Quote:
Originally Posted by rabbit
The following is from my thread "Rebedding Burro Windows."
Rebedding Burro back window
Pictures of rebedding back window. This is a pretty easy job in the rv site how-to videos; devil, as usual, is in the details. This window was leaking about two cups of water from the upper right in a heavy rain. Cushions, memory foam and bed linen on the rear decks removed since the rally in Williamsport PA in early July. After removing the clamp ring inside, I had to insert a 1" putty knife all around the flange to break it free. Saw why when I got it out: not only a layer of putty tape but also a second layer of butyl at the top applied right over the original putty tape. Also a heavy bead of very hard linseed oil-caulk thrown in there where it did absolutely nothing except make removal and cleanup harder.
I didn't take the pix until the bedding flange was all cleaned up. I should have taken more pix but thunderstorms on the way and I wanted to finish. A couple of hints to those who like myself, haven't done this, but will in future.
1) Bestine is a very good solvent for final cleanup of mating surfaces of trailer and window flange after the bulk of putty/other goo has been scraped offl
2) When you apply the Butyl (and ONLY Butyl) tape to the window flange, remove the paper separator as you go (and particularly rounding corners) to get it accurately aligned. I know fingers stick to it but not if you wet them in a bowl of water as you go. Yeh, you guessed it; I just licked mine.
3) The channel in the window frame extrusion which catches the sheet metal screws thru the interior clamp ring is narrow and soft. It is easy to cock the direction of the screw and completely miss the channel. I could see that this had happened in three locations while the window was out. The channel was deformed and pinched together in two locations and I pried these areas open. Every location where a screw doesn't grab is a place where compression on the Butyl gasket is reduced.
4) Do not use screws longer than the original but don't be afraid to move up one size (say #10 for #8) if the 8s don't catch.
5) Wet the mating surface of the trailer before placing window in the opening. If you have some slack, the butyl will not stick and you have some time to get it precisely where you want it with even bearing all round. (Pix indicate that the rough opening was a bit irregular and the area of bearing scant right where I had the leak (upper right). I'd like to attribute this to those fine old Escondido paesan (farmer) working methods so I will. This points up that "humoring" the window frame up a bit so that bearing at top was maximized was the way to go in this case.
jack
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Rabbit has some good points, wish I had read them before doing my
Bigfoot.
I just finished pulling the windows out of a 1981
Bigfoot, and the windows look identical to to OP.
It helps to have two people to take out the old windows. It is a very easy process to remove: just take out the 1/2 inch x 8 sheet metal screws and pull out the window. It will be sticky as the butyl tape, even after 31 years in my trailer, is still soft.
Clean all around the inside and outside of the frames. This can take some time, using acetone or
paint thinner with a putty knife.
The interior and exterior frames were cleaned using barkeepers friend and it came up very shiny. Clean all the channels inside the frame: an air compressor, or garden hose and a good cleaner will remove years of grime, and the windows will slide a lot better. (Before cleaning the channel, I found it very hard to slide the windows)
I used a product from the GM dealer to soften the rubber, called something like silicone restorer.
I replaced all the screens at this time, using .120 spline (very hard to find, but I used .095 weed trimmer twine in place of it.) Use a spline tool to put the spline in...very easy to do. I used 24 inch
fiberglass screen.
For the rest of the windows, I will just use a very high grade sealant on top of the gaskets on the windows as two windows do not have drain holes in them.
As was mentioned by Rabbit, the butyl tape is an easy process, but I like the way he actually wet it, in order to move the actual window frame. You definitely need two people at this point, as the person inside has to line up the holes. Use 1/2 inch by number 8 sheet metal screws to put the frame and window back in place. I used all new screws to make it look better. There will be some screws that will miss the small area, so what I did, was to redrill a hole an inch or so away, and put in a new screw there. For the open hole, I will glue the head of the screw on the frame to fill the hole.
I had to replace some dry rot panels after taking out the windows and also ran some wiring for new
LED lights once the dry rot panels were removed. You may find that the 1 inch syrofoam has loosened from the exterior of the trailer. I used Lepage foam adhesive, which gives you 15 minutes to work before it sets up and put this in place just before the windows were replaced. It is not a hard job, my first attempt at it, but be prepared to spend a far amount of time cleaning the frames.
After the windows are in place, you will find a lot of butyl tape sticking out. I used a putty knife which had an angle on it and tried not to score the gel gloss finish...very easy to do.
I will put a very high grade sealant on the edge of the frame and butyl caulking which really is not needed, but will prevent any
leaks.
There are some pics on my signature which show the window installation.
Hope this helps.
Jim