others might have more advice, but here is mine.
the panes are held in place simply. there is an adhesive strip applied to the inside of the frame, the glass is laid in the window, then a rubber strip is pushed in to seal the glass in. it is very possible to do yourself. the glass needs to be tempered and have the same tint as what you have.
is your glass single pane? if so, that will be much easier and cheaper to get made.
the reason everyone likes to have the window out is that way you can lay it down flat and easily position the glass. when it is in the coach upright, it is harder to center the glass on the adhesive strip, but with some help is not impossible.
you can easily take the rubber seal piece out around the outside of the window and then make a template of the exact size of the glass to have the new one made. then temporarily put the rubber strip back in. i have replaced the exterior rubber seals on my front windows no problem. just some elbow grease and a strong thumb and or something to push the seal back in.
if you peel one piece of it out a few inches, you can see what i mean.
the local auto glass places i talked to dont like to do rv windows....you might find an exception.
if you decide you want to take the entire window frame out and take it to a glass shop to have it done, it is not hard, just work.
the hardest thing is getting access on the inside of the entire window frame. if you have access, there is a trim ring on the inside of the coach that has little black screws about every 6 inches. when you take the screws out all the way around, the trim ring comes off on the inside and then the window frame can be genly pushed out from the inside with someone holding it on the outside. then the entire window comes out. the window is "sandwiched" using the outer trim and the inner trim ring compressing around the wall.
i took out all my windows and replaced them with new ones, so it isnt real hard, like i said, just work.
i will PM you my phone number if you want to talk through any of this.
tom
|