Ive seen people do this, I wouldnt, but actually ive never seen one crack from this. LOL I've been cautious with winter & vehicles since I got my pants dusted by Dad for scrapin snow of of his 49 Nash with a rake.

 

A rake..............ouch LOL

 

Hope that wasn't a steel rake! lol Up here I hear a lot of people say they throw hot water on the windshield, amazing they don't crack from doing that.

 

lol yep it was a steel rake, my sister helped and used a steel hoe. We wer clearin snow so Mom could go to work. Dad was happy until she came home that day and he saw, errr groves in the paint, not scratches. Amazing thing is I got my but beat, she didn't. Later on in life I found out she was a very convincing liar.

 

I never replaced a windshield wiper because it wouldnt work...I only replaced them because they broke from being iced over. That winter we had a lot of rain and freezing temps. Call me oldfashion, car nut or whatever but with every car I ever owned I never put the blower on full blast... It puts a huge strain on the motor.

 

a huge strain on the motor, as well as cools the heater core off faster than it can warm up. i usually put the setting to the second or third setting on the first start up of the day. even with a crack in my windsheild from a stone chip, it doesnt crack my windshield more, ever, and we get -40C temps here. ive noticed from time playing around with it, that if the fan speed is set to the second or third click, the heat comes faster than if you set it to max. with reason tho, as the fan motor is blasting cold air over a cold heater core thats attempting to get warm with the warm antifreeze flowing through it, the faster that air is being blown past the heater core, the more its cooling it down as its trying to warm up.

 

Thanks for the ideas. I drive interstate 76 miles a day and some of the stuff coming from tractor trailers is really bad. Im wondering if the alcohol will get rid of that stuff, Ill try it. Mrs Newbies Dak has rainex on it mine does not. We have no garage and they both sit outside side by side. On frost mornings when the sun comes over the mountain, (lol when there is sun), Ive noticed hers clears faster and the water runs off much better than mine.

 

Nothing takes off bonded contaminants but a clay bar, although I do recommend prepping your windscreen with an alcohol wipedown before you apply Rain-X or Stoner's IG.

 

i usually use my wipers till the rubber breaks off of them then replace them...i found out why my heat controls wouldn't switch over...and fixed it. i usually let my truck idle in the driveway for around 5-7mins. its blocked in so no one can take it...not that they would want to. usually after about 5min teh needle starts to move up but if i have to drive it cold then i pull out the scraper and scrape teh ice off...just teh other week i actually broke the scraper part of teh brush...had about an inch and a half of ice to get off...luckily i have 4 of them...use them as shovels too. i like that rainx stuff. i put that on my windshield after a good car wash and it works for a good month(depending on the amount of rain we get). i especially like the way the water runs off the windshield while i'm on the freeway...lol

 

I know, from personal experiance, washing your vehicle in the summer with a hose and ice cold water = cracked and discolored windsheid. use to be a nice 88 buick century...now its rusty but with one hell of a beastly engine