Windshield replacement

[Ron Davis]

This is turning into a bad joke…..   I am having windshield replaced both half’s…..  Texan Glass and RV … seems like good guys .. Insurance sent glass and it’s accurate by number and measurements… new seal from Beaver MC in Bend and these guys cannot get the glass in.  2 days….one day with what they thought was the wrong gasket, another with the one from Beaver and have now even shaved some of the glass edges….but still not getting a fit at all…. Driver side bulges and has no room in the groove for the locking rope as I call it and the passenger side they cannot even get the top left edge to set in its grove at all.    I don’t know what else to do …they are suggesting the fiberglass has settled or warped in some way over near 30 years…but I find that difficult to believe.   Starting to question capability…and I cannot keep getting hotels out here….   Any ideas or condolences, thoughts are welcome…. It’s a 96 Patriot.

[Eric Maclean]

Ron
The first thing that comes to mind is a twist in the body .
1) check that the coach has all the air bags aired up and that the rear ride heights are even .
2) is the floor level or even side to side front to rear.

Was your old g!ass broken or cracked and if so which corner did the crack originate as this may give you some insight into whether or not the the opening was at fault or maybe the coach was twisting
You may be able to change the shape of the windshield opening by using the leveling jacks to deliberately twisting the coach.

Ron it's been my observation that these coaches with the curved ends have a habit of poping out at the top corners knowing that I'd be hesitant to increase the size of the opening as it may give the glass the extra room and create another problem .
Many glass places don't like to replace the seal rubber as it is hard to get a new on to mold into place but at 25 years the old seal is likely hardened and cracked necessitating replacement.

Also the glass has to be able to float if it's sealed or blue to the rubber all the way around it will not float and will break.

My advise would be to contact the good people at RV Glass Solutions. or Coach Glass and see what they have to say about your situation they may have some insight into your problem and offer way forward or at least a second opinion

https://rvglassexperts.com/

https://coachglass.com/

Hope this helps
Eric

[Ron Davis]

Ron
The first thing that comes to mind is a twist in the body .
1) check that the coach has all the air bags aired up and that the rear ride heights are even .
2) is the floor level or even side to side front to rear.

Was your old g!ass broken or cracked and if so which corner did the crack originate

https://rvglassexperts.com/

https://coachglass.com/

1) aired up and leveled with the stabilizers, we are on his concrete floor inside his shop.
2) I use the same level process I use when we park for the week at an RV park.

Old glass was broke due to some large rock hitting it on passenger side and driver side had an older rock chip and insurance approved to replace both sides so we went that route.

Old Seal was pulled away from the edges and cut I think due to shrinking from age.  I actually have not seen the old seal they took off….now I want to see it…lol

Came down here as they would still do it this late in the season, Midwest glass shops stop doing RVs due to weather.

I will reach out to those folks for advice in the morning.

When you say ‘float’ do you mean to not use any kind of caulk in the seal area….I ask because I saw several YouTube vids since this ordeal started that they did put some sort of caulk between seal edge and glass…which I thought was odd, but they were not my type of coach either.

[Jerry Carr]

the best replacement pros  RV Glass Solutions

[Eric Maclean]

Ron
You might want to compare the old rubber with the new one as I have heard there are a couple of different profiles with different thickness in the chanel ( could be your problem)
Again I'd be hesitant to increase the opening unless either the rubber or gasket are larger after all the old glass lived there for 25 years

Usually they will put two or three , eight inch or so long caulking between the glass and the rubber in order to keep the glass in the rubber usually out about ten inches from the corners
The people at RV Glass Solutions will be able to fill you in on the proper sealing technique.
They have other tricks to help raise a glass up in the lower chanel of the rubber they some times will lay a rubber locking bead in the chanel this is usually done if the opening has been cut too large as the weight of the glass tends to make it sink in the lower rubber chanel and pull lose of the top one .

Because the front cap is made out of fiberglass and the coach has to twist and work while traveling down the road the front cap has to be able to twist and move as well if the glass is glued in to place it will not be able to slide in the seal rubber and will break as glass won't bend.
The caulking away from the corners holds the glass in the seal but still allows the corners to move in and out to allow for the twist or working in the cap .
This is the problem with all fiberglass caps as a major section is cut out to accommodate the glass the rest is fairly flimsy
It's easy to see this movement when leveling your rig and it's why these curved glasses pop out on the corners.

The good folks at RV Glass Solutions will have the answers your looking for.
Eric

[Eric Maclean]

Ron
try airing up the suspension and storeingbthe leveling jacks you may find the coach relaxes and the opening changes shape.

If that doesn't do anything try using only one rear jack at a time to roll the coach one direction or the other that should change the opening .

Make sure those new glasses are supposed while moving the coach as they may want to pop out and you don't want to drop or break one.

Eric

[Ron Davis]

Things are looking up.  More experienced guy was out last week and is in the shop today….. he and the crew appear to have gottin things mounted this morning with no messing with fiberglass …. 

They are putting the locking bead in and cleaning things up …..  we’ll ultimately see in a few hrs, when I go pick it up.

Thank you everyone for being here with advice and being supportive.  Sometimes it just helps to share and discuss the pains.

RV Glass solutions foreman in FL did call me back quickly and offered to review pics if needed but we did not need to go that route at that time.

 

[Eric Maclean]

Thats great Ron  hope everything works out.
Eric