Windshield nightmare

[Vaflatlander]

Finally retired in may. Dw and I had big plans for our 2000 national tradewinds which we have been using since we bought it a year ago. Late may we started our crosscountry trip things went well till somewhere in Arkansas our left windshield cracked. Camping world in little rock said it would take a week to get glass aked if they thought we were good to continue to Houston our next big stop. They said no problem, I called insurance co. Explained problem they said they would make arrangements in Houston area, so on we went. The crack got progressively worse,and so did the red tape. First glass co. Refused to do work for the agreed price before we ever got there. Second glass installer set appointment after glass arrived and upon seeing problem stated gasket and glass needed replacing and again could not agree on labor price. At this point I had been dealing with 2 installers, 2 middle glass companies Safelight and Duncan and my insurance co. Two weeks later I still had a left windshield severely cracked and a right glass pushing out of the gasket on the upper rightboth sides were an inlet for rain and mosquitoes. Our dream was becoming a nightmare.with my bloodpressure at the critical point I called my home agent in Va. and explained to him our situation stating after being a 40 year customer with the majority of my checcks going to his office he is the only person I expect to talk to, to get this resolved.the next day saturday they sent an adjuster who authorized the compltete repair. The repair was made 2 days later, but I didn't get 12 miles away as I was turning onto a major road I thought I saw the glass shift. I was right it started to move out of the gasket. Back at the installers they made an attempt to reseat the glass .they finally told me to bring it in the next morning and they would glue it in and to leave it overnight to cure. We did.It seemed this was the answer. We left the next Sunday we drove from Alvin Tx to Arlington Tx about 250 miles stayed at a campsight overnight and leaving the campsite the next day as I pulled onto the highway the glass shifted leaving an airgap at the divider again, thus for one week I have been trying to figure out what is going on and how do I fix it? Any and all suggestions that may help would be welcomed. Thanks in advance Sharon and Ed making the best of it in Arlington Tx.

[Finally]

Is there any rust in the window frame? Maybe the installer can place tabs or a double of bars to hole the window in place. It may not look good but maybe the window will stay in place. I hope the nightmare ends and the dreams start up again for you and the DW.

[wb7auk]

Are you using the leveling jacks wrong as that is a no no with National's or you
will have windshield problems.
The front jacks need to lift the front a little to take the weight off the front before using the rear jacks and avoid twisting the coach.

[Vaflatlander]

No there is no rust it's all suspended in a fiberglass piece from what I understand and it supposed to flex to a degree but something seems to be wrong thank you for your reply

[Vaflatlander]

I have always leveled the front jacks first then the rear. My glass problem seems to occur when I'm crossing a swale in the road leaving a parking lot on to a highway

[DASA]

After 8 or 9 years of travel in our 03 dolphin both the left and right windshields had many dings from flying rocks. Hudson glass on 28 th Street in Fort Worth replaced both sides and I have had no problems in over 2 yrs. They do a lot of work with the local rv dealers in the area and came highly recommended. Just a thought for someone near by you could call and discuss your problem with. 817-831-9690

[Vaflatlander]

thank you DASA for that information I'll keep that phone number I'm currently working with North Texas RV and elite glass long with my insurance company to figure out what we can do

[terry735001]

ok i see you have the FL XC chassis

i am sure i am going to get for this one

but do you have any SS updates on the

sway bar or airbag system

giving the RV is used some one could have installed them befor you

these updates help for the side to side sway that we get alot on the FL XC but make it very hard on the windshields

there are .. in pic .. items you can add into the air line that stop air from going from one airbag back to the next to help stop the sway .. but this makes a harder twest when one tire takes the full load and there gos the windshield

i have only one pic i could find and the red c is on the fuel filter . dont look at that ,,, you are looking at the small blue thing over the airbag in the airline .. see if you have them installed on every airbag

if you do then you may all so have the sway bay update as well


the updates really help how the rid feel .. but takes away from the even loading of the RV

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8R70YArkI8

[Vaflatlander]

Update to all interested I have an appointment on Friday with north texas rv david and elite glass they're going to team up and see if they can find a problem terry thank you very much for your information very informative looking under there I don't see the blue check valve but I do see that there has been new bushings on the sway bar don't know if that means there was a modification or not thanks again all for your input still in North Texas still enjoying it

[whem2fish]

Thanks dASA I needed that number myself

[terry735001]

i found there sway bar update

Roadmaster Rear Auxiliary Sway Bar, Freightliner XC Class A Motorhome Chassis


but like the video says making your airbags in to a sway bar ..!!
well i would not be ok with that as its like having a jack leaking down at a camp site

the glued in windshields do good with this type of update

but the rubber type
with full cabnets in the roof
2 or more AC units on the roof maybe add a solar panel here or there

and you do get alot of sway

try to do any thing to stop that sway and it adds alot of side loading to the windshield to start braking .. framing .. front caps ..and so on

aaaa bast way to think of it .. stand in a boat .. with the waves .. then lock your legs

the RV is doing the same thing by moving air from one side of the RV to the next in the airbag system .. even with one tire pushed up 6inc or more the PSI is the same in each airbag .. and the sway bar is there to help stop this

why am i adding all this .. well i see alot of guys having a hard time with windshields out there and i am sure this well be seen by some of them

i am 100% this is not what is going on for every one and may not be here as well

but most used RVs dont get alot of miles on them and so when some thing gos wrong its hard to tie in what it may have came from

i hope this helps

[Vaflatlander]

Thanks again Terry tomorrow is my day at north texas rv I'm definitely going to let the experts know what you had to say about this I think it's very valuable I would love to know there's resolve to this problem and I can be on my way

[Vaflatlander]

10,000 mile later. This is the conclusion to the windshield problems on our cross country trip. We spent the weekend in the Garage at North Texas RV of Krum, Texas.after David of North Texas and Larry of Elite Glass spent all day Friday July 11th removing windshields R and L inspecting structurally, measuring glass and prepping and reinstalling windshields. Their conclusion, a proper install will resolve the problem. David explained that they wanted the sealing compound to cure for the weekend and that we could spend the weekend in the RV in the garage, he gave us a key that we could come and go in our toad. Wow! Because of the time lost and at this point my skepticism, we decided to head North rather than West, if there were any more WS issues we would head home. I am so glad to report that not only did we not have any glass problems worse than blinding bug smears but thanks to our GPS (Magellan) our windshield was put to more stress than, had I not blindly followed it, and stuck to the Interstates, would have never been experienced.
I learned a lot this trip.
If you have a windshield problem do your best to confirm the glass company you deal with has experience with “RV glass.” Who do the local RV companies deal with?
I was turned over to safelite glass who handed my problem to Duncan they were supposed to be the RV experts. If I can avoid doing business with them in the future I will, they left me hanging for a month and called me upset that my insurance co. authorized a repair.
Don’t let your insurance co. tell you, “ You may have a structural problem,” if they suspect that, they should not have been so eager to take your money prior to a claim.
Again thanks to David of North Texas RV team, and Larry and his team of Elite Glass.
And thank you my fellow IRV2 members for your help both past and future.
Ed and Sharon.