Prado 120 Rear window Breaks with no Impact

Hi Hunjy
Very Strange. I don't think that you could put it down to trips etc. Our 120 series has been in all types of road and weather conditions and never had any issues. Our recent trip put everything under real pressure, with the only problem a broken and cracked brackets that holds the genuine bull bar in place. We are putting that down to two days of relenting corrugations on the Old Gunbarrel

Perhaps someone else may have some thoughts.

Cheers

Stephen

If the incident occurred at 3.00 am, it's more than likely that 'no one was around' although a common activity of some 'creatures of the night' is to use a sling shot 'loaded' with ball bearings fired at parked cars etc. How do you know that such act wasn't the cause of the broken window?

Howdy Mal.
If you lived in the Alice,you would be joining the dozens of victims subject to rock throwing which iis commen practice. However as a person who has done his Trade in car panel and window repairs, I could suggest other than Temp variation it could be that during manufacture of the rear door, then a spotweld could be prominent or the window aperture could be out of true.
Pehaps when you get the repairs done, you suggest to the repairer, that he checks both possibilitys. The glass may also have had a flore in it.
Regards Greg

I have a 2005 Prado Grande the rear right quarter window broke no apparent reason $800 for a new one plus fitting because it is the window with the radio aerial in it.
Regards
Ted

have you asked the same question at pradopoint ? i note when someone there asked about his dash cracking there was a response from at least a dozen (or more now?) others with the same problem in their prado. all these issues make me want to stay in my 90 series :)

On another tack.

Has the car been extracted from a bog etc using a snatch strap or "hard" rope using only one side anchor point? Instead of two sides to even the load.

If this is the case maybe the chassis is out of alignment.

Just an idea.

Phil

I had heard a rumor that the rear quarter windows (the ones right at the back on the sides), where designed to break in the event that the airbags deployed to avoid the sudden pressure buildup. Not sure of any truth in it though.

OK,

Time for another tall tale but true.
Eldest sons 80 series was parked in a car park in winter one morning while he was at work.

He got a message from a fellow employee, "hey - how did you break your back window?" about morning tea time 10 am ish.

He thought they were joking - it wasn't broken at 8 am when he went in too work because he walked past it and saw it was intact.

So he was angry because he reckoned someone broke it out of spite.

He remembered that his work have a security camera of the carpark, so the owner & he re wound the security video, from time he parked to 10 am and watched it to try and see "who" broke it - in an attempt to identify them.

Watched the vid a couple times and No One went near the vehicle!.

Slowed it down and actually "watched the window bleep ter" and determined the sun came out from behind a cloud and as the shadow disappeared and the sun went across the cold window - it just bleep tered of its own account.

When the window bloke came to replace it under insurance, we told him of the strange occurrence and he said it happens all the time. Apparently toughened glass is very susceptible to it. Its worse if there is window tint film on toughened glass apparently.

Anyway it does happen - and it doesn't require someone to physically break the window for it to happen.

That said, we've been victim before today, of someone smashing a quarter window deliberately to gain entry to the vehicle to steal stuff.

Cheers

Could have also bleep tered because of torsional stresses on the window because of a warped frame etc - safety glass is pretty inflexible and doesn't like to be subjected to twisting or whatever, even if its a small amount.

Ok so in a nut shell it would appear that this incident is not related to anything to do with the vehicle itself but just that tempered glass breaks when IT wants too!

Thanks eveyone for your replies.

Mal