windshield material

[mortimer]

Not too sure where to put this one. Am looking to possibly do a custom windshield. Or at least look into a better and/or cheaper alternative. Was wondering if anyone could give me info on the types of polycarbonate and acrylic. Lexan seems to be popular but I hear it isn't as scratch resistant. There is a ton of dust where we camp and cleaning is a big issue. Our older cart's windshield is scratched all to heck and is like looking through wax paper. Plus the cart I have built needs one all together. Thinking about the short sporty ones. A normal frame alone is almost $100 from what I can find. Another reason to go sporty. Frame comes with those. But I would like to find out what is the most scratch resistant and could deal with our conditions. I have been taking my cart over the huge washed out ditches from all the rain without an issue but am not sure if that would cause an issue with the type of glass I get. Of course I am not flying over those. Nice with a 6" lift what you can do. Glad I got it.

[invalidsession]

Acrylic is more easily obtainable than Lexan, most DIY stores carry it in various sizes. You will need a specific type of blade to cut it and also a purpose ground drill to avoid cracking and / or melting the plastic while you form it. Unfortunately there is no material I am aware of that will withstand scratching but you might want to do some research into the the material that car and motorcycle racers use on crash helmets. Commonly known as rip offs or tear offs, they are super fine thin sheets of plastic ( think Seran wrap) that are peeled off of the visors as visibilty deteriorates but preserve the integrity of the clear lens underneath. There are also companies out there that can custom build laminated glass to your specifications but that may be cost prohibitive not to mention heavy.

Chris.

[dougmcp]

You can buff out your windshield with Plast-X available at any auto parts store for about $7.
Link: http://www.meguiarsdirect.com/detail/MEG+G12310

[mortimer]

Thanks guys. Just contemplating what I can get if I do make my own. Will email a few places to get quotes and further info. I know scratchproof is out of the question. Scratch resistant is more like it. I haven't a clue what these OEM's are made of. We can get aluminum bar stock at work and we do bend it. So I'm hoping that would be an easy frame. Already made a brush guard or light bar with some scrap pieces. No bends or anything but made the pieces fight tightly before welding and it looks sweet. I'm a machinist. Then had it welded there too. Turned out pretty nice for being a freebie. I'd like to angle the windsheild a bit more than the ones I see. They look too vertical. Made a small dash cover too with some flat stock. There was some crappy cuts for an old light switch. Didn't want to buy another plastic piece. Looked like they used an exacto knife. Found out after a day at the campground that the key switch was grounding out on it. Had no spark the next day. That was a quick fix after checking every electrical part on the thing. Good to know everything else is within spec though.