Has anyone else experienced trouble, with new windshield trim clips breaking? Options

[raynekat]

Odd question but what temp is it there when these broke?

Warm (+70F) or cool (50's), it didn't seem to matter.
I think the real problem is the type of plastic used.
It is just not flexible or ductile enough.
You can just look at these clips wrong it seems like and they just snap in half.

I'm finding that many times these after market parts have very minimal QC.
They just check to see if they fit (sometimes not even that) and don't test on how they actually function or hold up in normal use or if installation of their part is easy or not?

[Mikey914]

Lets look at the failure mode on the clips. Is it breaking off at the shaft? or on the indentation? There are 3 manufacturers of the part as far as I know.
Porsche,
M260
and Myself.

I have sold over 2500 of these and if these are mine (I suspect they may be as Chris buys parts from me), please help me to address these. We will be testing pulling some and comparing to the factory one plasticity. Previous tests were nearly identical.

We do have the ability to use a less dense nylon or other materials.

Also for those of you that prefer the 8mm butyl chord, we have it.
https://www.shop.914rubber.com/Butyl-Cord-8...m?categoryId=-1

1/4" is way too small

[raynekat]

I can't speak for others, but this is where mine have been breaking.
At the thin spot where the arrow is pointed.

Obviously this is the groove where the trim snaps into.
The nose section of the clip must pivot a little to allow the trim to snap into the groove.
Seems like the plastic is too brittle for this to happen in a reliable manner.

[jmitro]

thanks for posting this concern; I just installed my windshield and was just about to install the trim; I guess I'll not be surprised if they break

[mepstein]

It seems anymore OE and OEM can differ. So it's a Porsche dealer parts department purchase only?

I ordered some from Pelican last night. Said they had 29 in stock. Only 10 left now...

If you want Porsche brand parts and have a Porsche dealer nearby, you can order from their parts dept. no shipping charge and the parts usually arrive in a day. They also give you a week to return them at no charge. I don’t order a lot of stuff this way but sometimes it’s really convenient.

[Bartlett 914]

Maybe something changed along the way. I have had no problems with the clips breaking. I have had a problem with them holding the trim in place. I have gone through 2 sets of upper trim with them blowing off. I currently no longer have trim on my car. looks ugly

[76-914]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/popcorn[1].gif)

[Mikey914]

The factory ones to break over time. Many of us have experienced the trim departing the car. I did a little more looking at the instructions and thought about the technique I used to install my last windshield.

My conclusion -
Yes you can use the 9.5mm butyl, but the way I installed it was by leaving the backing on, heating it on low with a heat gun and using a 12" metal ruler to flatten it.

I did it this way because I wanted more surface area to bond to. The net result is a thinner area, but more surface to bond to.

The factory actually says use the 8mm, BUT and here's the interesting part, the factory butyl had a wire that was used to heat it internally to make it more pliable.

The primer is recommended, and I installed without on a clean new windshield. There is actually a better primer made to bond to the glass and react with the butyl specifically that I can get. I'm bringing some in this next week. It would be the best option.

What we are doing -
In the next week we are bringing in some clips from the dealer and evaluating specifically tensile strengths of both and materials. We may have a "better than factory " material available, we just didn't go there initially as these are a pretty simple part, so matching material was the option we chose. Nice thing about making our own parts is that we can change out material at any point.

More as this progresses. Also, any pictures of failure are GREATLY appreciated as the break will tell us about the mode of failure. Mark, did you save any broken ones?
Thanks

[michael7810]

I can't speak for others, but this is where mine have been breaking.
At the thin spot where the arrow is pointed.

Obviously this is the groove where the trim snaps into.
The nose section of the clip must pivot a little to allow the trim to snap into the groove.
Seems like the plastic is too brittle for this to happen in a reliable manner.

That is where m8 e broke as well

[buck toenges]

I have used Mark's clips and broke a bunch while installing. I could never just use my thumb to insert the clip into the hole so I used a small socket and hammer to install. I assumed that is why I broke so many installing them. I actually had to grind off some of the male part that inserts into the hole to get them to seat. I then tried some silicone at the hole site to get them to seat better. I assumed that was a situation of my "Skill set" compared to most of you guys. I am still a ways off from installing my windshield so I will sit back and see how this plays out.

Buck

I am not kicking Mark. I am just telling of my experience.

[Mikey914]

That's why I'm asking. Please do post up pics.

[jsaum]

I’ve been in the plastic injection molding industry for 36 years. Some of things I would look at is the same material being used. Are you using recycled materials or too high of a mix of reground material. Also compare where the OEM part is gated to your part. Direction of flow will determine part strength. Material can become degraded if it is being processed in to large of a machine. PM me if you have questions or can’t find a cause. I would be glad to look at some parts for you.

[DRPHIL914]

you can check my build thread I brought this up back in July when I did this on my car as some may remember , now many in this thread have seen the same thing happened that happened to me while installing my trim. I had three or four brand new clips snap there was nothing wrong with my window alignment or the size of butyl used or my trim. In fact i was so frustrated i did post this same question back then and i did pm the maker of the clips, and in frustraion i told 914rubber that they really needed to look at these and make a change and that i knoew they could do better. I got the butyl from 914rubber i got the new trim and clips from them and i got the window from Porsche, and it was installed by the Porssche inataller. i actually put 4 of the original clips that came out back in where the rubber brand snapped and those all held the trim. i do have one i know is not holding my trim at that one spot because it broke but i am not pulling my new trim or window to replace that one. I agree with George on this one , order original from your dealer for now.

[Mikey914]

We did do our gating differently. And we do a a percentage of recycled material that is used. we can run virgin, and or change to a glass infused delrin. I'm thinking that we will do a preliminary and see when everything falls, possibly utilizing a better material. The feed back we have received on was mostly very good, but even if there is a small problem we will fix it. We also have an idea for a way to check fitment prior to glass being installed that would be handy too.

[jacksun]

HI, Would it be possible to change the geometry of the clip to allow installation without removing the windshield?

[ChrisFoley]

Here are two pics of failed parts, typical of what we experienced when setting the trim:





The failure is not thru the thin hinge section.

We also had failures of the ears which go thru the hole, just from pushing the into the hole or from setting the pin.

I've frequently re-used original clips that were removed from cars (by pushing the pin out thru the back) more than 30 years after installation at the factory. The hardest part is finding an appropriately sized pin to set them in place.

[raynekat]

Similar to the failures on mine....

Here are two pics of failed parts, typical of what we experienced when setting the trim:





The failure is not thru the thin hinge section.

We also had failures of the ears which go thru the hole, just from pushing the into the hole or from setting the pin.

I've frequently re-used original clips that were removed from cars (by pushing the pin out thru the back) more than 30 years after installation at the factory. The hardest part is finding an appropriately sized pin to set them in place.

[rhodyguy]

hard to imagine why the failure occurs in that specific area and not where one might consider the weakest point. not a solution but checkout the labeling on this. I've had a set of 20 for years. MADE IN GERMANY. I wonder if the recycled material mix is a factor?

[Mikey914]

It appears to be a materials issue. It did shear. The pressure was transferred to the lip that is holding the body. From what I can see I believe we may have got a batch that has a higher recycled contentment than advertised we are checking the certs on the material from our vendor now.

[SteveL]

I haven't bought or used any of these windshield clips (but will need to in the future), but it is great to see the the vendor partnering to resolve the issue, with honesty and straight forward answers. Thanks Mike. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)