FJ40 - Driving at night with flat glass

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When my Dad and I first saw the debut of the FJ Whatever at the Chicago auto show I got the rep guy to let me sit in it - and told him the biggest flaw it had was the blind spot that is nearly 360* , and he's telling me the whole time it's a tribute to the old 40 series ....duh . Just shook my head and walked away from it . Could not believe Toyota would build such a thing . It sort of marked a "downfall" of sorts since they started at the same time doing some pretty dumb stuff - like no heated mirrors or bed light on the Taco ...

Has anyone tried a yellow polarized lense at night ? It may just help - thinking shooter's glasses or something .

I used to have a quart of benzene here somewhere , almost liked that "tingly" feeling in my hands - no wonder they are half nerve dead . I have a route to ask about how to remove the haze , will try that avenue sometime next week .
Sarge
 
It's been probably a good ten years or more now, but I was going up I-5 headed towards Portland with a load of cabinets and install tools in one of those Isuzu box trucks. The guy I worked for was driving and the nasty winter rain and the gunk thrown up by passing cars was creating a bad haze on the windshield and regular windshield cleaner didn't help. We stopped somewhere (auto parts/gas station or ?) and asked about a fix for the problem. The guy recommended a strong glass cleaner and 4/0 steel wool (superfine stuff) and scrub the glass.

We were concerned about the glass being scratched, but tried it anyway. IT WORKED! And it didn't scratch the glass. I, and many others, drove that Isuzu for many years after and never could tell that surface had steel wool used on it. Maybe something like this could work for cleaning the interior haze off the surface of the glass.

Don
 
What about M.E.K. (Methyl Ethyl Keytone), for cutting the haze? It cuts most everything else and will remove the paint from almost anything... and, it's not quite as bad as benzene. I don't have any right now ... just a thought.
 
Glass in any form is a seriously hard material - if you use anything that has some "give" to it there shouldn't be an issue with scratching . I'm going to look into some industrial cleaners from a glass installer that works on industrial buildings and also does windshields . Thinking of further research into using polishing compounds to remove scratches - the Dodge dealer my Dad worked for years ago used it on older used cars to help sell them , with amazing results and they spent less than an hour or two on the windows inside/out .

I know even on my '08 Tacoma the inside of the windshield is starting to show those spots but I'm one of those "forbidden" heavy smokers and clean that truck pretty regularly due to buildup on interior plastics and the dash . Part of the problem may be due to having to keep the windows up tight in the summer at work to avoid the truck being loaded inside with dust . Over time that smoke builds up just like the off-gassing of plastics and vinyl products - which results in a haze that can be seen as streaks in certain humidity conditions . The windows on that truck will fog easily in the winter if a window isn't cracked and the slightest hint of moisture gets started either from the weather conditions or snow/rain tracked into the WeatherTech floor liners . I refuse to kill what's left of it's fuel mileage by running the ac compressor with the windshield defogger - that truck will suck fuel worse than the Cruiser in the winter , have yet to figure that one out . Had I known the V6 was that bad I would have bought a Tundra instead , had the V8 and weight capacity and saved some pretty serious coin to boot .

Here's some ideas/products , can't remember what brand the Dodge dealer used but the bottle was white with blue letters . Hmm, now that was 35yrs ago....lol .

http://www.autogeek.net/carpro-ceriglass-polish.html

Not a huge fan of Eastwood's stuff except their Diamond Clear coat , but ....
http://www.eastwood.com/pro-glass-polishing-kit.html

Sarge
 
Since we're way off subject from GA's original post and conversing about window cleaning I'll continue the wayward crusade.

I remember years ago back bending wrenches in my uncles garage he told me that years ago [then] truck drivers used to use Coca-Cola to clean bug grime off their windshields. I thought he was crazy but it did work. Later in a biochem lab we used Coca-Cola to digest something.....maybe potatoes....too many years ago. ...but the lab experiment was to demonstrate how much phosphoric acid was in a can of Coca-Cola!

Don't know if it's the same today but it was pretty impressive.
 
fjgoober said:
Since we're way off subject from GA's original post and conversing about window cleaning I'll continue the wayward crusade.

I remember years ago back bending wrenches in my uncles garage he told me that years ago [then] truck drivers used to use Coca-Cola to clean bug grime off their windshields. I thought he was crazy but it did work. Later in a biochem lab we used Coca-Cola to digest something.....maybe potatoes....too many years ago. ...but the lab experiment was to demonstrate how much phosphoric acid was in a can of Coca-Cola!

Don't know if it's the same today but it was pretty impressive.
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No worries about getting off subject, but it is pertaining to the same subject......Good reading and noted glass cleaning options.
 
Drove the truck this morning and now i noticed a glare. This sucks.. much worse than i imagine.
 
jbldaddy said:
Drove the truck this morning and now i noticed a glare. This sucks.. much worse than i imagine.
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Maybe I shouldn't have started this tread............The reflections/refractions doesn't bother me, I've gotten used to it, but I just wanted to make sure I wasn't the only one that saw items that are actually on my left; to my right, vividly displayed on the passenger's window.

JBL - Didn't realize you had a hard top for your rig.........Nice!
 
Rain-X makes a glass polishing compound for water spots that would probabaly work well for cleaning inside as well- not that there is alot of vinyl in a cruiser..... In my training as a glass worker I was taught to use Cerium Oxide as a final polish. Glass is hard stuff but 3M abraisive pad will scratch it no problem so I'd be careful to go at it full speed with any type of steel wool etc. Some scratches are hard to see by eye but really fine almost invisible scratches will make glare worse for sure.

Pete
 
peteinjp said:
Rain-X makes a glass polishing compound for water spots that would probabaly work well for cleaning inside as well- not that there is alot of vinyl in a cruiser.....


I was not aware that Rain-X made anything like this. I'll have to look for it.


In my training as a glass worker I was taught to use Cerium Oxide as a final polish. Glass is hard stuff but 3M abraisive pad will scratch it no problem so I'd be careful to go at it full speed with any type of steel wool etc. Some scratches are hard to see by eye but really fine almost invisible scratches will make glare worse for sure.

Pete
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That was the only time steel wool was ever used, to my knowledge. Scratching the glass was my concern, but my employer made the decision to use it. I personally have used only newspaper or paper towells for this kind of cleaning. I was surprised as to how well it worked. The film on the outside was gone, however a strong glass cleaner was also used (don't remember what the cleaner was). I no longer work for him, but I still occasionally go by the shop to say hi to everybody there. The truck is still there, so maybe I'll have a chance to inspect the windshield.

Don
 
the 40 is not bad at all even at night, but the 45 pickup with the small cab the glare at night is pretty bad
 
I've noticed the reflection at an intersection at night so bad that I thought there was another car coming from the right when there was in fact only one car and it was coming from the left. The reflection on the passenger window was so crisp that it looked like another car at 1st glance.
 
Stumpalama said:
I've noticed the reflection at an intersection at night so bad that I thought there was another car coming from the right when there was in fact only one car and it was coming from the left. The reflection on the passenger window was so crisp that it looked like another car at 1st glance.
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Exactly.....I've come to look thru those images now, but it is an odd reflection in a not so great location.
 
Thank you Mr Architect from Georgia!

Put the topper back on as it hasn't been on in 2 years, cleaned all the windows and now I see what your talking about! Never noticed it in all the years or had just been acclimated to it with out realizing it.......but now i noticed it after this thread.

Thinking nightmares are next!
 
mirror.webp
 
I don't find it bothers me... Hella H4 halogen headlights help. The 130/side OffRoad lights would help even more :D
 
Ten years later and y'all are still teaching! I'm new to this site, and I'm amazed at the knowledge you can find here. So great. I drove for the first time at night a few days ago and it was wild! Cars looked like they were coming from the left but they were really coming from the right. It was kinda scary actually. Will take some time to get used to it. 10 years later. I love it.
 
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