Morning Folks. Last evening I pulled into a rest stop in Southern Oregon (Grants Pass area) When I went to level the coach, I discovered that the drivers side rear air bags would not inflate ( but the passenger side rear bags would) It took me a while to figure out what was going on, but in the process of trying to raise the rear end with just one set of rear bags, I must have introduced enough twist into the body to pull the drivers side glass slightly out of the center gasket. I've tried to manually persuade the center gasket to move back over to the drivers side glass ..... but it doesn't want to move. I'm fairly sure I can trouble shoot the rear solenoid problem, but I would like your advice on who in the greater Portland area you would recommend to reinstall the drivers side glass into the gasket.
Dave VanAmburg
Not sure on a physical location hopefully others can respond but I had a similar problem two years ago.
I used gorilla tape as a temp fix over the open area.
My x Foretravel mechanic buddy removes the pieces that tension the gasket that are in the center of the molding itself first. Reposition then reinsert
Find them on GOOGLE. A company in Portland that does RV glass exclusively. Did a great job for us. ^.^d
West Bee's Mobile Glass, LLC. Ph#503-472-8676. They are located in McMinnville, OR
They came to my place and replaced my driver's side windshield last year. Did an great job. My windshield cracked while sitting in a campground. He showed me the most likely reason it cracked was from a prior work done on it before I got it. The windshield gasket had a fold in it putting pressure on the glass right at the spot that it cracked. The guy seems to know his stuff.
Had a friend pop his windshield a bit on a U280 and that is exactly what we did to reposition the windshield. Was not all that difficult after the "tensioner" is removed.
Roland
I arrived in Portland, and the center gasket seperation didn't seem to get any worse during the trip. I'll try removing the center tensioner bead and see if that allows me to move the gasket back to the left. If that doesn't work ..... I'll contact the local RV glass shops and see who is qualified. Thanks for the responces.
Dave VanAmburg
Dave, Based on my experience with a GV moving the gasket will not be a permanent fix, the glass is what you need to move, took glass shop three tries when I replaced both WS's and gasket.
My tech buddy uses a wide flat blade and silicone? Spray lube in the gasket area to allow the windshield to move if memory serves me.
Using large vacuum grippers is how glass shop moved mine, three of four of the vacuum thingys and a lot of grunt , push and shove.
Gary B
Update report. A tech from Discovery Auto Glass came by yesterday for a quote on the repair to reseal the drivers side windshield. After a few minutes of inspection he commented that there was no sign of any polyurethane sealant in the center gasket grove. (where the separation occurred) I just had the drivers side glass replaced last Spring at FOT. Hmmmmm! We both agree the proper solution is to remove the glass, clean gasket and glass, and reinstall with new sealant. And this time I'm going to mark the outer edges of the glass so I can verify that the glass is evenly (equally) inserted into the gasket all around the windshield. Cost will be $250. The hard part will be finding a rain free day here in Portland this time of year! Now I need to figure out why the drivers side rear raise solenoid isn't working. Never any lack of things to do on these rigs.
Dave VanAmburg
I would not mess with any sealant on the windshield. The windshield is supposed to float. Call Foretravel and ask their reason for not putting sealant on the gasket I am certain it is not an oversight. Call Foretravel before you have any other "expert" mess with your windshield all the experts are in Nacogdoches.
Roland