My Luck hasn't changed even with new camper!

[tonyz1]

Hey All,
My wife noticed this first this morning, then came and told me to go out and check it out. There are 3 cracks in the bottom right side of the front window (windshield glass). Camper has been parked in our side yard since the end of October and no sign of this till today. Can't see any sign of impact of any sort. All ready called our dealer and sent pictures so they can contact Forest River about warranty coverage and I'm hopeful they will work something out. The camper is a 2018 29KSWS and only used twice before parking for the winter. Has been down to about 15 degrees a couple of nights and now back up to around 60. I'm at a loss for what caused this, but all I can think of is the temperature swing, but who knows. I was worried about that front window before I bought the unit, but was told it was auto windshield material and should hold up fine. But just my luck I guess. Anyone else had a problem with there front window ( windshield ) yet? Thanks foe reading, guess I just needed to vent a little![emoji30] Hope the pics don't flip when I add them but here goes.

[kenandterry]

What kind of unit is this? Your pix are real close up so all I know is we’re looking at glass.

[cavie]

Originally Posted by kenandterry

What kind of unit is this? Your pix are real close up so all I know is we’re looking at glass.

Stated by the OP "The camper is a 2018 29KSWS" "front window glass".

It's a Flagstaff light travel trailer.

[emm-dee]

I think it’s this one.

[tonyz1]

Thanks cavie and emm-Dee, you're both correct. 2018 Flagstaff 29KSWS. i should have made that plain in original post. Raining here now but dealer assures me that the plastic film on the back will keep it from leaking. In the pictures above, there are cracks running parallel upwards and then 1 crack crossing across those two at roughly 90 degrees, weird. Here is a picture when we were at a rest area on our maiden voyage to Pigeon Forge, TN. Thanks again.

[glsimms]

Is it cracked? It looks like a scratch to me.....

[clarkbre]

It's not cracked....that's the ramifications of window tint that has not adhered to the window properly. Before anyone gets uptight about it, I would have the dealer look at it. If they can't do anything, take it to a window tinting shop ad have them see if they can settle the "bubbles" out of the tint film.

I had this happen after I got the windows done on my subaru. A credit card took care of the problem....literally....i used it to flatten the film and get the bubble out to re-adhere it to the glass.

[tonyz1]

Pretty sure they are cracks. I can catch fingernail in them. It was starting to rain and didin't get an up close look or get inside to look at them from that side. But now I am really curious and going to get a flashlight and if it has quit raining, going out to check them closer. Will update soon.

[Scrapper]

It looks to me that the ones going up are cracks and they are starting to separate from the plastic layer. The one going across looks as it is a scratch like a diamond would do.

But what do I know? It's just a guess since I'm not there. Not all tinting is a coating on the glass, some tints are in the plastic and other is the coloring in the glass.

[tonyz1]

Got a break between rain showers and went out to check them out. Had to plug camper back in to have a light inside to take pics. After really looking close, I'm convinced they are definitely cracks. Can feel them and hang finger nail in them. In one of the pics I hopefully get attached, you can see where the crack goes on around the edge. Still can't see any impact spot or anything like that. That is factory installed tinted windshield material supposedly just like a tinted windshield in your auto. The area affected is probably about 6 feet off the ground right now, so I don't think a deer ran into it! HA! Anyway, I don't know how it could have occurred, but maybe Forest River has seen it before. Probably won't hear anything till after the holidays now. Thanks for reading.

[glsimms]

Maybe a rock flew up and hit it?

[tonyz1]

Oops! Forgot to add pictures before hitting send. Me bad!

[glsimms]

That first pic really looks bad. Looks like their automotive windshield has a stress crack. Definitely take it to the dealer. Until then, you may want to use some duct tape as a temporary patch and seal it from the rain.

[tonyz1]

Not a rock unless it was a meteorite, stranger things have happened. Camper is parked beside my garage, sideways to the roadway and about 90 feet from that road. Even if a BB would have hit it, I would think there would be some mark. I live in the country and my nearest neighbor on that side is about 300 yards away. They did pick the corn field next to me in the last week, which is about 80 feet from camper. But if a flying kernel of corn did this I think the glass maker has a big problem. Thanks for all your input and I'll keep scratching my head.

[cardwellmarty]

Looks like a stress crack, the crack looks like it starts under the window seal.

[Keystoner]

There was a recent post about these trailers and concerns about unprotected glass in the front. That got me thinking, which could be problematic. I think this is the first report of a broken one. It appears to me that the glass cracked and allowed air to get under the window film.

When I worked at a float glass factory I learned that glass can have a very minute flaw that doesn't appear until wide temperature changes or a bump/knock causes a crack. Making the curves and radius edges can cause stress in the glass that eventually breaks.

I also spent time working in Force Protection and got to see testing of blast protected windows. There are window films specifically designed to protect against hits from a crowbar. There are also films to protect headlights from stones.

So my thought is that someone like 3M, Weather Tech, XPEL, etc. must have a product that owners can easily apply to these trailer front windows.

[tonyz1]

Originally Posted by cardwellmarty

Looks like a stress crack, the crack looks like it starts under the window seal.

That's what I was thinking, stress fracture, but camper hasn't moved for almost 2 months. So maybe temperature fluctuation?? I don't know, can't wrap my little mind around how it happened. Just hope they will warranty fix it. Camper was only manufactured on August 1,2017.

[tonyz1]

Keystones,
That protective film sounds like a great idea. I'll have to look into something to try when I get this one replaced. I hope to get a better look in daylight and not raining out, but it almost had to be temperature related. But I hope it is just a chance in a million of happening, because we really like this camper and planned on it staying around for many years. Thanks

[larrytbm]

Stress crack, large dark glass and light color fiberglass cap. Maybe a little built in stress, plus rapid temp swing. Could even be a little flaw with glass edge finish. Replace it and don't worry.

[CampingGator]

Originally Posted by glsimms

Maybe a rock flew up and hit it?

That’s what I was thinking. Possibly from mowing the yard?