Shattered sunroof

So I was driving to work on the freeway and suddenly heard a loud thud almost a hollow gunshot in the cab. Back window rolled down a few inches for airflow. Driving about 70. Semi truck 2 lanes over lateral to me. Car in front of me at safe distance. Didn’t see anything and nothing behind me. Kept driving then heard the sound of rocks almost kicking off my tires like I just went through mud and realized then that my sunroof exploded. I could have been hit by a rock but didn’t see anything and the glass is blown upwards which could be due to wind. Very odd. I tried doing a google search and came up with a bunch of articles about faulty sunroof glass but nothing specific to Tundra. My insurance will pay but I have to cover the deductible. Not bad but annoying. I also sustained some rock chips on the paint on the roof likely from the glass. Weird. Figured I would post. Didn’t see anything on a quick search. Could have caught a rock on a whim but could have been spontaneous. Who knows.

 

Yikes!

 

That’s a lot of broken glass. I wonder how much found it’s way into the cab of the truck, on top of the head liners and in the mechanics of the sun roof.

 

A lot did end up blowing off but yeah that’s a thing. The glass guys are going to do it at the house which is nice. We will make sure they clean it all out and that it seats and seals well.

 

Good thing you had the sun shade closed.

 

Or down into the airbags...

 

Definitely an IED now.

 

Guess it's true about white Tundra's.

 

Likely some debris from opposite direction traffic... Saw a bolt in slowmo jump the concrete barrier and bounce off my windshield leaving a huge chip before disappearing at about 75....lol.... could also be kids dropping shit on overpasses, some look out for sunroofs/moonroofs in the hopes of dropping something in the cabin...

 

Not an overpass but anything is possible. In the past 4 years on our cars we have had 2 windshield replacements, and 4-5 rock chips and now this on this same stretch of freeway.

 

That's exactly how sunroofs are designed to break. They explode if a large enough rock hits them. I found out the hard way when ours exploded once.

 

Fragile handle with care?

 

WOW! Let us know if they find a rock or anything while cleaning it out.

 

That's a bummer OP. How much for a new window? If you don't mind me asking.

 

Not sure yet. I was approved by insurance and just have to pay my deductible of 500. I’ll get a bill once it’s done. I haven’t had time to heavily scrutinize the window as I am at work and the wife picked up the truck to take back home. I’ll check later for sure more closely.

 

The glass is ordered by the dealer and a window place is doing the install at the house which is nice. They pick it up tomorrow at the dealer.

 

....

 

Did you have any aftermarket window film on your sunroof?

 

Nope. Stone cold stock glass. Maybe it would have helped, like a laminated windshield.

 

Fastest color out there. Must have broke some weird sound barrier and the sonic boom blew out the glass of course.

 

Jim is a retired LEO....prolly can still write you a fake speeding ticket. But then again he likes fast Camaro's........heh...heh...

 

Wow. Good thing you are safe. That’s really all that matters in the end.

 

Yeah I’m glad I had the shade closed and nothing else happened that’s for sure.

 

Main thing is that you didn't get hurt.

 

TBD. I am waiting to see what the glass folks say. Taking it to a body shop to fix the chips etc may be a bit of a headache. I’m fine touching up the chips. Plus being on the roof it’s not noticeable. Makes future scratches easier to swallow.
Also, no rock found but possible point of impact so spontaneous explosion less likely.

 

I always worry about tinting the sunroof on new vehicles as I swear the glass gets thinner and thinner up top. With the window film actually converting to UV to heat on the surface, would take much of a thermal shock from rain to cause it to shatter. A big concern for us folks in AZ, where one minute sunny and 105+, then a haboob and rainstorm...or simply washing the car...

call me paranoid....

 

That’s one heck of a system! Did you wall off your Tundra? All kidding aside that I bet was scary and I know that’s going to be pricey. Sorry about the damage to your ride man.

 

As a window tinter I usually don't recommend tinting sunroofs. In the industry there's been quite a few problems with sunroofs randomly popping that have window film installed. The sunroof takes a beating from the sun due to its angle, when you add a dark (5%) film to the sunroof it gets extremely hot. In an automotive application the window film absorbs heat. Things like temperature change, carwashes, bumps in the road, etc have been known to shatter sunroofs. The upside to having window film installed is it will usually do a good job at keeping the glass together.

As awesome as sunroofs are, sometimes they're more trouble than they're worth. Just one more thing to break or leak haha.