Windshield replacement

Dragginourbedaround · Oct 18, 2018

A couple of days ago I had my windshield replaced in Venice, FL. By Executive Auto Glass And Repair. A mobile repair company, Brian is the owner. All the front overhead cabinets had to be empty and then Brian removed everything attached in the overhead. In the first two pictures Brian is cutting through the Urethane holding the glass in place. He did this all the way around the frame. That was followed by separating the glass from the frame. This probably took an hour. Then they removed the windshield and removed the rust from the frame. There was more rust on the bottom than anywhere else. Next he applied rust inhibitor. After applying rust inhibitor the inhibitor had to set for a minimum of two hours before he could continue. Next he applied a new bead of Urethane around the frame and then installed the new windshield adding more Urethane where needed. The whole process took about 4 hours including the 2 hour cure time. Couldn't drive it for 24 hours. He said Winnebago's tend to have more rust than other coaches, but it wouldn't stop him from buying one. He liked the steel frame.

Kevin Means · Oct 18, 2018

Sounds like he knew what he was doing. It's refreshing to see that. We live in a relatively dry part of the country, averaging only about 10 inches of rain per year, and So Cal doesn't have anywhere near the corrosion problems as the south and east coasts. We're fortunate to be able to keep our coach indoors when it's not in use, so we've lucked out on the infamous Winnie windshield rust problem. (So far)

Even so, I still occasionally hear about Winnebago owners out here who have rusted out windshield frames, even on relatively new RVs. We love our Tour, but I really wonder how Winnie has managed to go for decades without figuring out how to install windshields that won't lead to rusted out frames. I hope your rust problem is solved - once and for all.

Kev

cbeierl · Oct 18, 2018

Looks like a good job! I suspect that that's Urethane rather than Epoxy that's used to hold the windshield in/on.

Dragginourbedaround · Oct 18, 2018

cbeierl said:
Looks like a good job! I suspect that that's Urethane rather than Epoxy that's used to hold the windshield in/on.

Thanks! I fixed the text, but not the images.

Dragginourbedaround · Oct 18, 2018

We love our Tour, but I really wonder how Winnie has managed to go for decades without figuring out how to install windshields that won't lead to rusted out frames. I hope your rust problem is solved - once and for all.

Kev

I agree they seem to be on top of everything else. I really couldn?t see the rust until the windshield was removed. But several glass people saw it immediately.

John Canfield · Oct 19, 2018

Thanks for the write-up and the pictures.

) Was the old windshield cracked, can't tell from the pix.

I also like the steel frame for the windshield which combined with the glass is a major structural part of the cab. Some manufacturers basically put a gasket around the windshield and put it in the opening using the gasket to hold the glass in place. One of my Winnebago contacts was telling me about one Class A that was brought somewhere (maybe a show? I don't remember) and the windshield actually popped out of the gasket due to stresses. That might have happened when they were using jacks to level - that can put quite a stress on the frame and chassis.

Gary RV_Wizard · Oct 19, 2018

Windshield pop-outs were common back in the mid & late 90's and into the early 2000's in some brands. The problem was NOT the installation technique per se, which is the same as employed on cars and trucks. The underlying problem was the lack of structural rigidity in the front cap and the chassis itself, allowing it to twist and shift when traveling over uneven roads or leveling on jacks. The problem largely went away when the chassis makers improved the stiffness of the frame and RV body builders improved the front cap framing. Workhorse introduced the 50,000 psi rated W-series chassis in late 2001 and Ford followed with an upgraded F53 .

An interim attempt by RV body builders involved gluing the windshield into the opening, but that gave mixed results. Without improving the supporting structure, the use of high strength adhesives transferred the stress to the glass, resulting in stress cracks instead of pop-outs.

Dragginourbedaround · Oct 19, 2018

John Canfield said:
Thanks for the write-up and the pictures. ) Was the old windshield cracked, can't tell from the pix.

I also like the steel frame for the windshield which combined with the glass is a major structural part of the cab. Some manufacturers basically put a gasket around the windshield and put it in the opening using the gasket to hold the glass in place. One of my Winnebago contacts was telling me about one Class A that was brought somewhere (maybe a show? I don't remember) and the windshield actually popped out of the gasket due to stresses. That might have happened when they were using jacks to level - that can put quite a stress on the frame and chassis.

There was a crack stretching from the bottom center up into the drivers side. The windshield was really difficult to separate from the adhesive. I don't see how it could ever just pop out.

We were in OBX and a friend of ours was taking a driving lesson when the windshield popped loose on her going over the bridge in high winds. It was a 45' DP, but I don't remember the manufacturer. It wasn't a Winnebago.

John Canfield · Oct 19, 2018

Dragginourbedaround said:
There was a crack stretching from the bottom center up into the drivers side. The windshield was really difficult to separate from the adhesive. I don't see how it could ever just pop out.

I don't think a Winnebago windshield could ever pop out due to the design and engineering of the glass and cab. The one I heard about was just held in place with an "H" shape gasket.

We were in OBX and a friend of ours was taking a driving lesson when the windshield popped loose on her going over the bridge in high winds. It was a 45' DP, but I don't remember the manufacturer. It wasn't a Winnebago.

Yikes! I wonder if that was due to a 'perfect storm' of circumstances - high air pressure in the house and a particular stressing of the chassis/cab.

Top38 · Oct 25, 2018

I just had one done on my 02 Journey, two piece windshield so much smaller! I let the guys use my pickup truck bed as a work platform, this worked out great as it was the perfect height! Took them about an hour to do it (one side). My frame was in good shape with minimal rust.

Windshield replacement

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