Sunroof Explosion

[turbogn6]

Just wondering if anybody has had their sunroof explode on them? The wife got home last night only to tell me there's a hole in the sunroof the size of my fist. I heard a pop while driving it the day before, but nobody was around me. I just thought it was a rock hitting the windshield. Can these things just explode?

 

[Modded]

That is an interesting issue.
The sunroofs cannot just explode by themselves for no reason (never heard of that happenning in any car), but they can be broken fairly easily by something dropping on it.
That is most likely what happened when you heard the pop, or previous/post to the pop sound.
Either way, sometime, somewhere, something broke it.

 

[baron]

I have seen an Infiniti with what I could only describe as an exploded sunroof. Now, most likely, something caused the initial stress/fracture that got it to go, but it was completely shattered. Kind of impressive really the way it went. I suppose that it is possible to generate enough of a pressure difference with the way the wind travels around the car, windows up, etc, to make one go. My dad had a rear window on a Jeep Cheeorke do that once back in the early 90's. Driving down the road and the thing just exploded inward.

 

[gtbigup01]

Extremely hot car locked up for a long time, Possible, but not likely this time of year unless ur in death valley CA. Also a rumor out that if you tint your sunroof, it can explode and bust. Some cars like my 2002 Nissan Maxima came with an untinted/clear sunroof that I wanted to tint. Shop told me what could happen and i'd have to sign a release of liability waiver. Scared me enough to decide it was easier to just slide the screen fwd if I didn't want the sunlight coming in.

 

[Rivieraracing]

So is it an open hole or is the crack/shatter the size of a fist? Were the pieces of glass small pieces or were they sharp shards? I would think that sunroof glass would be safety glass but matters what kind of glass it was to what would have caused it to break/explode?

 

[gtbigup01]

So is it an open hole or is the crack/shatter the size of a fist? Were the pieces of glass small pieces or were they sharp shards? I would think that sunroof glass would be safety glass but matters what kind of glass it was to what would have caused it to break/explode?

If you know what tempered glass is, then that's what they use for almost all glass on vehicles, windows, roof etc. It may have something to do with the properties of the glass and how it shatters

 

[Rivieraracing]

Yeah, I know what tempered glass is, I am an industrial glazier by trade, I've never really looked to see what kind of glass a sunroof composed of!! I would have figured they would use a laminated glass so that in case it would break it would hold together instead of grenade all over the place since it is over peoples heads!!
Tempered glass is tough stuff, you can actually smack the center of it alot of times with something hard like a hammer and it won't break most of the time, lightly tap the corner and it will shatter. Since tempered glass is heated up in production to make it stronger, sometimes inperfections can form in the glass which can cause it to be weaker than other tempered glass which can allow it to fail easier!!
Could have been something that fell or hit the glass that cause the inperfection to give way or even the heat of the day to cause it to fail!

 

[Stockfornow]

It's not a sunroof, but my brothers rear windown in an LHS once spider cracked into a million pieces.

Luckily he had tint on it to hold it all together until he got to the glass shop.

 

[Dismay]

My liftgate glass shattered spontaniously, here is the thread:

http://www.tahoeyukonforum.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7311

 

[ncarmouche]

Just wondering if anybody has had their sunroof explode on them? The wife got home last night only to tell me there's a hole in the sunroof the size of my fist. I heard a pop while driving it the day before, but nobody was around me. I just thought it was a rock hitting the windshield. Can these things just explode?

I have a 2008 Chevy Suburban and the same exact thing just happened to me and my husband yesterday. We heard a loud pop and than a minute later my sunroof exploded. I am glad my husband was driving otherwise I probably would have lost control of the car. I was also glad that none of us, including my children, weren't hurt by the glass. What would cause this and is there some sort of recall on these things? I have NEVER had anything like this happen with a sunroof.

 

[felixgun]

A friend of mine had a tempered glass computer table and this EXACT thing happened to it with his monitor and other things on the table! Shit was nuts.. the whole thing exploded.... I can't believe this can actually happen from NOTHING. sorry to hear that happened to you bud..

 

[Sunny12345]

This happened to my 2023 Tahoe driving down the road. My husband sells windows and he said it is caused by pressure in the tempered glass. This should be covered by warranty but of course they won’t. When the window cracks, you will see it go up instead of down. That’s the signal that it’s from pressure.

 

[S33k3r]

This happened to my 2023 Tahoe driving down the road. My husband sells windows and he said it is caused by pressure in the tempered glass. This should be covered by warranty but of course they won’t. When the window cracks, you will see it go up instead of down. That’s the signal that it’s from pressure.

First, welcome to the forum. Second, I don't know if you noticed or not, but the thread you responded to was last updated in 2011 -- some 12 years ago. That said, please post in the general forum and tell us about yourself, your vehicle, and say hi. This is one of the friendliest vehicle forums I have ever found -- I think you will have a good time here, even if you do not have questions. Again -- please come meet us all!

 

[Miami-Dade]

This happened to my 2023 Tahoe driving down the road. My husband sells windows and he said it is caused by pressure in the tempered glass. This should be covered by warranty but of course they won’t. When the window cracks, you will see it go up instead of down. That’s the signal that it’s from pressure.

Welcome from Miami&NYC!

Thanks for the info!

Please do what S33k3r asked. Thank you!

 

[MassHoe04]

This happened to my 2023 Tahoe driving down the road. My husband sells windows and he said it is caused by pressure in the tempered glass. This should be covered by warranty but of course they won’t. When the window cracks, you will see it go up instead of down. That’s the signal that it’s from pressure.

Ya never know... Old threads may die and lie dormant, but there is always a chance for updates or new information to come along. Not the worst that could happen by resurrecting an oldie... Sometimes, documenting even the smallest bit of information can help crack a case from the cold files.
Welcome from Western MA!

P.S.: Do yourself a favor and put location in your profile (even a generalized one is better than nothing) and be sure to edit your signature to include some details on what you have (year/model/engine/miles/options...). Getting members that information as soon as they see your posts can really help speed things along and avoid extra questions like: what year? what engine?