Introduction, thanks, and first question (windshield) of many! (1 Viewer)

[dgamby]

Hi all, I'm Dave from the Chattanooga TN area. After having our third kid, we knew it was time to get a bigger car. Somehow I locked in on the Cruiser as a fun/capable and somewhat unique car. I just bought a 2005 LX470 with 193k miles and am falling in love. A huge thanks as I've already received a bunch of help from folks on this forum

The good:
-New Radiator and hoses 5k miles ago
-TB, water pump, crank seal, drive belt, belt tensioner and rear brakes done 10k ago
-Rebooted CVs, new valve cover gaskets and tube seals, 20k ago
-Wheel bearings repacked 45k ago
-I replaced heater T's the day I bought this

Work that I know needs to be done (with time and budget allowing)
-Steering wheel noise that hopefully just needs some lithium grease between a few parts
-Speaker repair.
-Third brake light glue caulk (temporary fix for it being cracked and loose as OEM replacement is expensive)
-AHC flush and inspect/calibrate (it does go into all three positions)
-A little rust remediation underneath (pretty good shape though)
-Figure out some sort of bluetooth capability
-A spare key (only came with one but it is a master)
-Paint chips on hood and some oxidizing in those needs to be addressed
-Remove the wind/rain window guards (not urgent but I really don't like the look)

AND here is where I need my first bit of advice. The windshield seems to have been replaced, as I have read, this is rarely done appropriately. I don't THINK I have any leaks from it, but definitely more noise than I would expect and the trim pieces that run on the sides between the windshield and the frame are wavy/bumpby and very hard. Pictures are below of this issue, and I have others of where this trim meets the top if that's helpful. Is that something that I can replace myself? Should I if it doesn't seem to leak, as in what's the risk? I am just afraid of pulling that trim off and getting in way over my head very quickly. I've read some of the other posts on this, but feel a little unsure about what steps to take next. Also, I'm probably not in a place to drop 1500 bucks on redoing the whole windshield with OEM glass and everything. Thanks for the help in advance!

 

[Rhetoric]

Rip off the bandaid now if you want to preserve the life of that truck. I had Fuyao glass installed by a guy local to me who had done probably 100+ 100 series trucks over the years. Glass and install was $308. All new trim, wiper gel pad, and rivets was $250-ish shipped from Partsouq.

First step would be to pull the little strips of rubber out of the bigger trim piece on each side. That will tell you if there are rivets or screws in there holding the trim down. Then you can go from there.

 

[dgamby]

Rip off the bandaid now if you want to preserve the life of that truck. I had Fuyao glass installed by a guy local to me who had done probably 100+ 100 series trucks over the years. Glass and install was $308. All new trim, wiper gel pad, and rivets was $250-ish shipped from Partsouq.

First step would be to pull the little strips of rubber out of the bigger trim piece on each side. That will tell you if there are rivets or screws in there holding the trim down. Then you can go from there.

And if I see screws, you’d suggest it is time to start calling around and see if I can find a glass company that has some experience with 100 series? And then order all new trim and rivets?

 

[dgamby]

Well poo. That doesn't look like a rivet. Hopefully, the glass can stay and it just needs new trim, rivets etc... I guess this repair has moved up the priority list.

 

[dgamby]

I called the windshield shop the Lexus dealer uses and they don't want the job. In their words, they don't have a small enough rivet gun and they don't do anything with rust if they find any. Looks like this may turn into a DIY job!

 

[Mike NXP]

I called the windshield shop the Lexus dealer uses and they don't want the job. In their words, they don't have a small enough rivet gun and they don't do anything with rust if they find any. Looks like this may turn into a DIY job!

I'm not as concerned as screws as most other people are but IDK call me crazy. Safelite installed Fuyao glass for me as well. Seems to be holding up OK. They touched up any rust and painted over the screws once installed.

I replaced the side moulding with all new OEM rubber and still have wind noise so don't get your hopes up there. You could run some masking tape over the sides of the glass and see if the noise changes at all.

 

[dgamby]

I'm not as concerned as screws as most other people are but IDK call me crazy. Safelite installed Fuyao glass for me as well. Seems to be holding up OK. They touched up any rust and painted over the screws once installed.

I replaced the side moulding with all new OEM rubber and still have wind noise so don't get your hopes up there. You could run some masking tape over the sides of the glass and see if the noise changes at all.

Thanks for chipping in on that. The one screw I see doesn't look like it was painted over and maybe is already a little rusty. I may order new trim/molding just so I can pull everything off and see if there are any issues. I don't think I can reuse the old stuff with how hardened it is. Did you replace the molding yourself? It doesn't seem like it would be overly difficult, but those could be some famous last words.

I actually just bought some masking tape for that very purpose! I think rust is a greater concern than wind noise at this point.