Over the 92,000 miles I've driven my F150, the windshield has taken a number of hits and has it's fair share of chips. Recently, something larger hit it and those little chips played "connect the dots" resulting in a nice Z shaped crack across most of the windshield.
A couple of years into owning the truck I noticed a pattern that looks like it was sandblasted into the windshield in a couple of spots. It's only visible when the light catches it just right. I tried various things to remove the pattern but quickly came to realize that it was permanent. I did find a thread on here that mentioned something similar on other F150 front glass.
The last thing on my windshield is the spot where the dealership had a small info tag on the inside of the glass, about midway up beside the driver side A pillar. When the glass has just the right amount of fog on the inside, you can clearly see the outline of the sticker/tag and the info on it. Year model, dealer stock number etc. It was invisible otherwise and no amount of cleaning/scrapping would remove it.
Yesterday I called my insurance agent and started the replacement process. Enough was enough. After running over the options with them and admitting that I did not have a glass company in mind, Safelite was recommended because at that point my agent was convinced that I'd need to have some system recalibrating done. I was doubtful about the recalibrating, but I went along. Insurance would start the process and Safelite would call me. They called this morning at 8:45. After running through the question asking, information verifying prelim's, I was offered 3 possibilities. An appt at the local Safelite for a drop off/pick up that afternoon appt. A Saturday drop off/pick up appt. A tech comes to me and replaces it during the week. I wanted the tech to come to me but my insurance folks suggested that any recalibrating would have to be done at the Safelite office. The Safelite lady said that according to my VIN, no recalibrating would be needed. She set me up with an appt early next week for 8am to noon and the tech would call or text beforehand. Then, she spent 5 minutes trying to sell me new wipers at $29 each because of the damage my cracked windshield could be doing to my current ones. "Mr. Jones, have you used your wipers since the windshield was damaged?" I passed. I've noticed no wiper issues and my office is 5 doors down from a Walmart Super Center if the current wipers suddenly shred. The deductible was then discussed and a credit card was asked for. I mentioned a company check when the work was performed and "yes, that was fine too". She mentioned the possibility of bad weather on appt day and "did I have a place they could pull the truck that had at least 4 feet all around it", in case it rained? No, I chuckled....if the tech got here early enough, I MIGHT be able to get him under some shade, maybe. For a little while. Until the sun moved. Her parting shot was the "supply chain". She was going to set my appt up and I'd get verification via text and email (I did) BUT, it was very possible that we'd have to wait on glass or other supplies because that has been a growing problem for Safelite.
"can I do anything else for you today Mr. Jones?"

 

tell her you want american glass not chinese.

 

The automatic wipers on our van have not worked right since the windshield was replaced. So, yeah, it's important they know what they're doing and use OEM glass.

 

At some point i will have to get my windshield replaced. Picked up another rock hit last week, which thankfully was able to be repaired. However i have several of these "repairs" now.
I do need the recaibration since i have the Lane keeping assist, which limits the glass shops i can go to.
Using insurance increases the quote cost from Safellite. I was given a cost (with recalibration) of $997, since i have a $500 deductible , it makes sense to pay this myself.
Whole glass coverage would be nice, but this is not offered by insurance companies in MS

 

I've had 2 replacement windshields. None of them OE glass. My Auto Hi Beams and Auto Wipers work perfectly. It has more to do with the installer and recalibration than whether it is OE glass or aftermarket.

 

I have Chinese glass in two of my cars and there are obvious imperfections when looking it over. Sink/dip marks in the surface on both cars, the silk screening is not the same, etc. Granted these are not noticeable when looking straight ahead, but annoying. I also think the Chinese glass in my F-150 now is not as quiet I.e. not "SoundScreen". Waiting for it to break so I can have it replaced.

I would strongly push for OEM or OE glass and not "no name" Chinese glass.

The last time I asked nicely, Geico installed OEM glass for me.

 

Safelite did the new glass install this morning, out behind my office. I was scheduled for sometime between 8am and noon and with their 1st job cancelling, mine came a bit earlier than my tech (Randy) said when he called at 8. He initially had thought around 10am arrival. They started about 8:30 and I handed them the deductible check for the completed job at 10. Factory "sound screen" glass was used. In celebration, I walked up to Walmart and bought a pair of new wiper blades. I use 22" on the drivers side and a 24" on the passenger and bought some RainX brand WITHOUT the RainX additive. (I hate that stuff) The Safelite invoice said "list" on the new glass was $764.95 and my (insurance) cost was $451.32. Flat rate labor was $118.00, the install "kit" was $28.00 and tax added $45.54 for a total of $643.66.
I'm a fairly mechanical/handy guy. I've built a few engines, do carpentry work etc. Recently I started building fishing rods as a hobby. Swapping out wiper blades is right at the top of my "challenging things to do" list.

 

Nice!! Factory sound screen glass!

That is pretty expensive so it is nice comp covers it minus the deductible.

 

If you have lane departure as well, that requires re-calibration when the windshield is replaced. In theory, if they don't touch or bump the little sensor behind in the rear view mirror assembly, then it shouldn't need re-calibrating, but I think we all know the odds of them not touching or hitting it by mistake.

I had Safelite put a new windshield in my truck over the summer of 2020 for the same Z reason. The tech came to my house, and with the front of the truck in my garage and out of the rain, he got everything swapped out. He didn't have the computer to do the calibration, so they sent a different tech out the next day for that. All they do is hook their giant handheld computer up to the truck via the OBD port and take it for a 10-15 minute drive for it to re-learn. The tech said "i'll be back in a few minutes". I said "i'll drive, you play on your computer." I wasn't real wild about someone else driving my truck while focusing on his computer more than the road. That was the only part about the whole experience I didn't like, but honestly had no clue how it worked, so i'm glad I made the call up front to have them come to me versus a drop off/pick up.

 

Good tip.
The IMPA camera/module is attached to a plastic bracket that is adhered to the glass, so I think it is almost certain the camera assembly is removed and reinstalled during a glass replacement.
The recalibration can also be done with Forscan.