Does the bug guard make a difference?

So, I'm tired of my windshield looking like a crime scene or Pollick painting. Does the bug deflector make a difference to how many windshield kills I'll have?

 

Curious about this, too...I'm wanting more rock deflection, though, because highway 10 here in AZ really LOVES to chip windshields once or twice per year....

 

My buddy that has a SR5 said he wished he had put one on earlier. He thinks it would have prevented hood chips and windshield chips. He also wished he protected his frame. He traded his in and got a limited by luck.

I just got a weather Tec one for mine but it was scratched so they sent another. It’s not perfect but I don’t think I will get one that’s perfect. I need to have it installed when the rains stop here in MI.

 

Send it west.

 

They do very little in my experience

 

I've run with them on most of ours since 1997. the hoods/windshields on all my SUVs have been/are in pretty good shape (currently have a '19 4Runner and an '06 Trailblazer.) . My wife has had two Sienna's over the years and didnt want the guards on...the windshields were fine except for a tire that hit us while at highway speed (bug guard ain't gonna stop that...) but the hoods looked like ass after a couple years from all the road debris and bugs.

 

No, I have an AVS and on the highway my windshield looks the same as it would without one. I only use it out of the hope it prevents hood rock chips, and I cant say if it does anything.

 

My WeatherTech doesn't actually DO much, but it looks damn good.

 

Didn't help any on a Tundra and Jimmy I had in the past.

 

Bug deflectors do nothing for bugs, since they fly at different heights as you smash into them. They do however prevent rock chips near the front of the hood behind the headlights, where almost all of the chips should be.

 

They seem to provide decent protection against rock chips and hood dings.

 

Just did a 2000 mile trip and in my opinion MY bug deflector worked. Did it prevent ALL bugs from committing suicide on my windshield, no BUT it did help. I did not have to scrub the windshield every time I filled up the gas and to me that is success.

 

In my experience, the hood bug deflectors don't do anything for the windshield.

Here in Colorado, I'm replacing windshields every year thanks to the gravel on the roads. Including the two with these deflectors.

That said, IMO, the deflectors do help protect the hood.

 

Would it help to put paint protection film on your windshield?