Foretravel Owners' Forum

So I took the coach to Suncoast Designers end of July, spent 3 days, de-snaked all 8 windows + door. When I checked out (over $2,500) they told me to leave the windows alone for a day or two, I guess to let the glue set or ?  Took the coach back to storage, never thinking about it again til this trip....tried the driver's window, couldn't get it open, thought I'd best get to NAC before attempting again in case it was gonna break.

Well the troops at FOT could not get any of the windows open...I had to give them the OK to try the driver's window & they had to see if they had a new one in stock before trying to open it. Bob finally got the driver's window open but no way would they try to do the others.....now am stuck with 7 windows glued shut!!!!!  What the H-E-double-hockey-sticks is going on and why would they do such a thing and why didn't they tell me that I should try to  open the windows in a day or two instead of just telling me not to open them for a day or two? I am plenty ticked off.... >:D

I might would be calling Suncoast!!!!!

...well Bruce, they are definitely going to get a call/visit/something-or-other when I get back, am in NAC at the moment, coach won't be back in FL til 10/17....they also left a mess of tiny metal shards & bits & pieces of 'whatever' all over the coach...and for this fine experience they also have a gigantic fish bowl/tip cup (I kid you not) right in the window where you pay your bill.....(on this last note, I asked several long time FT folks what their opinion was of said 'tip cup' & got every kind of 'exciting' answer, none of them positive!) 

Take close up pictures of what is holding them windows closed.

Shoot them to Suncoast.  They have been in business a long time and have a good reputation.

Per their website, they have a lifetime warranty on their work.

At Suncoast I tried all the windows after they were re-installed.  Several of them were too tight.  They removed them, broke them apart and re-assembled them.  All were fine except the driver's side window, which was still tight after rework.  They sprayed silicone on it adequate at the time.  Since then that same window has continued to stick.  I have to check it before each toll booth to make sure I can get it open.  I regularly the perimeter with silicone spay.  To make matters worse, snakes have appeared in three of the windows.  I plan to return next year to test their lifetime warranty.

Glad I have single pane!!!!!!!

Ok I give!  What are window snakes? 

Glad I have single pain, yes I spelled that correctly. Rubber between glazing expands from heat into a sine wave snake shape, cause it's got no where to expand to.

The black mastic between the two layers of glass in double pain (of, sorry pane) windows migrates in from the edge and becomes an eye sore/obstructs version.

Several companies have made a cottage industry of doing nothing but repairing these issues.  Most are in the $300/window price range.

Here is the company in Hudson FL that Miz is working with: Window De-fogging | RV Window Repair Specialists in Hudson, FL (http://suncoastdesigners.com/rv-services/defog/)

You can see snakes in the entrance door and in the window over the dinette is this VERY unusual floorplan/handicap equipped coach:
1999 Foretravel Motorcoach U295, Class A - Diesel RV For Sale in Mesa,... (http://www.rvt.com/Foretravel-Motorcoach-Foretravel-U295-1999-Mesa-AZ-ID7551865-UX127532)

Take a close look at the warranty.  Ours decreases by 10 percent per year after the first year.  I have one sticking window unfortunately over the sink.  I made sure I was there for every step.  One of the three installers, lead, had two years of experience and the other two less than two months.  I was happy at the time and have no snakes emerging in the 5 we had done.  If they are not retaining employees, their past reputation may be suspect.

How much is a new window, say a dinette slider?

Motion Windows was over $550 plus shipping another $150. Just ordered a drivers window $694 plus $150 shipping. Wish there was a way to get discount. I called FT and they just sold one that was $1100. So I guess I got a discount and did not know it,

We replaced all windows with Motion when we painted 5 years ago, then later had the opportunity to visit Motion Windows in Washington State.  Learned that their dual pane spacer is solid and attaches to the glass with a black sealant, so no chance of getting our 'snakes' back with Motion.  The motion shop will also re-glaze existing window frames that have snakes.

Are you asking how much to de-snake them or how much they are to replace? To de-snake, $250 per window (door is considered one) and $300 for driver's side...don't ask me why they want $50 more for a window smaller than the 4 big ones....

Have no idea what an actual replacement window costs...as for getting this re-done somewhere else, heck no, this was over $2,500 & I aim to hold them to their lifetime warranty....

And thankfully close to your home base Dani

.....not for long, Tim, moving back to the Pacific NW (Olympic Peninsula) in spring/summer....have had a snoot full of Florida....moving my mom back to Hawaii in December & going full time so got to get this mess fixed the sooner the better....last thing I needed was another trip up there, even though it's less than 50 miles from coach storage....

....so after 6.5 weeks on the road & nearly 3,500 miles I finally got back to Suncoast Designers yesterday to get the windows un-stuck...in about an hour they managed to hammer, pry, chisel, & tweak 'em so I could finally get all 8 windows open. They also used a very interesting item, to wax the tracks, CRL Tube Wax, comes in a stick tube, they used a wooden stick to dig into it then their fingers to moosh it down into the tracks...said good preventive maintenance would be to use it about once a month in every window. Also said some of my tracks are bad, driver's window track is slipping forward & catching on some kind of obstacle, that needs replacement, a couple of other windows need new tracking.  One more item on my already growing list for FOT in February when I go back for FBP....

 

Are you having FBP at FOT?

...yes, they (at Grandvention) made us all an offer we couldn't refuse, first time ever...starting work Feb. 12th, take about 5-6 weeks....working up the designs now....this offer + other friends (happy customers) I talked to at GV pushed me over the edge to make the decision finally....while I was there recently, Biscuit came out & we did a complete walk around & I got all the questions answered...he also did a seminar at GV + David F did one....Sarah (FOT graphic artist) is working up some really nice simple 4 color designs....also had David F put some shelves in, place is taking shape nicely for full timing in the spring.... ^.^d

Reason I asked is that Extreme removes all the windows on FBP, so no extra labor charge to replace windows during FBP, only the cost of the windows - I assume FT removes the windows during their FBP?

Keep us updated, sounds neat!

Tim Fiedler

Sure Start Soft Start (http://www.gen-pro.biz)

TCER Direct (http://www.tcerdirect.com) generator-gas-prod (http://www.generatorgasproducts.com) 630 240-9139
Gen-Pro

OK. Tim,
What is FRP?
Jim

20020 U320

FT does remove the windows for Full Body Paint. (Tossed gently into the coach with window valences, MCD shades, etc.) Ladders and awnings get stored "outside."

Motion did all new darker windows in our coach 5K. The galley and passenger are lift bay's. Love them.

Typo on FBP

Miz Dani
Glad to hear you're coming back to the North Blessed, we need more FT's out here on the left coast. We're on Lopez Island.
As unsightly as they are I'll live with my snakes, they're way down on my list. Hope the problem is resolved.
Cheers Ric  8)

Interesting about the CRL tube wax.  It's a cutting wax used to lubricate objects when sanding, sawing, drilling, grinding, etc. during manufacturing.  Would never have thought of using something like that.

CRL stands for CR Laurence.  They are a huge international fabrication company.  If you have frameless glass shower doors at home then the chances are good that the hinges are CR Laurence.

Chris
Chris

This is my second rv with all Motion windows from the state of Washington.  The previous Signature we had were installed in Washington at their glass shop, the current FT at Motion.  I have had no issues, none, with either the windows or the installation.  No snakes, no wind noise, no leaks, no binding, locks work easily, solar reflective glass is wonderful.  I would go out of my way to only use Motion windows in the future because of the wonderful experience I've had with them.