The wee black dots that outline your windshield: explained

[SeamusBellamy]

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/11/27/the-wee-black-dots-the-outline.html

…

[mcsnee]

I clicked so you don’t have to: it’s to protect and cover up the sealant that holds the windshield and rear window in place.

[Enter_Name_Here]

There were some other interesting-ish nuggets in there, but you’re doing a good deed giving out the most pertinent response up-front, @mcsnee. Cheers!

[Ratel]

You saved me 8 and a half minutes today, bravo sir!

Well, you gave me the information that I wasn’t going to spend 8 and a half minutes getting.

[winkybber]

That’s what I’d always guessed. Just cosmetic so that the grungy sealant isn’t visible.

[heligo]

@mcsnee

I clicked so you don’t have to: it’s to protect and cover up the sealant that holds the windshield and rear window in place.

You could probably stretch that sentence into an 8 minute video.

[Textuality]

All fun and games until he started talking about having to circle around to use the pump on the other side of the car…

I can’t speak for every country, but it’s pretty rare that you find yourself in a fuel station and they don’t have hoses long enough to reach both sides of the car.

[thatskinnyguy]

And make ad money out of it.

[evilkolbot]

Your car is not big enough

[karl_jones]

Those wee black dots keep out the Hounds of Tindalos.

Hounds of Tindalos

[bolamig]

I haven’t watched the video, but heard that the reason for the fade from black to clear is to avoid stress cracks in the glass from temp differential at the seam as the black heats in the sun.

[spetrovits]

But I need omnipresent fake handheld shaky-cam! What am I supposed to do now?

[ClutchLinkey]

@winkybber

Just cosmetic so that the grungy sealant isn’t visible.

More than cosmetics, though. Also protects from UV so the sealant doesn’t break down. (I clicked, too.)

[joey_bladb]

Have you ever noticed the little snowflake light up on your dashboard?

I used to drive my teenage daughter to school and I’d joke “Oh look, the car has detected you!”

She was not amused.

[Textuality]

I’m not sure I could get anything any wider, I drive a Range Rover.

I guess I could buy a Humvee… but I suspect that wouldn’t fit ANYWHERE in the UK.

[LurksNoMore]

They mention it in the video, too.

And the part about the black dots on the windshield takes only about two and a half minutes IIRC. The rest is him talking about other details about cars that some people might not know.

[Pensketch]

I’m actually surprised by how quickly they got to the point. Good on them.

[d_r]

In olden days windshields were attached using gaskets in slots, not just glue. They also helped with rigidity of the car, something much less the case with the modern chewing gum arrangement. For those of us with older cars, this became a fight with insurance companies when they wouldn’t pay for a proper windshield replacement (all the quickie windshield companies started using the glue even when the proper replacement was with the gasket).

[GulliverFoyle]

Thank you for your service. Two minutes in and I wanted to slap the narrator.

[Wally]

We need a life’s FAQ. All it is is a giant list of setups and one liners.

Q. What are the dots on your windshield?
A. To protect and cover up the sealant.

Q. What is the word for people born with more than 10 fingers or 10 toes?
A. Polydactyly. Occurs in 0.1% of the population, generally, and higher in Africa.

Etc.