alignment/windshield popped out

finn · 05-25-2009, 07:43 PM

Hello all, I have two good shake down trips under my belt now and have a few problems.

#1. I popped my wind shield out under minor torsional flex going through a ravine. I dropped one wheel in and heard a BIG pop. The windshield stayed in the frame but lost it's seal all the way around if I push from the inside it comes right out. the molding is also cracked all the way through in two places I'm not sure if this is the cause. The body not being able to handle the flex was one of my biggest concerns but SMB W said it was not an issue.

#2. The two times I have been off road my alignment has gone out. Toe out last trip and I think toe out again as well as the steering wheel is 45 degrees to the left. I am not doing anything that this rig shouldn't be able to handle, I hope.

FYI there is no tone of discouragement in this I'm just wondering if others have experienced these problems

jage · 05-25-2009, 08:02 PM

Yeesh!

The windshield may have been a bad replacement or already out of alignment for other reasons. The body might not even have flexed, the windshield might just have been sort of floating somewhat like it is now... you never thought to push on it before now did you?

#2 sounds like you need an offroad shop and maybe new hardware. I'm not sure about the vans (do you have Quigley, SMB or S&K?) but my Jeep Cherokee got these wedges put in to correct the toe and they were ALWAYS spinning around making it worse when I offroaded. The alignment shop later told me about a new product that was and offcenter lower ball joint- instead of the wedge washer, the ball joint would be set with the offcenter stud providing the toe.

Anyway, I'd take it to a good windshield place and then drive around until you can find an alignment shop that can explain WHY your toe is failing and then let them fix it.

finn · 05-25-2009, 08:17 PM

It's all SMB. The molding around the wind shield is broken in two places I wonder if that let it move around until it finally popped the glue seal.

Greg In Austin · 05-25-2009, 09:28 PM

what model year are we talking about?

How is it equipped?

I was worried about something similar happening. We have had McBeast on 3 and on 2 wheels, but we had no noticeable problems. We did not stay in the position when we were on two wheels (front passenger and rear driver) because we knew it had to be stressing something. The two incidents were within a mile of each other; we got pictures of the 3 wheel activity, but did not want to stick around to get pics of the 2 wheel activity.
We have also spent a fair amount of time offroad and have not seen the alignment budge yet. We have 15k miles on 35" cooper tires and we actually expected to need work on alignment by this point; when we had it checked it was right on.

saline · 05-25-2009, 10:09 PM

This last weekend we also had ours on 2 wheels (pass front & drivers rear) and had no problems. Well that is aside from the fact that I have been on two wheels many times in smaller 4x4's but never in a 23ft long 9500lb van before!

finn · 05-26-2009, 09:48 AM

It's an 06 EB SMB with just about everything 30k 285/75/16. I bought it used so I don't know if it is the original wind shield. The molding is suspect because it was broken in two places. I'm hoping it was a one time thing.

Greggd · 05-27-2009, 07:36 AM

Finn ,
I had three separate moldings fail on our 1999 Quigly EB Club Wagon and 1 side window that broke it's seal . Ford at that time maintained that the molding was defective for whatever reason and replaced under warranty . It was then decided that the adhesive was not making the proper contact with the Sheet Metal in the window cutouts . They finally were able to get it installed permanently by applying heat with a Hot Air Gun and using two people to install , 1 person to heat and set and a second person to follow and hold in place . They said that extreme cold at the time of the manufacturing would sometime shrink the Sheet Metal enough to not allow the proper alignment of the molding which then caused the Butyl Seal to fail .
Greggde

Greg In Austin · 05-27-2009, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saline

This last weekend we also had ours on 2 wheels (pass front & drivers rear) and had no problems. Well that is aside from the fact that I have been on two wheels many times in smaller 4x4's but never in a 23ft long 9500lb van before!

Yep, same here....that much weight was the worry...... and that smiley looks just like my wife did when she realized we were teeter-tottering on those two wheels..

finn · 05-28-2009, 06:39 PM

The windshield shop told me that the molding comes mounted on the windshield and is just cosmetic. Mine has been replaced by the previous owner and I'm hoping that it was a bad replacement install and not a recurring problem. I guess I'll find out.

Greg In Austin · 05-29-2009, 05:57 PM

HHhhmmm I have had a bunch of windshields replaced in the past, and I can't remember any that had molding mounted to them. Maybe I am just mis-remembering.