Water splashes on windshield

Hi all, I am a relatively new truck owner; my previous vehicle was a 1998 Volvo. Now in that old car, I could hit puddles and it would throw the water to the side, never splashing the windshield. On my 2020 Tundra however, hitting a puddle results in seemingly all the water deposited on my windshield, temporarily blinding me. Is this common to all trucks? Does anyone else have this issue? Is there a remedy other than crawling through puddles?

 

Name your truck "Moses" and you'll have no issues!...

...next question!

You can try a window sealant/coating. It wont prevent the water splashing but it will roll off quicker.

 

@Saltyhero13 does your truck throw water up onto your windshield? Seems crazy that it won’t just throw it to the side….

 

Mine does the same and I'm on 37s.....I just expect it now when I hit puddles

 

I live in WA and don’t seem to have this problem on any truck.

Try a bug deflector or Lift.

And if those or the rainx doesn’t help, try drifting through them sideways.

 

Oh yeah, I noticed this the first day driving my new truck. It did it with stock tires and the Ko2’s.
It shoots the water forward and up , thus you run into that wave with the windshield. 30 to 40 mph. Standing water 2” or more or pot holes. It is especially annoying when the water is mixed with mud. only cure that I know is to go slower or faster and keep your hand on the wiper lever. This is the only vehicle , and I have had many, that does this.

 

Edited because I’m wrong.

 

I try and slow down in this situation so I haven't had this happen to me yet.

 

Same here. Never with my 07 or 14. Why do I think going too fast for the conditions is involved?

 

@mountainpete I do have some flaps in front of the front wheels. I’ll take pictures when I get a chance. The truck has stock tires, wheels, and no lift or level.

@Black Wolf no significant speed is involved. With a bit of water ponded by the curb and hitting it at 20mph I see it curling up the right side of the hood.

It just seems crazy to me that a stock vehicle would do this. It’s a legitimate safety concern IMO.

 

You could always return it. I'm sure they'll give you your money back in this market!

 

@Paco_the_Priest - Had this issue with my '10 DC and my current '17 CM. Any speed over a crawl and you get blinded by a wave of water. My friend had the same issue in his 4 Runner (dont remember the year ~2015).

 

I had the same issue when going over a puddle. It's kind of scary cause you cannot see anything for a few seconds.

I put on the accessory OEM style fender flares and that solved the problem completely, while also keeping the sides clean.

 

Sorry, but a "legitimate safety concern" is a bit much IMHO. The only time that situation happens to me is when someone is driving too fast for wet conditions and throws water up onto my truck and if I didn't have my window up, I'd have water in my cab. We get heavy rains here this time of year in the afternoon and folks simply do not slow down. Streets don't drain water fast enough. Not disputing anything but I haven't seen any posts here for almost 7 years, until today, or other sources out there to even remotely consider this to rise up the the level to be a safety concern.


I've never ever had a puddle throw water up on my Tundra hood or windshield bad enough to blind me. (Unless going a bit too fast off the road in muddy/wet conditions or hitting a shallow stream too fast). If truly worried, I guess a complaint could be filed with Yota corporate to address the "safety" issue although the odds of getting the tranny cooler issue corrected first is a bit lower and that is not ever going anywhere either as in Slim and None and Slim left town.......

 

Yeah man! How do I find these flares? They do not look too intrusive as other that I have seen. If they work as you say, I will get a set..the wife hates that windshield splash too. I have the front flappy things and they do not do squat!

 

@Black Wolf regarding a safety concern I see so much concern about dim blinkers, floor mats, and other things so I felt this would also qualify. I don’t drive crazy and I tell you I could take puddles in my old Volvo much faster with no water thrown on my windshield. When I first hit a puddle with the Tundra I was completely stunned by the huge wash on the windshield and frantically try to hit the wipers. I also assumed the truck would do better in such conditions since it sits higher. Anyhow, in my book it is a safety concern and something I feel I need to warn people about when they borrow the truck.

@4WDWalrus very interested to hear those minimal fender flares make such a difference. My truck doesn’t have those. How much did they cost you and how do they attach? If they really solve this issue, I would definitely consider installing them.

Glad to hear that several others are also surprised by the tidal wave the Tundra throws on the windshield!

 

It’s the front tire throwing the water forward, and then you driving through it.

 

The ones I bought were from Sparks Toyota https://www.sparksparts.com/p-oe-style-fender-flares-0001634047. (There is a Sparks Toyota discount code here in the forum. "TundraDude34" to save 5%.

They are a little expensive, but are painted and genuine dealer accessories and come with all the hardware and instructions. It is installed by removing the existing fender liner screws and replaced with brackets and longer screws. The rubber that meets the fender just sits on the surface by pressure. I also put clear protection under it before install, so if decide to remove it does not leave a mark. You can do that if you are OCD like me.

These flares are distributed by Bushwacker, so if the factory ones are too expensive, they make other versions that are unpainted.

For me, it eliminated the splash to windshield completely. I was surprised when I first got the truck, the water blinded the windshield so easily. They were small puddles and driving safe speeds. Some say you just slow down, not if there is someone right behind you or in the freeway. Now I've driven thru rainstorms and lots of time deliberately going over standing water and not longer have the issue

 

@4WDWalrus Thanks so much for the information. It’s interesting that this completely solved the issue if the mechanism is the water being thrown forward and up and then driving into it. Do you feel confident that the flares were the solution? Did you by chance make any other mods to your truck around the same time? I would love to see some slow motion footage of driving through a puddle in order to determine exactly what is happening…

Thanks again for providing your solution to my problem!

 

I like it when the water splashes into my sunroof. That's my favorite, I may need to start keeping a towel in my truck

 

No magnetic gray color on these? dag nab it

 

I tried recreating this last night during the rain, the only way I could get the water to sling is by barreling through some deeper water at speeds above 40.

You can see the slinging behavior happening here in this guys review, around the 18 minute mark:
https://youtu.be/IaOWZo_VRNg

This is one of those argument threads where positions will vary by everyone's own personal safety threshold. I don't off road a whole lot but when I do cross water hazards its at lower speeds especially when I don't know how deep the water is and what is beneath the surface.

In situations where I'm surrounded by other vehicles I don't think its cool to sling crap over other peoples vehicles if it is avoidable, whether its cars on the side of the road, oncoming traffic, or cars on a highway. So in my book I'll slow down for consideration of other drivers if its possible.

 

Yep, I still believe speed is a big factor. I find it a bit odd that after 17 years since the 07 came out and this forum being 7ish years old.........as of yesterday we now have a safety issue of a tidal wave of water hitting the windshield when going thru puddles endangering all of us. Get real. LOL

 

I'm with you. I'm a speed demon at heart but the risk of hydroplaning in a heavy vehicle does not sound fun either.

 

I’ve had water go up to my windshield going thru puddles with all the trucks I’ve owned, cause I like to pin it thru puddles
I agree with you Matt. safety concern? If only we had windshield wipers to wipe the water off the windshield

 

Pinning it thru puddles can be fun! Yep windshield wipers come in handy.

 

I live in one of the rainiest places on the planet, and it’s not uncommon on the rural roads around me for farmland to flood out onto the roads, and when I get into Portland, invariably a gutter system here or there will be bound up or overwhelmed and there will be 6-8” flooded roads and parking lots.

I don’t observe that the water hitting the windshield in great abundance occurs any more with this truck than it did my Camry, Jetta, Volvo, Trooper, Accord(s), Pilot(s), or Tahoe.

Typically, this happens at night, when I unexpectedly come across a flooded spot and don’t see it/register it in time to slow down.

If I know the road well, sometimes I’ll zoom through the puddle for fun, and I don’t seem to remember this causing a huge surge of water to my windshield.

I also don’t like the Rain-X type products at all. I just keep the windshield clean with glass cleaner and I wipe the blades clean with alcohol.

 

@Saltyhero13 I checked out the video and I would have to say the splashing I encounter is much greater than what he encountered. Interestingly it didn’t appear that the TRD Pro he was driving had the fender flares 4WDWalrus indicated solved his issue. From what I see, most Tundras have some sort of fender flare on them. Perhaps that’s the reason most folks don’t seem to have experienced the problem? By chance does your truck have fender flares? Didn’t mean to derail the conversation with mentioning it as a safety concern…

 

Most Tundra's don't have fender flares. Had them on my 07. Aftermarket flares. They come in various widths depending on need. My 14 is sans flares. Tires don't stick out enough to warrant them. They are great when your tire "tread" sticks out past the fenders to keep from throwing rocks and mud on the sides of the truck. They won't be much help at all with stock wheel/tires because they are still tucked inside the fenders. Definitely won't help much at all with water hitting your windshield...

 

Yeah, I lived south of Eugene, Orygun for 13 years. Quite wet there too. Ha! We used to blast thru muddy logging roads all the time and of course you get water and mud everywhere. Freeway conditions could suck at times when it was raining hard, especially behind a big ass chip or log truck. Wipers would barely be of any help at all...heh....heh...my mom would totally freak out at first when I was kid. She got used to it.