Re: windshield pitting

["Fred Munro" <munrof@isys.ca>]

-----Original Message-----
From: Phil Rose <pjrose@servtech.com>
Date: Friday, January 30, 1998 4:37 PM
Subject: windshield pitting

[snip]
>I wondered if Audi glass more susceptible to this than others? However,
>once I had noticed this on my Audis, I looked carefully at the glass on our
>'96 Explorer (20K miles) and I could see a bit of the same sort of pitting
>there as well.
>
>What causes this--assuming we don't live in sandstorm areas of the world?
>Bugs? Road salt? Acid rain? Speeds in excess of ??? mph?
>
>Phil Rose
>


Hi Phil;

    I believe what you are seeing is due to sand pitting. Small particles
are thrown up from the tires of the car ahead of you and some pit the glass.
All cars get this, but hood length/angle and windshield height off the road
has an impact. We get a lot of sand pitting here because a lot of sand is
used on the roads in winter. I have actually had to replace a windshield
because the pitting got so bad that vision was obscured at sunrise and
sunset. This is not a common occurance because my windshields usually get
broken by larger particles before they get badly pitted.

Fred Munro
'91 200q  245k km