Community Forums

badturks5 · 11-01-2016, 02:52 PM

Hello all
I have a question , I own a 1998 Fleetwood American Tradition 40 ft diesel pusher.
I have owned her now one year. I seem to have a problem on the two piece front windshield. The passenger side upper right corner pops out. I had it put back into place a month ago and its doing it again. Is there any known fix for this model type? Has American coach or Fleetwood addressed this issue.
Thanks for you help

Dale70 · 11-01-2016, 04:02 PM

I have the same thing happening, and it started in the upper right hand corner.
The weatherstripping on mine is very hard and aged. It happens on places like my driveway where there is one spot which twists the chassis.

I have two quotes at the moment on having the weatherstripping replaced.
Both are about $1000 for that alone and will not guarantee that a window will not be broken of course. They are saying each half of the window is $600.

I have glass coverage by law here in Florida, but am not sure I want to try to have it covered and risk a rate increase.

There are other threads about this here. RVingDutchman, who also has a 2000 Eagle, just went through some painful experiences while traveling with his front windshields.

good luck -- Dale

Greg2 · 11-04-2016, 01:50 PM

Both upper outside corners popped out on my 1998 Discovery. A nationwide glass repair company quoted me a price of $800 to put them back in. I could not go with that expense, so I called a local glass company and got both put back in for $100-without a insurance claim!

mchero · 11-04-2016, 11:07 PM

WOW, I really feel for you guys. I sure hope you can get that issue corrected. I have read posts about windshields popping out during leveling. Not good.

Dale70 · 11-06-2016, 02:43 PM

I do not think these are leveling issues - at least mine are not -- I have three point jacks, which were designed NOT to torque the window like can be done with a four point jack.

Where I have had some suspension work done told me of a client with four point leveling who manually was adjusting the leveling in their parking lot, got it wrong, and popped the large single piece window out right there.

My interpretation is that this is aging of the weather stripping along with twisting of an aged RV.

mchero · 11-06-2016, 03:17 PM

Thanks for the clarification.

ga traveler · 11-06-2016, 03:40 PM

If you have four point levelers from Power Gear, Don't get uptight. The front jacks use the same fluid and solenoid for both front jacks. You level from side to side with the rear jacks only. As the coach goes higher on one side, the fluid in the front jacks goes from one side to the other in the front jacks.

Dale70 · 11-07-2016, 05:35 AM

Thanks ga-traveler for that info.

I had assumed that the four points worked mainly through automatic features and if you used them manually you were sometimes at risk.

Thx Dale

badturks5 · 11-07-2016, 01:05 PM

I also have the 3 point leveling jacks. This all started leaving a motor home repair shop that was way off the main roads. to get into and out of this place caused the body to twist a lot. I had it reinstalled for $85 bucks. Then about a week later I could see that it was starting to do it again. This has to be a known problem and what is the fix. I cannot keep doing this the glass at some point in time will break. I can't have that happen while driving down the road

RVingDutchman · 11-07-2016, 03:09 PM

You would think it would stop at some point, Right ????
We've replaced three windshields including the rubber, They even went sofar as to TRIM the windshield on the corner because it was simply toooo large to fit so at the risk of cracking the brand-new windshield they successfully trimmed it and made it fit perfectly then made a custom centre piece because that was now still out from the ill fitting panes 1/2" on top and 1+1/4" on the Bottom If I recall correctly.
I was so glad these guys where willing and able to spend all that time on it and make it fit without stress and pushing and pulling!!!!
Well the day we left Town I did not make it out to the City limits and I had a Bullseye from a rock in my passenger side windshield!!!! Then by the time we got half way home I could hear the wind whistling through a small opening on that same side on the bottom where it seemed to have shifted outwards and opened up where the Body flange was not very long into the rubber.
By the time I got the Rig home (1000KM) the driver side windshield was ready to pop out on the top and out-side of the Rig and the other windshield had also shifted out forward significantly increasing that small opening to a pretty large one!!!

I am Frustrated and Appalled, Besides that I was having fuel-pump issues on the way back

After all the work I've done on this Rig, I tried to stay optimistic and told the Missssus that we can figure it out and get it all sorted cause I know where she was going ......... and she did, she informed me she'd had enough and told me to get rid of it.
Now I must be fair and say that it's not just because of the money factor that she decided this, my health is her other excuse and whether I agree or not once she decides there's not much point in fighting over it. On top of everything else I had a stroke in my sleep last spring.... I told her, I didn't even wake up how bad could it have been

(just kidding, lucky to be here!)
The problem is I still have to fix these things before its salable

Back to the windshield, I think its pretty bad that Fleetwood/ American Coach can leave a problem like this exist and fester without taking responsibility.
This is Dangerous it is a structural issue and should be fixed properly once and for all!!!!
Those replacement windshields don't even fit when they arrive at the glass shop HOW are they supposed to fix this, Supposedly Fleetwood was going to solve this by sending a service pack with instructions with every seal kit???? well it helped nothing because the hole was not square and neither was the windshield but then the wrong way !!! The Rubber does not hold on to the body and you're not supposed to glue it in either ???

COMMON FLEETWOOD TELL THOSE ENGINEERS TO FIND A SOLUTION AND FIX THIS FOR ALL OF US ???????? I know I will call them and tell them over the phone........

Regards,

Ed

P.S. as far as Levelling goes we actually used these to try and get the windshields in before trimming and you wouldn't believe how much twist you can induce on the body with the three jack system, It's Unbelievable so be very careful !!!!

GlennLever · 11-08-2016, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RVingDutchman

You would think it would stop at some point, Right ????
We've replaced three windshields including the rubber, They even went sofar as to TRIM the windshield on the corner because it was simply toooo large to fit so at the risk of cracking the brand-new windshield they successfully trimmed it and made it fit perfectly then made a custom centre piece because that was now still out from the ill fitting panes 1/2" on top and 1+1/4" on the Bottom If I recall correctly.
I was so glad these guys where willing and able to spend all that time on it and make it fit without stress and pushing and pulling!!!!
Well the day we left Town I did not make it out to the City limits and I had a Bullseye from a rock in my passenger side windshield!!!! Then by the time we got half way home I could hear the wind whistling through a small opening on that same side on the bottom where it seemed to have shifted outwards and opened up where the Body flange was not very long into the rubber.
By the time I got the Rig home (1000KM) the driver side windshield was ready to pop out on the top and out-side of the Rig and the other windshield had also shifted out forward significantly increasing that small opening to a pretty large one!!!

I am Frustrated and Appalled, Besides that I was having fuel-pump issues on the way back

After all the work I've done on this Rig, I tried to stay optimistic and told the Missssus that we can figure it out and get it all sorted cause I know where she was going ......... and she did, she informed me she'd had enough and told me to get rid of it.
Now I must be fair and say that it's not just because of the money factor that she decided this, my health is her other excuse and whether I agree or not once she decides there's not much point in fighting over it. On top of everything else I had a stroke in my sleep last spring.... I told her, I didn't even wake up how bad could it have been

(just kidding, lucky to be here!)
The problem is I still have to fix these things before its salable

Back to the windshield, I think its pretty bad that Fleetwood/ American Coach can leave a problem like this exist and fester without taking responsibility.
This is Dangerous it is a structural issue and should be fixed properly once and for all!!!!
Those replacement windshields don't even fit when they arrive at the glass shop HOW are they supposed to fix this, Supposedly Fleetwood was going to solve this by sending a service pack with instructions with every seal kit???? well it helped nothing because the hole was not square and neither was the windshield but then the wrong way !!! The Rubber does not hold on to the body and you're not supposed to glue it in either ???

COMMON FLEETWOOD TELL THOSE ENGINEERS TO FIND A SOLUTION AND FIX THIS FOR ALL OF US ???????? I know I will call them and tell them over the phone........

Regards,

Ed

P.S. as far as Levelling goes we actually used these to try and get the windshields in before trimming and you wouldn't believe how much twist you can induce on the body with the three jack system, It's Unbelievable so be very careful !!!!

Just a note. When I back into my driveway the coach goes through a gutter and then the left rear tire starts to climb up the hill to my home (right rear in the gutter, left rear climbing the hill).

This is a huge twist to the frame. I was scared to death that I was going to pop a windshield the first time i did this. In fact the first time was when I bough it home after purchase from Arizona. the twist was so bad that it broke the link to the right front sensor for the air ride.

I do not even get a creak or groan out of any of the interior components.

I now do a double pull up to get as square as possible to the driveway before backing in.

The only difference I can think of between out coaches is the chassis. Is it possible mine (Gillig) is just that much stiffer?

When leveling the coach I always put the front jack on the ground first.

Glenn