Week 440-442 - RV Glass 6-Pack - 02-01-2015

RV Glass 6-Pack

After leaving the FMCA Motorhome Rally in Indio, we headed back to the Glendale, California Elks lodge. We stayed eight days so Pete could work in North Hollywood for one of our best clients. Leaving there we traveled to Havasu Springs RV Resort with the intent of staying one week. However, there was no Internet and only sparse cell service a quarter of a mile from the Mothership. We stayed one night and moved on to the big city of Surprise, Arizona, to visit Atascadero neighbors and close friends Ben and Sid. We spent a day, enjoyed a wonderful homemade lunch and bagged diesel fuel for $2.31 per gallon at Sam's Club. Then it was off to see Ellen's cousins, Bobby/Barb and Dennis/Kerry in Avondale and Don/Cindy in Florence.

Finally we spent some time visiting Pickleball friends at Palm Creek Pickleball and RV Resort. It was especially enjoyable to see Chuck and spend happy hour with Sally and Mike. We really miss our PB friends and hope someday to join them again. Now that visiting relatives and friends was over, we could get on to Green Valley, AZ and stay with Pete's sister Donnalee and good friend Don. But, we digress, from the RV Glass 6-Pack story!

This little mishap occurred in Paso Robles. We packed on soft soil and leveled the MotherShip. The next day these cracks appeared. We have learned a few good rules over the years. Rule #1: Don't park on soft soil.

Here's another view from the inside after driving 488 miles to Indio, CA. Rule #2: Always carry clear packaging tape to hold your cracked windshield in place while traveling.

Before coming to the FMCA Rally we set up an appointment with RV Glass Solutions, from Eugene, Oregon, to replace the front glass. They came to us at 8:30am and went to work.

Step 1: Set up the personalized ladder. Step 2: Remove the old 4 x 8 foot windshield. Dave, Del and Dave were our experts this day.

Step 3: Clean, reset and glue the windshield gasket into place. (Note: A poorly installed gasket was part of the cause of breaking this window.)

Step 4: Hire a really strong Dave. Step 5: Lift the perfectly cleaned 250 pound windshield into a vertical position.

Step 6: Carefully climb the ladders. Step 7: Slide the glass into the gasket on the bottom and work it in until fully seated.

Step 8: Insure the window in properly seated and centered. (Note: Our last windshield was not centered as evidenced by a bulge in the gasket over the driver's head. This is precisely where the cracks started.) Step 9: Cement the glass into the gasket.

Tada! Mandy approves of the new one-piece windshield. Step 10: Pay the experts.

Alright that was pretty neat, but what's with the RV Glass 6-Pack?

This windshield is our sixth, thus our 6-Pack.

April 2006: Windshields come in different flavors. Older motorhomes had two-piece glass. Here is the Original Flavored one-piece Windshield #1 that came with the MotherShip.

March 2007: Then there is the Crispy recipe as seen here. Our first breakage came after five days of being parked and leveled on a dirt site. We believe the soil shifted and broke the glass. As this was our first breakage we were horrified and did not even know where to go for repair. We also did not know the repair would cost about $2,200.00. But, we soon learned and made an appointment in San Diego as both Emily and Melissa were in college at Point Loma Nazarene University.

The Mothership was parked at the RV dealership. We actually spent the first week in Hawaii while they were to repair the windshield. When we returned it was not repaired. They forgot to place the order! But, that was okay, we got to have free overnight stay with power and water and visited with Emily, Chad and Melissa for 11 more days. Rule #3: Never have a schedule and enjoy your down time; hey! you are always home! Finally, the glass was in place, we hugged and said our goodbyes and started our trip toward the East Coast. Windshield No. 2 cost, zero, covered by the one-year Monaco warranty.

We left San Diego on Hwy 8 and did not even make it two hours before a semi-truck shot a rock into the top of the passenger side windshield. The crack was similar to this one we grabbed off Google Images. Rule #4: Don't get behind a semi. We try but sometimes you can't get out of their way. Since this crack was high up on the right side, we chose not to have the windshield replaced. Until, a few months later, another truck put a star crack right in front of the driver.

August 2007: Windshield No 3 was installed at Monaco in Wakarusa, Indiana. Cost: $350.00 insurance deductible.

We did well for 2007 and 2008. In 2009 we took our Really Big Adventure to Alaska. We committed to working the SOWERs ministry at Camp Li-Wa in Fairbanks, Alaska. Our RV site was not even close to level. We were convinced by someone, who is still a very close friend, to raise up the left front wheel on wood blocks. Good friend, bad idea. Crack, crack, crack and more cracks. Oops. This time we had to travel for a month and over 5,000 miles with the window taped. Remember Rule #2 Carry clear packaging tape.

We arrived at RV Glass in Eugene, Oregon to their spectacular facility. Their platform allows Del (on the right) and helper (not sure who is on the left) to work quickly and securely lifting the heavy windshield into place. During the repair, they found that the original opening was not carved properly and would rub against the glass. They corrected that, thus this might be the last window we break! September 2009: RV Glass installed windshield #4, cost $375.00 reappearing deductible.

This windshield lasted just under five years.

It might have lasted a lifetime if Pete didn't take the MotherShip four-wheeling. This is in Paradise California. We never want to get off the payment, but sometimes you have to. Like visiting at Emily and Chad's house in Paradise. This narrow dirt road has a very narrow culvert. The right rear wheel slipped off the culvert yielding this very impressive photo. The tire appeared to be on the ground. We tried to back up and go forward. However, the frame was on the ground and we went nowhere. Yes, we needed to call the Highway Patrol as we were slightly blocking a very busy roadway. And we waited 90 minutes for the tow truck to come. We had thought to use the RV jack to lift the MotherShip but had nothing to put under the tire. The rescue team did just that. We lifted the RV, they put a railroad tie under the tire and we drove out.

Nothing was hurt except the windshield which was literally shattered into 1,000 pieces. Rule #5: Carry two rolls of packing tape, which we did. Amazingly, when we drove out of the ditch, this gap in the window closed back to its original position.

Windshield No: 5, Paso Robles Auto Glass Shop, cost $1,000.00 deductible. Rule #6: Get a lower deductible for glass breakage. We actually do this, but our then insurance company did not offer this option.

Okay, so that was No.5, what about six? Well, you saw the replacement at the start of this story. But, why did No. 5 break? Rule #7: Never use an auto glass company to fix an RV one-piece windshield. They bragged that they had replaced 300 one-piece windshields, but we don't think so. The install takes 3 to 4 hours for an RV shop and they finished in two. And we were always told to let the glue dry overnight or at least 6 hours. They let us drive away as soon as they were done. There was a bulge in the gasket and the first crack came while parked on totally level asphalt.

Note that our sixth windshield in the lead story was replaced with a $50.00 insurance deductible. And RV Glass gave us a $125.00 rally coupon covering the deductible. They are mailing us a $75.00 coupon since we did not use it all! We love RV Glass Solutions.

We hope to not need Rule #8.

Love, Pete & Ellen

Photos from Feb 2015