A customer said, “I see cars driving all over the Rio Grande Valley with blue tape on their windshields. If the glue used to hold down a windshield isn’t strong enough to keep it in place, what good is blue tape going to do?”
He has a point!
What you need to know about windshield “glue” or Urethane.
Why use the tape?
windshield adhesive and cure time is specially formulated to ensure that in the case of an accident, your windshield adheres to the vehicle in accordance with Department of Transportation standards.
There are several manufacturers of urethane and there are many different types of urethane. Here is what you need to know about urethane (and the tape) anytime your windshield is replaced.
#1 – Avoiding Injury and Death in an Accident
Your Windshield is a major part of the structural strength of your vehicle in a roll-over accident. That means that your windshield, its proper installation and the proper use of urethane are what is keeping your roof from crushing, the passengers from being paralyzed or even worse.
#2 – Minimum Drive Away Time
Every single type of urethane has a minimum amount of time it must cure for your vehicle to be considered “air bag safe” to drive after a replacement. Why??? Because when a vehicle is in a head on collision, here is what happens:
- The passenger air bag deploys
- The air bag travels to the windshield and “bounces” back to give the passenger protection
If your vehicle is given to you before the urethane has had the minimum amount of time to cure to be air bag safe AND your vehicle is in a collision that causes the air bag to deploy, the airbag may pop your windshield out of your car exposing you and your passengers to the elements, broken glass, etc. Yikes!!!
Unfortunately, the least expensive urethane available takes 8 hours from the time your windshield is replaced to be air bag safe for you to drive. Just in case you didn’t catch that, it means that your vehicle is not air bag safe to drive until 8 hours after your windshield is replaced.
I don’t want to wait 8 hours to drive my car, do you?
Fix-A-Crack typically uses a 30-minute air bag safe urethane. That means, 30 minutes after your windshield is replaced, your vehicle is air bag safe to drive.
What does this have to do with the tape?
When you see a vehicle on the road with the tape on the windshield, thank the good Lord it’s not your vehicle. The shop that replaced that windshield probably gave it back to the customer before it was air bag safe to drive.
True story: back in 2017 the Pharr Texas Police Chief was introduced to me by my father in-law who was a department Chaplain; the Chief asked me…Why the tape and my answer was, jokingly, because they just got a Christmas present and want to show it off… in all seriousness, I answered, ” it is there until the urethane dries the required amount of time and then is should come off.”
Shout out to my father in law, in Heaven, Thanks Big H. Miss you!
Honestly from a shop perspective the tape is there more as a reminder to the customer not go through carwashes for 7-10 days than it is a requirement for longterm safety.
We once had a customer tell us that he kept the tape fresh because he would use it as an excuse to get out of a ticket, until the same officer stopped him twice in one week. Laughing.
Related at Fix-A-Crack
See chip repair, windshield replacement in McAllen, and hail damaged windshield mcallen.
Call 956-360-0178 or contact the shop. 304 E Pecan Blvd, Suite P. In-shop only.
Safety glazing background: NHTSA.
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