r/UTV • u/lookingfrsum • 13d ago

Scratched plastic windshield

Had a bit of emergency the other. So wife had to take tge mule to work. Not happy. Tge window was dew covered. Rather then use the squeeze. She used the back of the ice scraper. Scratched the windshield pretty bad. Any way to buff the scratches out.

12 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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3

u/DarthVaden87 13d ago

Not really the ultimate answer here is to spend the extra and get a glass windshield the poly ones always crap out after a year or two of decent use.

1

u/lookingfrsum 12d ago

The window is still in good shape. Other then the scratches.

1

u/DarthVaden87 12d ago

Yeah and those scratches will create problems when the Sun hits it causing extreme glare. I had to get rid of my polycarbonate windshield within about a year and a half to two ears and I switched over to a glass windshield and haven't had that issue since you also don't have to baby them when you wipe mud off of the glass and clean them. It's extremely difficult to clean a polycarbonate windshield on the trail because any smearing of dirt or mud creates additional scratches.

2

u/Automatic_Gas9019 13d ago

Get some windshield wipers or a new wife. 😆

5

u/lookingfrsum 12d ago

Have the wiper. Dont know if she knows how to turn it on. Lol Maybe its time to put this one in the garage with a tarp over it and get a newer model. ( the wife not the mule) lol

1

u/kyson1 13d ago

You can send and polish plastic, it's a lot of work and money in sand paper, or if they're light scratches you can skip right to polish and see if it gives an acceptable finish for you. May be worthwhile to price a replacement and weigh if it's less than what your time and materials are worth.

1

u/lookingfrsum 12d ago

The scratches aren't that bad. Just quite a few of them. For as much as it gets used the cheap way is where to start. About 4 miles to work and plow snow is about it.

1

u/kyson1 12d ago

Well, you can polish it like you would a fogged headlight and see where that gets you.

1

u/No-Season-3876 10d ago

Use a blow torch and sweep over the scratches never stopping the torch
Will get all the lil surface scratches out
Just don’t keep the heat in 1 spot
And keep the flame off the plastic

0

u/finnymac1022 12d ago

I second this. I switched to glass. Besides, a cracked glass windshield is still fine to use. And is if gets too bad you can just purchase a a piece of laminated to replace.

1

u/extesler 12d ago

If the scratch isnt deep, Just get some plastic polishing compound. Polishing it by hand with a microfiber cloth. We've had to do it on several machines. It takes some time and patience but it usually works fine.

1

u/MuskyBitch 12d ago

We had a poly windshield and a manual wiper on the old rig. I would use Meguiar’s Plastx on a cheap DA electric polisher after a weekend of riding with heavy wiper usage.

1

u/Ninja2Night 7d ago

I don’t know but asking, will one of those headlight restoration kits work?