thanks to Derby CIty Jeep Club, Sheep Dogs Jeep Club and Southern Indiana Jeep Militia for your attendance. We had an RTI ramp set up thanks to V3 Jeep shop. Adam Hale was the winner of the highest tire and won an ammo can provided by Geahr Offroad/Jeffersonville auto repair.

We did the Jeep Grand opening to celebrate a great community of enthusiasts that have supported us throughout the years. Their continued support is part of what led us to opening our own shop. We look forward to building a name as the trusted local glass shop for jeeps and every other vechile on the road.
Please reach out if you are a part of a club and would like to discuss club discounts on glass.