My Windshield Story: The Ugly, the Bad and the Good

[BobC]

We've all read about Winnebago's issues with windshield leaks, rusty frames, etc. When I bought my 2002 Suncruiser in 2017 the PO told me that it already had the expensive windshield rust repair. This was a selling point since I'd already learned about the windshield issues on Winnieowners. Nonetheless, shortly thereafter, I experienced some leaks that a strip of Eternabond across the top moulding solved.

Fast forward to October 21 of this year. On the way home from our first camping trip since Covid my wife noticed two "running" cracks at the upper right corner of the passenger side windshield (mine is a two-part windshield). We didn't notice any apparent rock strikes. The next day, I got on the phone to our insurer, Progressive, who quickly mobilized their contractor, Safelite Auto Glass, who scheduled the replacement with a local installer, USA Replacement Auto Glass, who came out today to replace the windshield which had been shipped from OR. In preparation, I removed the Eternabond yesterday (not fun). After arriving, the two installers first noticed a small chip right underneath the bottom edge of the top moulding indicating that the damage was due to a rock strike.

The plot thickens:

As they started to remove the passenger windshield they noticed that it was not fully adhered to the frame. Most of the bottom and top edges were completely loose as were portions of the sides. You could literally push the edges of the windshield a 1/4" or more away from the frame. All in all, I'd say that a good 60%+ was completely loose. I was watching at the time and it was pretty scary. After checking the driver's side, it exhibited the same issue but not quite as bad.

After removing the passenger side windshield, they confirmed that a complete windshield frame replacement had, indeed, been done. This was the good news.

On the other hand, whoever had done the work had failed to properly treat the new frame with a rust preventative and the subsequent rust caused the adhesive bond to the windshield to fail. This was bad news. The installers told me this was an accident waiting to happen and either or both windshields could have fallen out at any time and could have caused an injury accident. The good news was that the rust was superficial, the new frame was undamaged and the frame itself was well built. It was clear to me that installers were very knowledgeable about Winnebago's windshield problems.

A happy ending:

After discussing my options, I decided to have them risk removing the driver side windshield, which they were able to do so without damaging it. After all, it was only semi-adhered and the passenger side had come off without damage. After doing this, they cleaned up the rust, treated the frame with a rust preventive and installed both windshields. They told me to contact them if I experienced any leaks, goodbye Eternabond.

My total, out of pocket cost was $625, including my $125 deductible. Not too bad since I'd thought I had a $500 deductible until I looked at my coverage.

Kudos to Jake and Jerame from USA Replacement Auto Glass, North Highlands, CA (Sacramento area).