89rs454

I wake up this morning to see my rear hatch window shattered, at first glance i thought it was hit by something? I can't find anything no bricks rocks anything. I didn't drive my car all week and it's been very hot here and i didn't crack any of my windows no pun intended. Would heat pressure blow out the the hatch or did someone mess with my car.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Was it shattered but still in place? I would imagine heat.
If the glass middle area was in the trunk but the perimeter of the glass
was intact, I would be suspicious of

Sorry to hear about it either way

89rs454

Most was still intact my tint was holding a lot of it in place so i will say it was heat, i don't think i pissed anyone off bad enough to bust out my hatch with out finding a trace of evidence but idk.

I guess i will start looking for a hatch glass other then a junk yard any good places to look?

MNformula350

iTrader: (2)

years ago my brother, father and I were in the garage, and then my brothers Window blew outwords on his Mustang (79 I think) with a Dark Interior (Black Vinal) It was a hot, sunny day.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Best bet would be the JY.
Then there's RCAR7395, ThirdgenRanch, dave mc, ted gerlach, Hawks.
Craigslist, eBay. Shipping may be a killer, IDK

Possibly a Gulf Coast // Southern States member will see this thread & help ya..??..!!

Damon23

You said it broke overnight? I'd look for a BB or pellet hole. Someone could have walked up to it with a shatter hammer and hit it. You would'nt have had to **** anyone off, some people are just jerks. Sucks either way, I can imagine that would be a PITA to clean up and replace.

unobetr

i had like 3 just chillin around before i moved vegas always had them

89rs454

Well the last time i saw my car was last night, then i woke up at like 12 i went out there to fire her up at around 2pm and it was shattered to hell and back. I have never felt this down about my car, it's a sad day. My car was in the garage with the *** end sticking out towards the sun, and my car's seals around the doors and hatch is new? It pisses me off just thinking about it.

89rs454

The only thing that don't add up is it never did this any other day i have had my windows up sealed tight, and it didn't break any high temp records around here either. Shi*'s not adding up.

ghost91

seeing as you live in tennessee...maybe the altitude difference finally caught up with the 20+ year old glass. if somebody bashed it..it wouldnt look like the way you found it. really suspicious though. pisses me off too...i feel your pain, someone stole my door locks last year......

89rs454

It kills me to see that the stock glass in the hatch is gone, what are the odds. And what is this about someone Stole your door locks? what does that even mean?

stahrman0612

I think ghost91 could be on the right track?? With the glass being 23 years old, and heavy as hell, it might have just decided to give?? Mine is 26 years old. Sorry.....that really BLOWS!!

89rs454

That makes me feel better, that glass is heavy as hell and supports itself with the hatch struts putting a lot load of pressure on the glass, a horrible design decision on GMs part imo. It took me an hour just shop vacuuming up all the glass.

8t2 z-chev

i think it was probably vandalism-those hatches can take
a lot of punishment,had a big hailstorm here that blew
out back windows all over town-of 6 thirds i saw only
one had the hatch busted,busted the windsheild of mine
but not the hatch.Only other possible cause i can think
of is something with the bolts that hold the glass to the
hinges-too tight perhaps?cant remember if there is
rubber washers or anything like that there.

ghost91

What I meant my someone stole my door locks...you know..the key holes..the locks. Those. And yea. Along with our cars, the 64 cuda had enormous back glass...which was a horrible design. But I guess they never intended this to happen.

beths91camaro

iTrader: (35)

Man, that sucks!
I do have a couple of spare hatches if you need one. Should be fairly reasonable shipping via Greyhound.

Amythyst

I think it was prbably vandals. I had a Ford Taurus back like 10 years ago and someone hit the back glass and it totally shattered. They make big glass like that pretty strong and like you said the temperature wasn't any hotter than it had been.

89rs454

Oh Trust me, i haven't ruled out it was vandalized. It probably was, i should have took pictures and filed a report, I'm gonna get it fixed and tinted in the next couple of weeks hopefully. and not hesitate to shoot anything or anybody that goes near it again.

89rs454

I have three Third gens at my house friday night, one parked right behind me and right beside mine. Why did the locked 89RS only get vandalized when the other 2 cars were unlocked?

89rs454

1991 z28 red car in the Sig and and 1982 z28 drag car l98 build on the right side of my Garage, both my brothers cars is around my LT1 build 89RS. It just don't make sense. It's going to get fixed and if anyone wants to repeat history i will just shoot them. It's as simple as that, a shotgun don't miss.

Eagle223usa

WTF are you thinking? A shotgun? Wake up Dude! You can't control the spread or pattern. You'll be on here complaining about pellet damage to your paint. You must have a rifle, Go check out some Gen 2 or better night vision.







Before anyone gets thier panties in a bunch, I'm J/K.

89rs454

Lol classic post, i needed that thank you!

2007xl50

I have never heard of a hatch blowing out because of heat, but I guess it can happen, I guess you will never know at this point. Sorry for the bad luck.

Eagle223usa

Anytime, Brother.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

A friend of mine had his IROC in my shop a while ago and while it was locked up tight and not hot the T Top just exploded. We know for certain that nobody was in the shop at the time. After that I started researching tempered glass. Scratches on an edge can cause it to happen. However we all know the rear hatch has the metal band around it. I also found out that a scratch on the surface, while not the most common, can cause it also.
There has been a number of instances of bath shower doors exploding with no one in the room. My wife was witness to this happening with no one about.
It could very well be vandalism, I will not say it isn't, but it could be just plain bad luck.
Hope you get it fixed soon.

89rs454

Bad luck is right... wow. Pretty easy fix though a guy parts out third gens about 20 miles down the road, Should have her patched up in no time. Just thankful it wasn't the windshield bad luck or not.

85T/A350

I live in Tennessee also and have had thirdgens for the last 5-6 years or so and have never had anything like that happen. I would keep an eye on it after it is fixed just in case it was vandalism and they want to repeat it.

camarosrock1989

iTrader: (1)

Sorry to hear that, well i hope it was a freak accident. Strange we have really hot weather here in Az then a lot of area's. I have never had that happen in any of my cars. Glad you will have it back together soon!

89rs454

This is weird, my hatch struts are stiff way more stiff then when i put them on 6 years ago. I can't even get them to budge putting my weight the top with the bottom on the ground. They came brand new in the GM box when i bought the car 6 years ago, and they had resistance but not rock solid resistance.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I have a single hatch strut here like that. Because the ones on my car are weak I assumed that is how strong they were supposed to be. I was planning on buying two new ones anyways but am now very curious about this.
If you learn anything about it let us know.

calamitascamaro

iTrader: (5)

When they aren't attached to the glass, or as in your case where the glass is broken, they are incredibly difficult to move. They're usually rated to hold 3x's the ammount of weight that they have to. Thats a lot of weight lol.

89rs454

No sir you don't understand these struts have pressure overload i don't know if heat caused this or what but they are defective and it did cause my hatch to explode. A new set of struts i can push down with one arm, these are locked up i know for a fact.

89rs454

The good news is she is fixed, back and better then ever cheers.

BlueWrath92

iTrader: (1)

Sounds like sabotage, someone stole my front EMBLEM!

89rs454

Really it sounds like paranoia, and your thinking to much into it. They would have stole a lot more if it was that easy.

NathanLewis

My fathers 2010 silverado trucks back window glass blew out overnight, pressure and temperature apparently can do that.

89rs454

Yes your right it can, my hatch struts apparently have 360 ft pounds apiece. Me and my dad put our weight on just one and couldn't get it to budge.

89rs454

Well i just found out the jealous that did it that's all i'm going to say.

afremont

Exactly what I figured, unless you were extremely lucky and a meteorite hit it. They don't break in the sun, never heard of it happening. It doesn't get much hotter than this place. They break in the cold though if you don't have an automatic pulldown model.

I'd be tempted to rig up a hatch release to a glass breakage sensor should it happen again. It would probably break their arm on it's way up if the glass dropped out of it. It could possibly damage the hinge though. The glass in the hatch is very very heavy (like 200 poundsish) the struts are extremely strong.

89rs454

Yeah i was being stubborn and hoping for a natural cause, trying to give my neighborhood the benefit of the doubt.

91phoenix

iTrader: (5)

I can certainly understand that. I know it can break suddenly like that but it still isn't common. I am glad you found out the truth. We should, all of us, not want to know any more than that from you about this.

wrh505

I know this is a year old thread but, this has happened to me twice. Once i tried to adjust the hatch mounts and a month later, the hatch was shattered while the car was in my garage. And then yesterday, i was driving home and I hit a big dip in the road, nothing terrible, and the hatch glass just shattered. Im thinking about replacing with a rear lexan piece. My rear motor is not working so I welded the latch in place, I wonder if there is more pressure caused by this and I need a motor to pull it down to stop this.

89rs454

That's a bit interesting, i did the same but instead of weld it i bolted it in. Mine lasted 7 years like that, then one night or early morning decided to shatter.

If someone had a problem with me they need to grow some ***** and take it up with me, not my car. If taking out your anger on someone ele's cars surely suicide isn't to far away.

Now looking back on it i don't think anyone vandalized my car, for the simple fact that it is a rather cheap fix.