Harbor Freight Auto Glass Removal Tool CAN Work

Are you frustrated with the Harbor Freight auto glass removal tool after trying it and failing? Here's how I used it to pull 2 pieces of glass effectively, without frustration and without breaking the glass. There are a couple of simple extra items you need to use with it, and couple things you must know about technique to make it work for you. It worked for me.

[@markmatt9174]

Have to say, while there pick up some solid MIG welding wire .23 or .25 tho (not flux core) works 100 times better than that cheap cable. Tho it will cut headliners easier than the cable if u dont hold it tight to the glass (dont ask how i know ) 😅 Like the Dawn Soap idea but the "Hot Wire" thing not sure as high heat in 1 spot is easy way to break the glass. & Junkyard wont let a torch in the place. Thought is get the same weld wire longer & battery drill to make the hole just file end rounded/flat drill thru from inside. I dont remember any issue getting the 0.23 solid MIG wire thru. We did 5 or 6 windshields (nephew and I) so far in last 15 yrs & have only broken the (cracked) windshields. Doing the broken one 1st gets practice then hit junkyard for a doner one (or test if working like u did on a teardown car.)

[@onemoremisfit]

I put the hot wire thru in more than 4 places on both front & rear glass on that car. The first time I tried that idea was on another vehicle windshield 3 years ago, making total of more than 15 times, and the hot wire did not crack the glass anywhere. It's not that much total heat, it's just concentrated at one small point and the urethane soaks it up instantly, that's why it takes multiple passes to get thru. If you try to ram thru a cold solid tool like the one they provide in that HF kit the chances are high it will cause enough upset to break the glass. Actually the first time I got the idea to employ a little heat I warmed up the end of that HF tool. Then I realized a round 1/8" wire works better to make a neat hole. Your sentence referencing a "battery drill" and file is unclear, but there is no room to get the nose of a powered drill anywhere near the bottom edge of the glass inside the car where the glass is sloped at a an angle. A small drill would make a neat hole if you have the room and the angle to get it in there straight thru without cocking it and breaking off the brittle drill when it snags in the cut. But I don't see how you would keep the drill parallel to the glass going thru an inch or so of urethane when the diameter of the chuck against the glass would create a sharp angle. I have plenty of .023" mig wire on hand, never tried it, but I think the stranded cable can give you a little sawing action here and there if you need it, where the smooth cable won't saw.

[@ohfknowned239]

Yes for an older very hard seal but a car that is a few years old it's fine.

[@onemoremisfit]

I think you have a point there, if the car is late model and the urethane is still fresh then you might have a lot easier time pushing a solid tool thru it without breaking something. But everything I work on is decades old. The car in the video is a 2006 and the sealant is way too tough to push that tool thru it cold.

[@markmatt9174]

@onemoremisfit hey One, I was thinking of a full new hunk of gas/tig wire 32" long very flexible but "stiff" if u push it on the end. Comes with a small section flattened (stamped what it is) 316 308 or whatever welding material. Anyhow, cut off round w some dikes so end is flattened slightly (think mansionry drill bit) file so flats dont catch glass. Last cars we did was a 94 Thunderbird & 86 Merc Cougar (back about 2016 or so) his Dakota was a snap think we had it out, dressed the frame & back glued in about 40 minutes. Took longer cleaning off the OLD glue from the junkyard doner truck. The 86 Cougar was one we cut the headliner in (behind the rear view mirror). The weld wire works tons better first 3 cars we used the HF cable but like the snag u had would split we cut faster seemed "easier" till ya hit a snag. The MIG wire slices like butter vs the cable. I found the one person inside 1 person outside with sticks ( 1"x1/2" 24"long) cutoff w V notches inside guides quite well. Use about 3' of wire wrapped around the stick feed over the end. Just a single hole thru the glue pulled 360. By the 4th or 5th car we had gotten pretty good at it. The mig wire is pulled "saw-ish" with the 24 to 36" both pulling in the same direction but one guy pulling faster so it slices from "inside to outside" then switch. Maybe two "Saw Strokes" across the side & 3 saw strokes top/bottom. Then the junkyard jumped windshields prices from 25 or 30 bucks to like 125 so at that point cheaper to call safelite (tho thos windshields seem to be "cr a pp Ola" breaking way easier than Factory ones.)

[@onemoremisfit]

@@markmatt9174 I will definitely try the mig wire next time because I have it on hand all the time. I have to always devise a way to work single handed because there is never a helper available on demand for me. Personally I would not use a junkyard windshield in most cases unless it's the only thing available because once you have a few years and 50 thousand miles on that glass the windshield wipers never work as well as when the glass was new. I pulled a good unbroken factory windshield out of that 2006 Impala of mine and I don't intend to reuse it because I remember how the wipers used to work when it was new. Maybe I'll see if somebody wants to give 50 bucks for it. A cheap used windshield is fine for a beater that got the glass broken and you just need to make it drivable but that isn't my situation.

[@markmatt9174]

@onemoremisfit I've found the factory ones to be best for chip/crack resistant however micro pits sand blast them over the decades. In may old rare or low numbers cars there is no choice, pay $1000 for a custom re-fit/make (often takes a large number of attempts to get them recut or form fitted.) Or takes months to get one in when ordered. I found a regular treatment of RainX