Highway incident and broken window

[rbrandenstein]

We had a scary incident with our Escape 19 heading South on I-5 in the middle of California. A northbound driver lost control and headed across the median toward us. There is no cable or barrier at this point in the highway. As he approached us he was able to swerve back towards his lane and eventually got on I-5N and continued. However, his swerve showered us with dirt, gravel and rocks.
We thought it it was minor until my wife, driving, noticed the window on our Escape flapping. We stopped and saw the entire outer window (we have Hehr double insulated windows) was shattered. I attached duct tape to hold the pieces in place and drove for a while. I thought we were OK.
After a stop and call to insurance we hit the road again. After a few miles, the entire inner glass window blew out and hit a car passing me. I didn't realize that the inner glass is only attached to outer glass and due to the outer damage, it was not secure.
The glass hit the other car in the hood and shattered. There was a dent in the hood and scratches like a shotgun blast all over their hood. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
I need to call Escape tomorrow and see how to get a replacement window and whether it can be attached to the existing frame or whether a new frame/window is required.

Picture one is the first attempt at duct tape to hold it in. Picture two is the screen with duct tape and cardboard to help keep the wind/dirt out of the trailer. I got some plastic at Home Depot to make a better cover until I get it fixed.

[gbaglo]

Ouch. Hope that's it for bad luck.

[Greg A]

Wow, what a scare. Just thankful that no one got hurt in either incident.

[NW Cat Owner]

One of the windows on our 21 broke from a rock while mowing the lawn last year. Fortunately I'm close enough to ETI to have them replace it. Before though, I called a bunch of places to see if they had a replacement window. If you haven't already called, you'll find out nobody carries these windows in stock. I did find one place that would order it for me and it would take at least 2 weeks to get in. You might find the same situation. They would have replaced it for us.

The entire window and frame had to be replaced. I'm glad ETI did it as I don't know if I'd really want to do that myself. It was the escape window, so it might have been a bit trickier than a regular window. I don't remember now.

Anyway, glad you're both okay, as well as the folks in the vehicle the glass hit. How scary for everyone involved in both accidents.

[caddoster]

Ours broke and duct tape was able to hold the inside glass until we can replace it.. I guess we were lucky that it didnt flew out like yours, because we took the trailer out twice before the replacement arrived.

Hopefully Hehr doesn't have too long of a backlog, or ETI can get you a replacement from their stock. We were able to replace ours by taking the glass piece off and leave the frame untouched. (what we did is documented here - http://www.escapeforum.org/forums/f9...nes-11269.html)

Good luck with this and glad nobody was hurt.

[gocamp]

the inner glass is only attached to outer glass. I didn't know either. Let us know how you got your window. Drop shipped from Escape or is shipping cheaper inside USA VS Canada? Duncan Systems rvglass.com is big outfit as another option.

[wetzk]

Originally Posted by gocamp

the inner glass is only attached to outer glass. I didn't know either. Let us know how you got your window. Drop shipped from Escape or is shipping cheaper inside USA VS Canada? Duncan Systems rvglass.com is big outfit as another option.

When we had the rear window replaced due to leaking Escape had it drop shipped from Hehr in California.

[Mike & Donna]

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Very unfortunate. Hope you are able to get the window replaced in a timely manner. No one was injured so that's all big plus.

[caddoster]

the inside/outside glass is also only being held to the top hinge (hangs and goes into the track) plus the opening arm.. after taking the whole window apart we thought it's pretty neat tho.

According to Reace Hehr has a CA and MI factory that makes those windows, one is riveted and one is screwed.. if you are hoping to only replace the glass then the source of the window matters.. for whole replacement I dont think it matters, because we noticed some of the windows in our 2017 19 is riveted and some are screws anyway.

we end up buying one from ETI's stock because Hehr has a 6 weeks backlog at the time.

[gocamp]

Florida, drop shipped from Hehr in California for an Escape warranty claim all paid by them, but this thread is about an accident. Boy a 6 week Hehr backlog, wow, I hope folks have covered parking for that length of wait for rain. Thanks for sharing your into OP.

[rbryan4]

A general question about the frameless windows:

I've seen more than one report now of the frameless windows shattering. Do you think the frameless design with the entire pane of glass exposed to it's edge might somehow make these windows more susceptible to shattering? I haven't seen any reports of the older style framed windows having that problem.

I've no idea, thus the question.

[PGDriver]

Originally Posted by rbryan4

A general question about the frameless windows:

I've seen more than one report now of the frameless windows shattering. Do you think the frameless design with the entire pane of glass exposed to it's edge might somehow make these windows more susceptible to shattering? I haven't seen any reports of the older style framed windows having that problem.

I've no idea, thus the question.

Robert your actually right [emoji6]
The weakest part a a pane of tempered glass is the edge.
When we disposed of large pieces of 12mil tempered at our shop you could hit them with a hammer in the center and they would rarely explode but a good tap to the edge always did the job.


Cheers
Doug

[rbryan4]

Originally Posted by PGDriver

Robert your actually right [emoji6]
The weakest part a a pane of tempered glass is the edge.
When we disposed of large pieces of 12mil tempered at our shop you could hit them with a hammer in the center and they would rarely explode but a good tap to the edge always did the job.


Cheers
Doug

That makes sense then Doug. I do love the clean look of the frameless windows though.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by rbrandenstein

We had a scary incident with our Escape 19 heading South on I-5 in the middle of California.

Glad the scariness never got worse. Sounds close. A window is a relatively easy fix compared to a worse situation.

[caddoster]

For ours it was caught by the gate latch, so I think if we have the traditional window it could be more damage since it would catch the window frame instead of the glass part.. I think for a direct rock hit it's probably the same either style tho.

[Moaboy]

Good to know about the interior pane.
Once driving crossing country with my daughter a piece of metal from a passing car shattered the driver’s side window. Nice guy at a Bass Pro Shop gave me some plastic to cover the window.
Glass is like a lot of other things, u never miss it till it’s gone.
Glad no one was hurt.

[rbrandenstein]

I spoke with Reace and will order it from him. As mentioned, there are two types.. rivets or screws. These are at the top hinge area.
To order from Hehr can take 6 weeks; ETI can get it next week.
There is also a couple of nicks in our fiberglass, two through the gel coat to the fibers.

[gocamp]

6 weeks yikes. Good to hear, thanks for the update.

[Jim Bennett]

Originally Posted by rbrandenstein

I spoke with Reace and will order it from him. As mentioned, there are two types.. rivets or screws. These are at the top hinge area.
To order from Hehr can take 6 weeks; ETI can get it next week.
There is also a couple of nicks in our fiberglass, two through the gel coat to the fibers.

Reace could maybe send out something to repair the gelcoat too.