Anybody ever break a window?

What, Which, How?

had a custy with a driver side front rollup that wouldn't roll up or down(window motor out). she insisted that she wanted the car tinted! she wouldn't leave me alone, so i finally gave in. the window was already disconnected from the regulator,so i decided i can take it out of the door,tint it and set it right back in place. well, all was going good until i sat the window on the hood of the car to move some stuff around. then that's when the glass decided to take a slide down the hood and onto the floor-then it hit me-i will never attempt to do this ever again!

broke a WS when trying to pull off the rearview mirror. it was FIAT UNO

Broke few w/shields through the years, (not while tinting) but the one that i remember best is the BG of an Intrepid.

While working for a dealership, I was pulling the old faded appliqués that were on the C pillars, the clip was stuck in the urethane, I snatched on it and POP, Crackle,crackle...
That sumbitch exploded... At the time it listed in NAGS for 3k.

Well, call me what you will, but i broke my first piece of glass after tinting for over a year, I never thought it would happen to me. I was taking off the Rear-view mirror on a brand new ('08) Mustang. This mirror has now screw, it's got some sort of clip at the base. So stupidly I go to pry at it with a screw driver and, CRACK!!! right down the middle. Luckily I was able to have the windshield replaced before the end of that day. I bit the bullet for a factory windshield at $440. OUCH!!
Anybody know of a special tool for these new Ford rear view mirrors?

There are a lot of horror stories but I am still safe.

Replaced two windshields due to breaking off rear view mirror. Replaced back glass on Sonota due to connectors breaking off. That's it in twenty one years.

Just in case anyone doesn't know better.
NEVER, EVER use a metal tool anywhere near a piece of laminated glass.
Especially to pry on something, the smallest chip will spread across the entire glass.

i broke the back window on a 1984 vette .the shock that is or was atached to the glass had no rubber around the shock and when i was taking it off kaboom

I was doing a house with custy watching me push with blue max,he asked "ever brake window doing that " of course you know what happend right after I said no....Also a Lexus windshield puttinr reaview back on

I broke a HP low e window on an island which is an hour and 15 minutes drive.... Then two hours by ferry... They never called to have it filmed and never returned any calls... Then again I think they still owe half of the invoice.

There's a co. named Somma Mecca that sell's tools for glass replacement shops,they will have all the special tool's for those hard to remove rearview's ...

Broke flat glass in Cali. Sunroom roof glass, very thin. Broke from 5 waying to finish. It happens, replace it and move on..........

broke a vw golf winsheild removing a screw off rearview mirror,worst day i ever had tinting

Knock on wood, never broke a window in over 8 years of tinting, but have witnessed several breaks from other tinters. The lesson I have learned is remove as little as possible. Hard to remove review, work around it, not worth the risk.

my first tint job on my own car i broke my fg because i heated the outside when there were still fingers inside. this is a result of poor shrinking

This thread cursed me.
My shop mgr. was working on a volvo last week and cracked the foking w/shield!!!!!
Cost 2bills.

Back in the early 90's I broke a huge window about 25' high. We were working 12 hr nights hanging security film. The windows leaned out pretty far, about 2 or 3 in the morning I hit the wrong button on the lift and sent the basket through the bottom of the window. Scared the out of me. Cost the company $2,600 to replace the window.

The window was 25' of the ground if i remember the window size was 138 X 90

Broke a pane on a flat glass install the other week.
The window was a tall narrow pane with probably 100 year old glass and great gaps in the putty.
Luckily I had noted the poor state of all the panes, edges and putty before starting and written a disclaimer that the client should fix all defects in the paint, edges, frames and putty before I started tinting. They had had glaziers in to do the repairs except they had missed this one pane which had no putty holding the bottom half of the glass so when I squeegied it just bent in the middle and snapped. Due to my disclaimer they accepted was not my fault and got it replaced immediately so I could finish the job.

Ford Ranger windshield... Trying to remove the mirror.. that damn clip. I never remove them andy more i cut the film. i know i know.. looks like but much cheaper than replacing the glass. Only one i ever broke in ten years.

1984 vette there were bad gasket's around the backwindow's shock's .after atempting to lossin the 2nd one boom .luckly it was for a friend but i still had to shop around and buy a new one at the cost of $400.00 buck

oh i forgot two wek's ago i broke the back window on my race car try to take it out the bad part about it is i have a glass shop next door should have takin it to a pro

10 years ago removed the windshield from a 24ft. Mirage(boat) was putting the frame together BAM it shattered.About 15 minutes later BAM broke the other side.Cost was $850.00 for both.The owner of the boat hooked me up with the boat manny for the glass at such a low price.Since then only a few windshields taking apart for the trim to be powder coated.Local boat dealer 2 years ago brought the glass to me out of frame,tinted it,they picked it up,then spent 2 days puttin the glass back in the frame.BOATS SUCK FOR TINTING!

In my first week of tint helper. I broke the driver side door glass on s430. I was trying to pull gasket out with the hook tool. Slipped and hit top of glass. Everybody looked at me like i was crazy. Thats the day I learned how to half peel. Now half peel just about every Benz that comes in. I think it cost bout $350 or so. Pretty much the tint job. Ill never forget that day, or lesson on half peeling. Its funny as i write this, I cant stop but to laugh. You live and learn.

Had a DIY signwriter buy some fully reflective grey 15 and he broke all 5 panels of glass measuring 1.5M X 15M in total .
Was I going to tell him about thermal stress potential? No way...he wanted to save money.

He's now back for replacement.
Devil

I've broken three auto windows.

First was an old Bronco or Blazer. The girl's father had superglued the friggin' vent wings shut! I thought it was just the usual gasket sticking so I gave it a tap...

Second was a Taurus wagon. I was heating the crap out of the rear hatch, trying to get the crappy tint to stick to the dots. I guess the heat put too much strain on that curve and it exploded.

The worse was a few months ago. Porsche windshield. It cracked when I was putting the rearview back on. That was around $850.

Just happened to me this friday first time ever on a 99 E320 BG just shattered.

I actually never broke a window however, I tinted a jeep wrangler (rear window, and two rear sides), pretty much a piece of cake to tint besides taking off the rear shocks. However when i finished the job, which was at the customers house, I put the shocks back on and just finger tightened them. Since the customer was only about a block from where I lived, I told him i would come back tomorrow to finish tightening them back down. Being the "smart" customer, I was writing the bill near the front of the car, and all of a sudden a huge smash came from the back, the customer had tried to "torque" the rear window shocks down and what a surprise, he smashed the windw all to hell. Luckily, the tint held a large center piece together but he still had a cut to the head and wrists!!!! Just goes to show you how ignorant customers get their payback. Oh yea he didn't blame me at all and I had my glass company order him a new rear glass, tinted this time!!! oh well, which came to over $600.00

Broke a quarter glass ok an extended cab F-250. Customer insisted on paying me to take them off. I was unscrewing the bolt and it must have got side ways cause it just shattered. I don't remember the exact price nut luckily it was pretty cheap.

88 t-top mustang doorglass poped when using an olfa to remove a small piece of welding spatter.

06 Vette rear windshield, 06 Mustang windshield, 03 Jetta rear windshield, 94 Dodge cargo van rear window, and 3 mini panes.
Oh, and when the new 350z's came out, I guess I put the wrong blade in my NT Cutter and etched 3 windows on that car...had to replace both quarters and was able to buff the rear winshield. At the time, those quarters were $400 a piece.

The only window I have personall broken, is a qtr window on an old skewl chevy truck. I was NEW, and my boss had me to remove the latch before tinting. My ding dong self, swung the vent open and stood on the outside, grabbed the hammer and tap tool and went at it. Just clipped the edge of the glass..... and bam. I thought I was gonna get fired.... my boss just laughed at me. DUH!!!


Now as an owner, I've replaced an s-10 windshield and an old arse 4 runner rear, due to employee mishaps.

I broke a side glass on an old Ford van in my second year of tinting. It was one of those framed glass windows that tilted out at the bottom, about 18"x18" square. I removed it but when reinstalling you have to tap the pin back in and CRACK. The film held it together, but the custy was a friend and went to a junkyard and got a replacement for near nothing. That was after he backed the van in my shop and forgot to close the big roof vent, which got mangled cause it was too tall for the garage entrance! I won't touch those old vans anymore! Oh and I did scratch the b/g ofa Montero Sport just after I got a new Olfa knife that was pre-loaded with regular and not stainless steel blades. I was good friends with the glass shop that replaced it so I tinted the owners car for nothing.