When we bought our Vintage 1977 Argosy Motorhome, we knew that one of the side windows had a crack and was going to leak. After the next hard rain, sure enough, it leaked. We needed an immediate solution that would prevent leaks and give us time to search for a spare side window, preferably Original Stock or from an existing Airstream or Argosy Motorhome.
From the above picture, you can see the broken window taped up as we are priming our Argosy for Painting. This is a fairly easy window to replace… at $450.00 a piece to replace, we hoping to stumble on a parts Motorhome that has a decent set of windows at less price.
A safe and road approved solution is to install Lexan. Lexan is an extremely strong and thick clear plastic polycarbonate. It can be easily sourced at your local hardware store such as Home Depot and Lowe’s.
The main advantage of polycarbonate over other types of plastic is unbeatable strength combined with light weight.
The picture below shows the “hack” that was done before the big rain storm came in which was before we could replace the window. Although, only the left side of this window pair is damaged, to repair it, both sides need to be replaced with Lexan.
Take measurements but make sure your Lexan is slightly smaller or else you would not be able to snap the Lexan in the window track. Once you measure and cut your Lexan, make sure to take the extra step to sand it down around those sharp edges. It will make the installation much easier.
Fitting the Lexan in the window track is slightly tricky but not impossible. You just need to line everything up and install the Top first, then the sides.
Once you get 90% of the Lexan into the Window Tracks, slowly and easily snap the last corner in.
The finished product! Both sides had their glass windows removed and replaced with Lexan (excuse the paint samples!). The only downside to this inexpensive “fix” is that these windows will not slide open.
Normal glass windows in the Motorhome can open, from the inside, by unlatching them and sliding them open. The Lexan does not have the typical Airstream hardware for latching and sliding. When you buy the entire window system, for $450, you receive the glass, hardware and surrounding frame. Another reason, we went with Lexan, for the time being, is because there is slight damage at the window frame (and door) from a previous owner. We need to work the kinks out of the window frame before replacing it completely.
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Handy safety tool!
Mike
Sandy
