I just got this truck with 57k miles on it on Dec 29th, not even a month old. I bought it out of state. No Warranty. I went down the block to go and get some gas, pulled up to the pump, and got an incoming call so I was still in the cabin and didn’t even get out yet to pump the gas. The rear defrosters were not on, the cabin temp was set to 72 degrees F. Out of nowhere, it sounded like a gunshot!!! My entire rear window shattered! Like an explosion. There was a Ford Dealer right across the street, but maintenance was already closed... I brought it over there and they were all like “Woah!!! Never seen this before!!”

Is there a TSB or something out on this? What if my kids had been in their car seats in the back? What is the recommendation here? I can’t drive this thing with a completely exploded window and glass everywhere.

 

I have my attorney involved... we are attempting to acquire the surveillance video from the gas station at the pump. I have filed a complaint with NHTSA already. This is ridiculous. It was loud, it kind of shook me up, and now I'm worried this could have been very bad if my kids were in the car at the time.

 

Search the forum there is a lot of this.

Like here https://www.f150forum.com/f118/anoth...ttered-426302/

 

Yeah, this has been an issue since the 12th Gen at least. I remember seeing several threads on it back when I had my Gen1 Raptor.
See also this article.

 

It's not an issue, it's a feature of tempered glass. Had the back window in my '70 Coupe deVille shatter for no reason in '85. Well, the reason was probably because I had the trim out at the time to repaint the car.

Edges are the weak point of tempered glass. Chips that occur there, sometimes naturally from the stress the glass is under, will form micro-cracks. Expansion and contraction over time due to changing temps enlarge the micro cracks until one day, BOOM!

I think we are seeing more of these than in the past due to manufacturers switching to 'edgeless' glass, but it's not a pandemic. Ford produces a butt load of F150's, so we see a buttload of incidents posted on the forum compared to other trucks. A quick google reveals the same mysterious exploding glass issue in pretty much all model specific forums.

 

There was a VERY distinct smell of burning and electrical immediately following the explosion. Upon investigation the defroster connectors that hook up to that rear window appear to be charred, burnt. Funny thing... the defroster was NOT turned on. A search also finds that there was a TSB on the 2014 models replacing the rear defroster as the culprit for this.

 

Did you remote start the truck to go get gas ?
Reason I ask is the remote start has the ability to turn on the rear defrost so it may have been on even though you did not realize it.

 

Recommendation would be to contact your insurance company and replace the window as a first step. Some states have no deductible for glass. Others allow people to buy lower or zero deductibles for glass (I have zero).

If in fact a TSB exists for your model year, that's a TSB - not a recall, not a warranty or warranty extension.

I don't know what your attorney is going to do, besides rack up expenses for you. Post #5 nails it, even if the defroster overheated, the glass did what it's supposed to.

 

No.

 

You can't be serious. It is tempered glass for crying out loud. Oh no, the kids would have heard a loud noise and their heart rate would spike. Better hope someone like me is not on the jury, I would laugh you out of court. Legal fees are going to be a lot more than a window, but good luck.

Maybe is was some kid across the street with a bb gun or sling-shot.