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In January 2007, while sitting in my driveway during the beginning of a snow flurry, I turned on my windshield defrost to clear the fog. I then heard 3 distinct loud pops-about 30 seconds apart.  After inspecting the loud noises, discovered three cracks in my windshield bottom center-from the black window seal.  After going to the dealer, expecting it to be covered under our warranty, as a defective windshield, the serviceman insisted it was due to a rock chip, even though I had explained the situation in detail.  He then proceeded to push his ball point pen down below the black window seal and twisted the pen, thus cracking the windshield even more.  This seemed to confirm to him that it was a rock chip??? How do you figure ?  So much for quality customer service.  

I just experienced a very similar thing.  My 4-door wrangler has 3,500 miles on it and I parked this morning at the gym- when I came out, at 9:00 (it was 48 degrees F) there was a spider crack beginning at the base of the windscreen.  I "Googled" this and found this site.  As it turns out I have maintenence scheduled for Thursday. I just called the service department and they said they have to see it to make a determination.  I will keep you informed of what happens.  

I have a 2005 Jeep Unlimited and I replaced the windshield last year and just yesterday the windshield cracked again.  Same location as before - bottom center just left of center and crawling up and towards the passenger side.  

I have a 2005 Jeep Wrangler X (Willys Edition). I am the original owner. On December 13, 2007 (about 35,000 miles) the windshield cracked while I was sitting in traffic. It was during a snowstorm so it was cold and I had the defrost on high to melt the ice that was forming on my wipers. I had been driving (with the defrost cranked) for about two hours at this point. There were two cracks (possibly initiated from one point below the molding). The cracks started on the bottom just off center and went up about two inches and then curved 90 degrees and went horizontally across the windshield. At first it was only about 12 inches wide, but it grew to cover over half the windshield within a week. The Jeep warranty book says it covers defects in the glass for one year or 12,000 miles. Since my Jeep was way past this point my insurance covered it. They had Safelite put in a new Windshield on December 27, 2007.

Six days later...

Today (January 2, 2008) on my way to work the windshield cracked again. The replacement windshield was less than one week old! This time there were three cracks. One went straight up from the bottom of the windshield to the top, molding to molding. The other two were similar to the first time. They began at the bottom, went up two inches and turned 90 degrees and became horizontal cracks. The cracks could have initiated from a single point below the molding. This time the cracks started more toward the center, about 4 inches closer to the driver side than the first cracked windshield. Again, it was snowing out and I had the defrost on. It wasn’t on high this time and I had only been driving for about 10 minutes.

The auto glass guy said that sometimes rust can form on the pinchweld and cause the windshield to crack. But after removing the first cracked windshield he said mine was free from rust. Safelite has a warranty so I am hoping I can get my 3rd windshield without going through my insurance again.

Has anyone found out if this is a systematic issue with Jeep Wranglers? Why is this happening now and not during the first 35,000 miles  I plan on contacting Jeep and Safelite. I will post updates later.  

I also had this same thing happen to me this morning while driving to work. It was snowing pretty heavily and I had my Windshield Defrost turned on High. It is an hour to where I work and about 1/2 hour into it I noticed the crack. It was about 3" long and started right infront of the defroster going vertically, it then cracked horizontily from there then down again. After 2 hrs of driving (going was slow because of traffic conditions) it had reached a total of about 7". The way I see it, this is a manufacturer defect and should be treated as such (payed for by Chrysler to fix). Luckily I decided to google it and see if anybody had this problem before. This is a trend and a problem area that should be addressed by Chrysler. Ill be contacting my local dealership and bringing this fact up.  

I am leasing my 2006 jeep wrangler X.  The windshield has cracked 3 times in the last year.  The first time I just thought that a rock got it.  So I took it to a local glass place and I paid my deductible and thought I was done.  Then about a month later it was cracked again.  Then I went to the dealer and they just argued that it was caused from the installer.  So the dealer contacted the glass place and had them install a MOPAR glass thinking that the PPG glass was another issue.  It was probably about 6 months later, it cracked again.  This time I was getting my insurance company more involved.  The glass place replaced my window again....after them telling myself and the dealer that it was the frame.  Replacing the glass is not going to fix it.  But they did anyway,  and when I picked it up.  The glass place told me that the frame is slightly bent and that it is going to crack again.  That one lasted about 5 months.  At this time I am just frustrated.  My jeep only has 33K miles on it.  No one was listening to me.  So I had to call Chrysler Financial.  The dealer was just basically telling me that there is something that I am doing to make it crack.  He had the nerve to ask me if I take the top off? I said well yeah it is a jeep...that is one of the reasons why I wanted one.  He said maybe that is causing it?  Whatever.  Chrysler came out and looked at it,  and he said that he could not see anything that looked wrong with it.  He was going to call the Chrysler rep and see what she said.  She ended up offering to pay to get my window replaced.  So I called another glass place and dropped it off,  the next day they called and said the frame is bent.  They refuse to replace it because a new window is not going to fix it.  Then I had to call the rep myself and tell her what was going on.  She wasn't very nice.  I don't think the customers actually call her,  but she was my last resort.  I needed someone to help me.  I didn't think I was the one responsible to fix this.  I did everything I thought that I could do.  She had someone go out there and look at it,  and then he finally said that it was bent.  So they got me a rent a car.  They had to order a new frame and a new window.  I just got it back last night. They had it for 9 days.  I hope that this is the end to all of my problems.

I am just glad that I am leasing this 2006 Jeep Wrangler X.  And that the lease expires Oct 2008.  I only have a few months left.  I can't wait to give this back to them.  

Well, kudos to my dealership for paying for this defective windshield even though it was out of warrenty. I have emailed Jeep from there website to see if they will address the issue and prevent any future occurances of this problem. I think they will, due to the fact that it is a major safety issue. If not and this happens to me again, looks like my next vehicles will come from elsewhere.  

I have a 2008 Jeep Wrangler Unlimited X 4 door which I have had for 6 months and I have 16 small chips in the windshield as well as a crack on the passenger side from one of the rock chips.  Rock chips happen, but in these kind of numbers it's ridiculous.  I have a 1996 Suburban that has seen many more miles and only has 1 small chip in it.  I talked to my dealership and of course they will not help.  Now that I have read these posts I realize that I am not the only one.  I can't afford to spend an extra $800.00/yr. on glass replacement.  Does anyone have suggestions on how to get this addressed?  

I have the same thing on the Wrangler Sierra, right from the base then cracks to the driver side along the defroster vent, happened as soon as it got cold. I took it to the dealer this morning and they claimed the glass has an impact. I have seen enough impacts on glass and had windshields replaced. if that crack is the cause of it then jeep winshields are made of Tissue.  

This smae thing happened to me this morning!  I turned my defroster on high because my car was covered in ice and as soon as it started to heat up the windshield started to crack..going up from one side of the defroster about 3 inches and then all the way across and then back down again.  What gives?  

Last night I was driving down my driveway.  I heard what sounded like a snap and proceeded to watch a crack go from the bottom, left of center, go up about 5 inches and take a left right in front of the driver side.  I drove to get gas, stopped the car heard another snap and the crack continued at a slant to the bottom of the windsheild.  Taking it in on Saturday to see if they will cover it.  12K/12mo glass warranty.  Bringing a copy of this thread with me and I will update later.  

Last week I to got a crack from the center right from the bottom seal. It started about an 1" and within a day was 10" and curved to the drivers side.  

I've got all of you beat. I bought my Jeep Wrangler X 3 months ago, it has ~4K miles, and I didn't hear it crack but rather noticed the crack when I got home from work one day. It starts at the base of the window (right of center, then curving 90 degrees towards driver side). There is an extrordinarily small chip, near the base of the window.

The dealer said its not covered. I pointed out that the warranty covers 12 months, 12,000 miles on windshield. He said 'no its not covered.' I said do you need to look at the warranty? He said, "no, its not covered." The service rep said only certain kinds of cracks are covered, and mine wasn't one of them. He suggested I have my insurance cover it. I later realized that my insurance has a deductible for an amount greater than the cost of a windshield.

I feel like I just bought a $6,000 convertible hyundai.  

2009 wrangler x. 4k miles. Crack on passenger side, starting at base and curving 90 degrees toward center, about 8 inches. Dealer found small chip in glass near the frame and won't cover under warranty. What is procedure to force chysler to Look into this issue?