E450 Drivers side window shattered by wind

[Underdog]

On my last day (fortunately) returning from a trip, I encountered some of the highest wind and gusts that I have experienced in my 2007 Sunseeker 3100 (E450). It was so violent that I had my drivers side window all the way up. Suddenly the window just shattered and blew inward with hundreds of pieces hitting me from the side. Fortunately, none hit my eyes and I maintained control, but I was covered with glass until I could stop at the next rest area and clean some of it up. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this experience. It would be logical that a class C with the front and side overhang of the upper bunk would create a higher pressure in a side wind due to overhead flow obstruction and the side window being in a trapped air pocket. However, it is very difficult to even intentionally break a car window, as when locked out. This was amazing, and I want to see if my experience is unique. Thanks for any replies.

[radman]

I had a 1997 Yellowstone Country Club class c and now have 2016 Forrester class c and I have never had this happen to me or heard of it.

[SidecarFlip]

The wind didn't do it. It might have contributed but you window wasn't in the track properly and you had metal to glass contact, that is why it came apart.

[benagi]

Is it possible that with such high winds that something was picked up with the wind and hit your glass?

[Ida Ratherbe Camping]

Originally Posted by benagi

Is it possible that with such high winds that something was picked up with the wind and hit your glass?

X2

My first thought

[Underdog]

Although I have no evidence of it, it is likely that an object could have blown into the window or a track alignment issue could have caused enough stress to start a crack. I will definitely check alignment with a new window.

[GreenImp]

Glad you're okay.

How about a manufacturing defect that wasn't an issue until the additional stress from the winds? A friend had the rear cab window of his pretty new Dodge Ram shatter when he shut his driver door once...that was clearly a defect in the glass (to me anyway).

[ActionJackson]

That is really bizarre. I've had e series C classes since 1998 and never have seen or heard of that happening. Scary......

[Canuckshaw]

I am no physics expert, but . . . .

I guess that's all I have to say, then.

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by Canuckshaw

I am no physics expert, but . . . .

I guess that's all I have to say, then.

..................

[Iwannacamp]

Originally Posted by GreenImp

Glad you're okay.

How about a manufacturing defect that wasn't an issue until the additional stress from the winds? A friend had the rear cab window of his pretty new Dodge Ram shatter when he shut his driver door once...that was clearly a defect in the glass (to me anyway).

Nope. That's how tight Ram builds them.

[SidecarFlip]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

Nope. That's how tight Ram builds them.

+1 on that. Sometimes I think Buffett owns Fiat Chrysler too....

Don't think it was a glass defect, think it was an alignment / track issue with the window slide channel. Guardian Industries has strict quality control, very strict.

Nice plant too, I'm neighbors with it. Guardian produces maybe 90% of the glass used in automotive applications...worldwide.

[Steeljag]

Glad you are OK !

Did you not have time to exit the roadway prior ? No way would I have been driving in the conditions you described !

[GreenImp]

Originally Posted by Iwannacamp

Nope. That's how tight Ram builds them.

All modern cars and trucks are built "tight". They actually have vents to let air escape when doors are shut. Without them you would need to slam the doors every time you shut them...not to mention what that would do to the eardrums of any occupants. So IF that were why his window exploded when the door was shut...that would actually be a negative on Dodges part...not an improvement.

[Gumpster808]

Happened to a car of mine once in a storm. Back window actually blew outward and glass was 15 feet away. It was in a parking lot so nothing hit and that would have blown in. Near as anyone could tell it was enough of a pressure difference between inside and outside that it just blew out.

Not a glass expert but in strange weather conditions and planets lined up just right odd things do happen.

[TLAK]

Glad you're OK.

I once lost the drivers side window under a wrap around windshield cover on a Coachman C parked in a storage lot. Stormy night with nobody around, nothing stolen, door still locked. The only thing we could guess is the wind picked up the magnet from the windshield cover and it flapped into the side window at the perfect angle.

I would guess you got a one in a million hit by some kind of debris. If I remember it was $260 to replace, I had $500 deductible so I just ate it.

[Wolverine 1945]

Could someone have shot @ you from a distance ???
It happens way to often !!!
We had a problem around here a couple of years back on I-196 !!!

[mnoland30]

I had a back window on my F250 shatter just as we were leaving on a trip. At first I thought I had been shot at, but I never found any projectile. The window was completely cracked, but it didn't fall apart until later. We taped it up and continued the trip. By the end of the trip, it was falling out. Strange.

[SidecarFlip]

Automotive safety glass is designed to break into small pieces with no extremely sharp edges (like big grains of sand) and stay in the window frame as much as possible. It's actually 2 layers of specially tempered glass with a optically clear plastic sheet bonded between the 2 sheets of glass. If you take a piece of auto glass and look at it edgewise (looking at the radiused edge, you can see the 2 layers and poly film (if you look closely).

[retiredcamper47]

I don't agree with the window track theory. If it was, it would have happened a long time ago. The OP said it is a 2007 unit (10 years old). All it takes is the wind to pick up a small solid anything and shatter the glass. Back in the day, I installed door window glass in the Econoline vans. Just like the others who have posted their opinions, this is my opinion. Just glad the OP is safe from the incident.

Bob