I have a 92 34' Bounder and I noticed that both windshields at the top outside corners were coming loose from the body You could actually put a piece of paper through the gap. The rubber trim wasn't broken or cracked just pulled away from the body and it took the glass man about an hour to put it back in place. Has any one had or heard of similar problems? I would also like to know what caused it. Any ideas? ???
windshields
- Thread starter srdougm
- Start date
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Ron
Moderator Emeritus
I have heard of this happening but not on a Bounder. Contact Fleetwood even though the Bounder is out of warranty to see if they are aware of the happening and what they recommend to fix it.
NC DaveD
Well-known member
I have also heard of this happening on other motorhomes, although I have not had it happen to me (yet). Threads that I have followed in the past have mentioned this happening if the front jack is not put down first when leveling the motorhome. I wish I had something other than "hearsay" to offer....
David Derway
David Derway
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
NC DaveD said:
This is indeed a fact on three jack systems. TYhe front jack must be raised at least couple inches before leveling side to side to prevent twisting of the frame. For example if the lot you are parked on is slightly higher at the front end of the coach and you level using the coach fore and aft using only the rear jacks with the air bags dumped the bumpers in the front airbags are in contact. leveling side to side would give the same results as leveling side to side with a four jack system using only one of the rear jacks. In the example above the correct procedure is to raise the fron jack a couple inches then level length wise the side to side.
The above would not apply on coaches without airbags that are dumped when leveling.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Happened to me on a 96 Southwind, a kissin' cousin of the Bounder. It is not a terribly unusual problem, especiali in older models. Nor is it a big deal to fix, as you noted. The front end of a motorhome is a huge fiberglass cap that is sort of tacked on and in most the windshield kind of floats in a rubber gasket set into the cap. It is subject to a lot of twisting action both as you drive (think about the turn and dip movement as you exit a driveway onto a road) and when the rig is jacked up on an uneven campsite. You should be careful when jacking to avoid any twisting movement, such as Ron described with a 3 jack system. Others claim that jacking the front wheels right off the ground can casue enough stress to pop a windshield. I suspect that any or all of these things contribute and can eventually casue a windshield to pop loose.
A few manufacturers tried to glue in the windsheilds to avoid this problem, but they experienced stress cracking instead, so most [if not all] use the free floating system. I haven't heard much about windshield poping in the last few years, so I assume the front cap designs have now been improved (stiffened?] to avoid this problem.
A few manufacturers tried to glue in the windsheilds to avoid this problem, but they experienced stress cracking instead, so most [if not all] use the free floating system. I haven't heard much about windshield poping in the last few years, so I assume the front cap designs have now been improved (stiffened?] to avoid this problem.
Karl
Moderator Emeritus
Ron,
Excellent suggestion! That's the way I've been doing it; now I know why ;D
Excellent suggestion! That's the way I've been doing it; now I know why ;D
Ron
Moderator Emeritus
kkolbus said:
Basically the manufacturers instructions for the Eagle give the proper instructions for jacking. But the real challange for the manufacturer is to get the new owner to read the manual. ;D When we got the Eagle there was even a video discribing how to us the jacks. There was no explanation as to why or what could happen if done improperly. I first took a good look at what was causing other folks coaches having three jack systems including American Coaches to experience popped windshields. Once I actulally thought about it I knew why we were doing what we were doing was correct and what the potential consequences are by not following instructions.
RLSharp
Well-known member
Polycarp said:
I don't know whether you noticed but you responded to a posting made over 5 years ago and that was the only post that the OP made. So, I don't think you will get a reply from him/her.
Richard
