New Old Stock Window Shock! Help, Please

[D Davis]

This morning I took the window in question out, rather it fell out. I think Uhaul did this because the upper thickness is about 1/4" and the bottom of the frame is much thicker... over 3/4". Attached are the pictures of the routed window. First ones are from the outside and then the rest are from the inside. The measurements are from top to bottom 19 1/8" and the width is 24 3/4 in one spot and 24 7/8 in another.
Now WHATCHA THINK? HA!

[D Davis]

I also cut plexiglass this morning and put in back into the rubberweatherstrip and put it into the window...the weatherstrip will not hold to the thin edges. A strong wind will blow it out. It started to rain so it's back under tarp.

[Donna D.]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Donna, that's not the thread I was thinking about, it was back in early 2012 maybe and I don't remember who it was that did it.

Maybe Mike? Side Windows UHaul with Scamp

[mary and bob]

Donna, that's the one! Pictures aren't good enough to see just what his fiberglass job looks like, but goes to show there is more than one way to accomplish a task. Thanks. Bob

[Higginra]

With the pictures I can see the problem. Which is that area is normally held together where both the inter and outer shell meets.
I am assuming the two can be squeezed together. If that is the case then having the 1/4 trim ring would be correct. If the two can' be squeezed together then we may have to look at a different size for it.

[mary and bob]

Yes, now there is a whole other problem, can that space be squeezed together, or is it filled with resin and solid. If solid there won't be a uniform wall thickness and may create an issue with the trim ring. I can't tell by the pictures. Diane, what's the deal?

[Thomas G.]

Looking at the pictures, I agree with the others that the inner and outer shells are not pulled tightly together at the window opening edge. When I did my window, I found one area unglued, but I just glued it together with two part epoxy and clamped it for 24 hours.

Now, if the inner and outer pieces will not pull back together, it may be necessary to cut them apart. Others may have better ideas, but I'd be tempted to try a cut off wheel in a hand grinder. I'd plunge the wheel into the gap between the inner and outer walls and open up an area as deep as I could, then glue them as described above. You might also be able to use a multifunction tool with a toothed blade.

If you can get the opening to a more uniform thickness, I'd still go with the teardrop window.

Someone at the UHaul factory must have had a 4 martini lunch before they did this.

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[mary and bob]

The saying was, don't buy a car that was built on Monday morning or Friday afternoon, maybe that's when Diane's camper was made. Tom, good idea with the cut off wheel, and trying to clamp the inner and outer shells back together. I have used a 2" cut off disc in one of my air powered die grinders whenever I had to cut the fiberglass. I'm confused as to why the window is loose in the opening, the measurements that Diane gives are the same as my window opening.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by D Davis

.......... The measurements are from top to bottom 19 1/8" and the width is 24 3/4 in one spot and 24 7/8 in another........

Originally Posted by mary and bob

..........I'm confused as to why the window is loose in the opening, the measurements that Diane gives are the same as my window opening.

The plot thickens.

• Robert (Higginra) reported window dimensions of 24 5/8" x 19 1/4"
• Bob reported 24 5/8" x 19 1/8"

So, Diane's window opening is about 1/8" to 1/4" too wide. Could the corner radii be that far off, in conjunction with the too wide opening lip, to cause the silicone assault?

If we only need to make up 1/4 inch total, I can see building up the top and bottom of the opening with 1/16" of epoxy putty and building up the top and bottom of the window frame with 1/16" of epoxy putty. If the corners are too small a radius, that may be harder to fix.

Lastly, if the window edges are too wide, there are rubber weatherstrips for up to a 3/4" wide body side . http://stanpro.com/PDFsRegOnly/Self%...atherstrip.pdf

[mary and bob]

Looks like they weren't real fussy when cutting the window openings. So what do you think now Tom, I kind of still think a clamp ring window will solve the problem as long as the corner radius is a close match.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Looks like they weren't real fussy when cutting the window openings. So what do you think now Tom, I kind of still think a clamp ring window will solve the problem as long as the corner radius is a close match.

Yes, but we probably need to get a more uniform thickness on the opening edge. Thus my thoughts on cutting and re-gluing.

I'm still puzzled as to why the NOS window with weather strip won't work. Look at this corner. Why the gap?

[mary and bob]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

I'm still puzzled as to why the NOS window with weather strip won't work. Look at this corner. Why the gap?

I'm guessing the weatherstrip didn't work because she couldn't get it in right with the wall separation issue. The gap may be related to that, or this was just a total screw up from when the trailer was made and never properly fixed, just throw some silicone on it and send it down the road. I've seen those kind of repairs way too many times.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

I'm guessing the weatherstrip didn't work because she couldn't get it in right with the wall separation issue. The gap may be related to that, or this was just a total screw up from when the trailer was made and never properly fixed, just throw some silicone on it and send it down the road. I've seen those kind of repairs way too many times.

So, maybe if the wall thickness issue can be fixed, the NOS window will work. That needs to be fixed anyway even for the teardrop clamp ring window. This is encouraging.

[D Davis]

Originally Posted by mary and bob

Yes, now there is a whole other problem, can that space be squeezed together, or is it filled with resin and solid. If solid there won't be a uniform wall thickness and may create an issue with the trim ring. I can't tell by the pictures. Diane, what's the deal?

Bob, you are correct, It is not separated. However the top of the window opening thickness is 1/4" and the bottom is much wider...thats why they routed it I think to try to get the same thickness, rather honed it down on the inside, They routed out too much. ..I have used a router...I can see what they did. Big mistake. The worst area is the bottom edge or lip if window.

When you look at the picture of the lower right side of old window, what you see is the silicone adhearing to the backside of the lip. Which you can see in the window opening pic.

[D Davis]

First shot is looking at it at eye level from the inside of camper. second shot is peering down on it, you can see it is a solid fill and wide. the outer edge is about 3/16 to 1/4 in spots, it varies.

[Thomas G.]

OK, I think I finally get it. The wall thickness at the bottom was too thick and maybe not flat as it should have been on one or both pieces (inner and outer walls). So after they bonded the two halves together, they couldn't install the window. They decided to grind off the inner wall on the window opening perimeter and just use the outer wall as the mounting surface.

Re a custom teardrop window - I'm a little concerned that you will have trouble with a clamping ring if the wall thickness varies too much. Does it look like you could get a cut off wheel in between the two walls and thin them down, then glue them together to a uniform overall thickness, closer to 1/4"?

[mary and bob]

I was just trying to figure out the pictures, Tom I think you have the answer. What I think I would try is get the custom made window to start with. I believe Robert said that various size clamp rings were available, that is for different wall thickness. I would get the clamp ring he got and try to make it work, maybe have to use different length screws where the wall was thicker. If that clamp ring doesn't work, just have to get another or maybe use some kind of wood shims to even things out on the inside. a set of curtains will hide most of it anyway. When I put in that Scamp window, to use their clamp ring I had to turn it backwards because it's made for a thicker wall. I also made a spacer of 1/4" plywood to go around the original opening on the inside for the trim ring to set against. Main concern here is to get a leak proof window.

[Higginra]

My thoughts would be to order the window with 2 trim rings. They are $11.00 ea and that would give you the flexibility of using either size.

[Thomas G.]

Originally Posted by Higginra

My thoughts would be to order the window with 2 trim rings. They are $11.00 ea and that would give you the flexibility of using either size.

Good suggestion. Maybe the window builder has a suggestion, too. It may a common problem.

[D Davis]

Originally Posted by Thomas G.

OK, I think I finally get it. The wall thickness at the bottom was too thick and maybe not flat as it should have been on one or both pieces (inner and outer walls). So after they bonded the two halves together, they couldn't install the window. They decided to grind off the inner wall on the window opening perimeter and just use the outer wall as the mounting surface.

Exactly right Tom! At the bottom and bottom corners, sorry I was having such a hard time trying to explain this Ya'll.

Re a custom teardrop window - I'm a little concerned that you will have trouble with a clamping ring if the wall thickness varies too much. Does it look like you could get a cut off wheel in between the two walls and thin them down, then glue them together to a uniform overall thickness, closer to 1/4"?

I think the outer wall height on the bottom would be the problem because if you cut it down there would not be enough room on the bottom perimeter for a clamp ring or weatherstripping. You might run into the Uhaul and Burrow extruded part.