Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Topic: Grand Villa Windshield Woes... (Read 2940 times) previous topic - next topic

Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

March 15, 2018, 08:03:22 am

Well I thought that my past windshield shifting had been rectified with the new gaskets done a few years ago. We had not had any issues ... But yesterday I was sitting in the coach here in the campground at Daytona and see something I thought was just laying on the windshield. No it was a crack from too to bottom on the right windshield. The two sides also separated about 1/4 inch in the middle from the rubber strip. I am parked on almost level grass here I leveled the coach etc. My buddy and I were able to take 2 good sam plastic cards and with him outside standing on front bumper and myself inside we were able to slide the plastic cards under the rubber strip and work the glass edge back into the rubber. Once in we were able to slip the rubber side to side to even the space of the two glass halves. So now I am hoing to need a right side windshield. I am wondering if my progressive insurance covered this it is full coverage. I'll read into it when we get back home.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #1 – March 15, 2018, 08:19:21 am

Stump, could there be any problem of de lamination of the front cap from the chassis causing this fiber glass to shift. Another previous FT owner, John Duld, pointed out to me his front cap came loose and he could push on the windshield and make the entire cap move prior to having the cap reattached. Maybe John Duld or someone else with specific knowledge of this happening, and/or causing your issue, could post.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #2 – March 15, 2018, 08:42:29 am

Stump,

You are too nice a person to have all these bad things happen to you.

To help Karma fix things, buy a lottery ticket.

Trent

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #3 – March 15, 2018, 09:23:22 am

The cap was inspected by Tn RV when I first got the coach and the glass shifted. They replaced all the rubber moulding. That was about 2 grand. The left glass shifted again and China Grove Glass and Coach worked it back in and charged me 100.00. Clyde also said he did not see any issues with the cap either at that time. I spoke with Clyde at China Grove Glass and Coach this morning and I'll get up with him after we get back from bike week and have them take care of everything. He has been doing coaches since about 1958 I think he said. It is what it is I'm not going to let it ruin my good time!

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #4 – March 15, 2018, 10:42:31 am

Our windshields move around quite a bit. The driver's side developed a gap to the outside a while back. I thought about gluing it but decided it might be best to let the glass move as it wants. I wait until it's warm and then push it back to where it looks OK. We take the coach down a lot of gravel and dirt roads so are very careful to make the transition from pavement to side road very carefully. We live up on the side of a canyon and getting the coach from it's parking spot to the driveway requires a lot of chassis flexing along with plenty of noise from the front cap.

Foretravel did a terrible job with the front cap design on the GVs. Just no steel/aluminum anywhere. Have you ever tried walking out on it to work on the ICC lights? Scary! I put a blanket on it and crawl now. So far, all we get is a lot of creaking and complaining as it twists but the glass has survived. Keeping fingers crossed.

Your insurance company should replace it without much protest. Any glass shop with a good reputation should be able to do it quickly.

Pierce

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #5 – March 15, 2018, 11:34:48 am

Stump, I'm so sorry for your windshield frustrations. We can sympathize, as we had our share of windshield woes, too - gaps, shifting, etc. Ours is not a Grand Villa, so of course, things are different.

We had Xtreme reset the windshield twice, and it eventually shifted both times. After MUCH research on gaskets (who makes them, brands, thickness, difference in manufacturing plants), and MUCH research on the 3 different brands of windshields (thickness, curves, tint), we determined the gasket and the glass itself was not the problem.

I learned that it was "common" practice for some windshield installers to shave a little bit off the fiberglass around the windshield to get them to fit easier. THAT ended up being our problem. I have pictures of when Xtreme propped up our windshield in the windshield space, and the amount of gap on the radius up top was alarming. There is no way a gasket could hold that thing in place without movement and shifting.

Solution: Rance re-fiberglassed and built up the radius curves so that there would be more "bite" in the gasket holding the windshield firmer. That was over 3 years ago, no problems since.

(*side note* this was my 200th post - YAY, ME!)

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #6 – March 15, 2018, 11:49:47 am

Quote from: stump – March 15, 2018, 08:03:22 am

No it was a crack from too to bottom on the right windshield.

When I first looked at the pic, I went to brush what I thought was dog hair off the screen! Never seen a crack like that. I see what looks like "fogging" on the lower edge, caused by delamination. We see it up north, but not down here. Knock on glass, we have yet to have a "windshield story", would like to know what caused that mess!

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #7 – March 15, 2018, 12:24:03 pm

My windshield squeaked from the first day I got the coach. Was always very careful when transitioning from one surface to another. Last year my windshield popped out (driver's side).I got both windshields and gasket replaced at FOT. I had delamination on the front cap. FOT fixed the delam replaced the windshields and I have not heard a squeak since.

Roland

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #8 – March 15, 2018, 05:43:40 pm

Stump, give Hans a shout. He had this issue and did his own repair.

Enjoy your trip!

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #9 – March 15, 2018, 06:10:26 pm

I have a feeling that changing the rubber around the glass contributes to the popping. While it seems to make sense to also change rubber, leaving the original rubber in place and sliding in a new piece of glass, problems may be avoided. Usually there is no indication that new rubber is needed.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #10 – March 15, 2018, 06:34:59 pm

Check the width of your problem gasket, there are 2 different widths. The new wide one is approx. 1-3/4" the other is really narrow about 1". When jacking, do not twist the coach.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #11 – March 15, 2018, 06:56:35 pm

When our right-side windshield cracked a couple of years ago the insurance company sent a mobile outfit to install the new windshield. As we were scheduling the appointment I told them that it looked like the gasket had been damaged so they ordered a new gasket. The new gasket wasn't the right one, but the original was still good so they reused it.

As Pierce said, the whole nose assembly is actually a collection of separate parts flying in close formation accompanied by all sorts of interesting sounds. Since the last "regular" GV was made more than 20 years ago all of those parts are aging and joints are wearing. Hmmm, sounds like my knees. Anyway, if you got 20 years out of a windshield you are doing well.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #12 – March 15, 2018, 07:02:34 pm

Stump,
Does your coach have the "hand holds" mounted below the windshield? These were added as a fix for front cap movement on the Grand Villas--- my previous coach, a 1990 Grand Villa Unihome had them added, and i never had a problem with the windshield. I dont think the current owner has either. The screws holding the hand holdds are long, and go into the plywood bulkhead and help hold the frontt cap in place.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #13 – March 15, 2018, 07:27:18 pm

Take a close look at the front body mounts. You may want to add a pair of triangulated struts from the frame up to the cowl/Grab rails.
Kinda like the Aussy guy did.
My LR body mount is the only rusty place on my ORED and I am now repairing the mount , but there are a few places in the nose that could use a re-engineer as well.

For local delam repair, I use Gorilla glue with water , shoved in with a syringe and air gun.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #14 – March 15, 2018, 07:29:18 pm

If replacing front airbags on a GV, it might be good to raise both sides at the same time to avoid twisting the front.

We don't have the handles up front but it might be good to see about installing long screws to possibly stabilize the cap.

Pierce

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #15 – March 16, 2018, 12:30:17 am

I agree with protech that additional triangulation may prevent some of the movement. Experiment with a cracker box basically open on the windshield end and the back end realitivly well secured. Trouble is I think its the roof at the top front that needs triangulated to prevent windshield movement. So maybe remove all heavy stuff in the overhead compartments especially at the front, and if possible back out some screws inside the upper cabinets add washers to screws into the sidewall and the roof structure and snug them up back up again while on a level pad to help restore orignal stiffness of the overhead structure. As the cabinets help triangulate the roof to the sidewall. Just my 2 cents.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #16 – March 16, 2018, 12:46:41 am

I don't know anything about triangulation but what I do know is that since Foretravel repaired and put their food in for my delamination and windshield install I don't have any more squeaks. I seem to remember someone on the Forum tried to engineer a solution for their front flexing and were unsuccessful. I would go to the experts, either FOT or MOT. But DWMYH.

Roland

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #17 – March 16, 2018, 01:24:44 am

We had a repeat windshield popping out at a corner problem, and separation down the center. All caused by rotten plywood. I opened one of the service doors in the nose and found to my surprise I could shove my finger through the 3/4" plywood above the doors and under the dash. I got to learn about removing enough of the dashboard to get to it but once there that plywood came out and got used as a template. I put a 3/4" sheet of that green treated plywood in there, held in place with lag screws and vast amounts of 3M 5200. I got fancy with drain channels and a couple plastic lined weep holes to let condensation out but that may not have been strictly necessary. It's been 5 years and many washboard roads and that glass hasn't moved since. You might wanna check that plywood.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #18 – March 16, 2018, 10:57:12 am

Yes the design has the plywood as the main structure. Every time it cycles it gets weaker and water destroy it's usefulness.
Triangulating the nose in front of the plywood, engaging the dash and upper area of the cap should let this live another 20 yrs. IMHO.
Stump, Do you have the angle iron boxes from the frame to the firewall?

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #19 – March 16, 2018, 12:22:20 pm

Quote from: Pierce & Gaylie Stewart – March 15, 2018, 07:29:18 pm

We don't have the handles up front but it might be good to see about installing long screws to possibly stabilize the cap.

Good thread (unfortunately), I've learned a lot. We have the handles, always thought they were dumb, until I read "the rest of the story" !

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #20 – March 16, 2018, 07:57:27 pm

Stump....I had my right windshield crack and found the delam issue. Not a bad repair job on 95 since access is easier. Give me a shout or check my prior post.

Hey to Betsy !

Hans

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #21 – March 16, 2018, 09:24:22 pm

Just finished today installing a new factory one piece gasket and two new factory windshields. The old ones were after market and the gasket was a hodgepodge of different gaskets. Originally I had parked the unit on slightly unlevel surface (1 1/2 out of level) I noticed the drivers side windshield sticking out on the corner. This in a 88 Grand Villa 40'. This played havoc on my budget, but was needed. The expansion strip was the hardest part.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #22 – March 20, 2018, 12:55:13 am

You did that job yourself? I am impressed. It is a bit amazing to me though, what we are willing to do to maintain these coaches. Never in all my days did I think I would ever have been up for a radiator r n r on a rig this size. But you get the quote to have it done, screech like a little girl, and then figure out how to do the job in your driveway. If it comes to it I will try to remember this thread and come back here and pick your brain for how to replace a ginormous GV windshield.

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #23 – April 13, 2018, 11:22:57 am

Patience is a virtue when it comes to this replacement (having to shell out 1470 plus for both windshields is a great incentive for patience, plus 240 for the seal). Getting the new gasket center exactly located is important. I marked where the old gasket center was, but was a 1/4 inch off. Needless to say I actually installed the windshield twice after I found the second half didn't quite fit right. I did buy suction cup handles and the curved hook hand tool (Basically a cotter key puller). The best thing was buying 1/2 foam pipe insulation to cover the bottom edge while handling (make sure it doesn't have a glue strip on the insulation). I had scaffolding around the front and would recommend that it made the job a lot easier and safer. Spray bottle with a high concentration of dish soap and water will help, especially when installing the expander strip.

Update note:
Had a couple of inches of rain last night and discovered that the seal channel on the side windows is filling up and seeping over the inside lower lip of the window seal. Outside lip is higher due to the expansion seal. This has been a problem in the past as I repaired and refinished the veneer in the same place. I drilled an 1/8 inch weep hole on the outside of the seal up toward the channel and drilled a hole in the aluminum flange of the frame. Got quite a bit of water out the hole. The veneer was refinished bout 3 inches from the corner. Hole is on the bottom seal, not the side as shown in picture

Re: Grand Villa Windshield Woes...

Reply #24 – April 13, 2018, 08:56:24 pm

And I always thought that the handles below the windshields were for getting up on the bumper to wash the windshield. Always good to learn some thing new. Have a great day ---- Fritz

Affiliate Notice