Windshield Repair Forum

Just curious..how may people offer long crack repair these days.. also, how long of a crack will you repair and do you offer the same warranty that you would offer for a normal chip?

**Note please dont refer to any brand name long crack repair system or this post may be pulled

I GO BY ROLAGS GUIDELINES, AND I PERSONALLY DON'T MESS WITH LONG CRACKS. BECAUSE THERE IS TO BIG OF CHANCE YOU WILL CRACK THE WINDSHIELD EVEN WORSE THAN IT ALREADY IS, AND ITS NOT WORTH THE TIME IT TAKES TO FILL THE CRACK. ENCLOSING IT HAS BEEN MY EXPERIENCE THAT MUST CUSTOMERS ARE NOT HAPPY WITH THE LONG CRACK REPAIR BECAUSE THEY CAN STILL SEE IT. I HOPE THIS HELPS YOU A LITTLE, I FELL YOUR MIND IS THE SAME PLACE AS MINE, YOU JUST NEEDED THE CONFIRMED.

Scheduled an appoitment to fix a long crack tomorrow. From my conversation I had with my customer today, it is about 18".

I do a lot of long crack repairs on buses, coaches and trucks. If you know what you are doing and have properly practised the technique they are not a problem. That said I will only do long cracks for those fleet customers who allow me freedom to do every repair on every windshield, when doing fleet checks.

I repair single line cracks up to an 18" maximum with a full money back guarantee if it ever fails. I've had a few fail over the 2 1/2 years I've owned my business but quite frankly my "batting average" has actually improved since I switched over to Delta resins. One exception to my 18" max was a crack about 24" - 30" that I repaired on an $800 Mercedes windshield. I stipulated that since it was out of specs, I would only refund only 1/2 the cost if it ever failed. The owner was very happy with the repair and I haven't heard from him since so I can only assume there has been no problem with it.

In my presentation to the customer on the appearance of the repair, I tell him he will no longer see the broad shiny ribbon of reflection - instead there will be a thin dark line that is the profile of the crack with virtually no reflection. From the inside the line will be visible but from the outside your eyes will normally go past it without noticing it unless you are doing a close inspection.

I hope one of these days I will be so busy with rock chip repairs that I don't have the extra time to do long crack repairs but until then I'll continue to do them.

Jere Ellis - owner
Attack-A-Crack Windshield Repair
Lake Elsinore, SoCal

There should not be a thin black line on crack repair. If it is still black in appearance, it is not entirely filled.

The problem is more in my description of the appearance than the repair itself. From the outside it's well hidden and your eyes usually go past it. From the inside it will be still have some visibility but it will be far less noticeable. I'd much rather undersell the appearance to my customer than oversell it. When the customer comes out to inspect the completed repair he is usually blown away by how well it's hidden. What I do try to sell in the repair presentation is the cost savings, time savings, and positive environmental impact.

Jere Ellis - owner
Attack-A-Crack Windshield Repair
Lake Elsinore, SoCal

what is the best method to clean out a long crack before repair. do most of you change viscosities along the crack as well

I use compressed air and Magnibond all the way.

Screenman, you use only magnibond? I always understood that you needed a much stronger resin in the wider deeper area of the crack...I have even seen resins up to 2400 used..is this really not needed, I mean, will the crack not open back up?