Motorhome Maintenance–Windshield

We’d been here about a month, sitting in one place, not moving at all, when one morning we noticed a line in the center of the windshield.  Tom thought it was a drip of water, but after looking closer, we realized that it was a crack . . . and we had no idea where it came from!  The next day, it had moved a little further, and started taking a turn toward the side of the windshield.

We weren’t confident that we could find a place to replace the windshield this far south in Texas, and thought we might have to wait until we got up closer to Corpus Christi or Houston before we could get it fixed.  Tom started researching the MH forums online, and calling a few RVer friends, and found an RV glass company that works with installers all over the nation.  He called them, and actually found out that we had a better chance of finding an installer, and even a mobile installer, down here in the RGV.  He recommended a shop in McAllen that can do mobile RV windshield replacements, who they’ve worked with on over 100 RVs. 

We decided to go ahead and get it done, so we had them initiate the claim with our insurance company . . . and were pleasantly surprised to hear that we had a $0 deductible!  The windshield was ordered, and we were told it would take a couple weeks to get to us from the glass company in Oregon.

One day when we were in McAllen, we found the shop and stopped in to talk to the manager.  He explained that they typically schedule RV installs for Saturdays, because he needs to bring 4-5 guys along, and that it needs to be a warm and dry day.

The first weekend after our windshield arrived was incredibly windy, so they could not do the install and we had to wait until the following weekend.  We got a surprise call on the Thursday afternoon, saying that they were going to come out on Friday morning, if that was OK.  We said sure, and were ready for them when they arrived.  In additional to clearing off the dash area, we had to bring in all the slides and dump all the air out of the suspension.

They got right to work, loosening the old windshield from the gasket.

It gave them a little trouble, but after some pounding and prying between the glass and the gasket, it finally broke loose, and they got it out.

With the glass removed, we could get a better look at the crack, and we could also feel the stone chip that started it – way at the very top edge of the windshield, right up against the gasket.  It was in the dark area of the windshield, and from inside there was no way to see it because the top of the windshield is above the bottom of the overhead cabinets.  We didn’t even know we had a stone chip there, and have no idea when we got it.

When the windshield came out, the gasket cam loose from the fiberglass, and the rain gutter above the gasket came off entirely.  Tom had wanted that replaced anyway, so they had a new one with them.  They got the gasket back in place, and put the new windshield in.

It took a little bit of time to make sure the glass was seated properly in the gasket, and once they were sure it was, they added the new rain gutter to the top.

They were really good about pointing out anything that they found out of the ordinary, and explaining the process they were following in installing the new glass.  There was a little bit of concern over the amount of flexibility in the fiberglass above the windshield, but after a call to the glass company, we determined that it was OK to continue with the install.

The final step was to seal the space between the gasket and the rain gutter, and then they washed the whole windshield.

We needed to leave the slides in and the air out of the suspension for the rest of the day, preferably 24 hours, to allow the urethane to fully cure.

It looks good . . .

and no crack!

They did a good job – we were really happy with it!  The total process took about 2 hours.

We had originally planned to go to the South Padre Island Kite Festival that day with a group from the RV Park, but by the time the windshield was done, they had already been gone a couple hours, so we decided to wait and go on Saturday.  We talked to a few of the people who went, and they said it was good but that the beach was very wet, with huge puddles everywhere from the rain we had gotten during the week.  They also said it was very foggy for the first couple hours that they were there.

We had hoped that the weather would be better on Saturday, but it wasn’t.  As we reached South Padre, we could see that the entire island was blanketed in fog – we didn’t have much hope of seeing anything.

We parked at the Visitor Center next to the beach, so we wouldn’t have to drive through the puddles, and sat for a while hoping that the fog might lift.

It didn’t, though, and eventually started to rain, so we left and went back to the RV Park for the fish fry dinner they were having that afternoon.  That was a bummer – we had been looking forward to the kite festival!

We had much better weather on Sunday, and I was able to get some sun and read for a couple hours!

Ah, that was nice!!

Meanwhile in Michigan, they were preparing for the big snow and deep freeze headed their way!  Bryce and his friends took advantage of an earlier snow and went snow tubing, before it got too cold.

Bryce with two of his roommates,

and Bryce & Hannah,

Most of the group of friends . . . looks like they had fun!

We had 4 days of super warm temperatures in the high 80s, and then this past weekend, the cold weather settled in down here, forcing us to spend most of our time inside, watching movies . . . and I got some sewing done . . . finished my new wall hanging.

When we did go out, we just did some shopping and tried a new BBQ restaurant that looked interesting.

We actually parked in the back of the building and were going to walk around the front, but a guys outside directed us to a back door, taking us right past the smokers where he was cooking the meat for the following day.

Between all that smoking meat, and the burning oak, it smelled so good out there . . . and the fire felt pretty good too!  The day before, when it was 85 degrees out, it would not have felt so good in there!

Inside, it’s like a big open warehouse with a giant bar in the middle of the room.  They also had another smaller room for private parties.  It was a cool-looking place,

and the food was really good, too!  We split a turkey sandwich and a brisket sandwich, and Tom got beans with his, and I had a salad. 

Fortunately, the cold only lasted for 2 days, and now we’re back into the 70s/80s for this week – we like that much better!