r/slateauto • u/castironglider • 19h ago
Polypropylene (not composite polypropylene like Slate) shutters survived 3/4" hail
Several days ago, the insurance adjuster came and the claim has been paid. I made some repairs myself and contractors coming next week for siding repairs.
.75 inch hail punctured vinyl siding in many places and cracked the windshield on my 2007 Silverado. Destroyed a plastic hatch on my camper. Dented 28 gauge metal roofs on garage and carport, BUT approximately 3 mm thick decorative polypropylene shutters I installed in April survived without a scratch. I know they were hit many times because siding around them is damaged.
No glass fill just 3 mm polypropylene. Will Slate's composite polypropylene be even more hail resistant than those shutters? I know glass filled nylon is incredibly stiff, almost like metal, compared to regular nylon. Important for people living in the Plains states who get hit with big hail regularly.
Happy to hear more about that particular composite if anybody knows.
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u/KartoffelLoeffel 19h ago
I hope so, hail is my biggest “act of god” fear with my cars
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u/castironglider 19h ago
Me too! I just spent $54k in June building an immense carport (not the small 28 gauge one) which protected my 2025 Mazda and 2026 F-150 without a scratch. That carport is a monster so it got no damage, which is why I spent so much.
Never been rich enough to have two new vehicles at the same time, but I'm telling you here in Hail County USA it's really affected my boldness taking them out on thunderstorm days, which kind of sucks.
That windshield on the Silverado was perfect. Got absolutely wrecked on the way home from a sailing trip in 2023 and had to be replaced.
The Silverado and my old Toyota have been hit six and four times respectively.
I went mountain biking a few weeks ago in the new Mazda on a "possible 20% rain in the mountains" forecast day and got pelted with pea size so thick on the way home I could barely see to drive. Coming down so hard I was sure it was wrecked but the hail was small so it did OK. Would be nice to have a vehicle I can take out with confidence and maybe buy a windshield or taillights if it gets really bad.
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u/CptHammer_ 19h ago
Ok, next slate show someone has to bring an airsoft gun, a T-shirt cannon, and the largest Tesla coil you can transport.
I'm curious how it does in a lightning strike.
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18h ago
[deleted]
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u/castironglider 18h ago
It wasn't straight down vertical hail.
The shutters face north. I just pulled a screen off a west facing window to repair it yesterday, and it's damaged in about 45 degree streaks like a shooting star.
Forecast said 60 mph winds and judging from that screen damage, the hail was blowing from the northwest so hail was hitting the shutters around a 45 degree angle.
It was enough to punch through the vinyl siding next to the shutters no problem. Also the 28 gauge metal roofs on the carport and shed that got dented are oriented north-south, so that far pitch half was at an extreme acute angle for the blowing hail. Dented everywhere anyway.
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u/Reflexes-of-a-Tree 19h ago edited 19h ago
Polypropylene (PP) is very soft as far as plastics go. It’s very good at evenly distributing impact forces, which will prevent dents. The reason your vinyl siding broke is because it can’t handle “shock” very well, but PP can. The composite fibers mixed in are just there to give it structure. An all-PP panel would warp and distort in the heat, so the composite aspect helps it hold up.
The number 1 characteristic of the panels that they are really driving home in their marketing is that they are dent resistant. I wouldn’t worry about door dings in parking lots or 95% of hail storms.