Stiff sliding windows

[wayne]

Good Morning All,

We have 4 sliding windows in our 2001 Vantare.
The 2 that are on the passenger side of the coach work beautifully, they slide easily and open all the way with no problem.
However, the 2 on the drivers side are a different story. With great difficulty I can open them 4 inches and no more.
Is there a way to adjust these 2 windows so they do not fit so tightly in the track?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

BTW...we are presently in Creede Colorado and it is absolutely gorgeous!!

[Kenneth Brewer]

Either just a touch of graphite lube (liquid, such as for lock lubrication) or a tiny dab of vaseline (my preference), adjust upward in more places along the track to suit. Careful, though, or the window will fly open. Others may chime in, probably to refute my suggestion.

[garyde]

Maybe a silicon spray? something which will not leave a residue or pick up dirt.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

The sliders we had on a previous coach were installed just like the windshields using a formed rubber gasket with a "ripcord" that tightened up the gasket to form the water tight seal. I had a tightness in one of the sliders due to the rubber gasket pushing a little too tightly against the top or botom of the slider frame causing it to bow.

I cannot picture how an H3 slider is installed, but I would see if the dimension at the center of the frame is less than at the ends. If so a little jacking with a small hydraulic or perhaps a scissors jack may be all it takes to seat things together to relieve the binding.

This was an absolute brain fart, written without any recollection of how the H3 sliders are installed and may be of no value whatsoever. Take it with that proverbial grain of salt.

[Donnie_M]

Wayne, does it seem to be only the slider windows in the slide out rooms? If so, Jon has a point about the window binding. After the room was built and installed in the coach, the window was then installed and most of them had to be shimmed. Then over time some "shifting" and "settling" could have occurred. But please don't use a scissor jack on that frame...lol!It's not a "zippered" window. As stated earlier, try some silicone spray on the upper and lower tracks. Next have Jill on one side pushing and you pulling and slowly slide the window back and forth working it in 1-2" steps. Be careful not to pull to hard on the metal frame with the latch mechanism, as you don't want to pull it off the glass. It will get easier. Were they stiff when you first got the coach, or have they just started it.

[Jon Wehrenberg]

I should have made it clear my sliders were on an XL and they preceded the awning type windows. Those sliders, like the XL awning type were installed using the rubber gasket and were below the curved upper glass. If the glass was not pushed up as high as possible or the slider assembly as low as possible the binding occured. A little (very little) nudge with the scissors jack was all it took to eliminate the bow.

I still don't have a clue about the H3 sliders.

[Donnie_M]

I should have made it clear my sliders were on an XL and they preceded the awning type windows. Those sliders, like the XL awning type were installed using the rubber gasket and were below the curved upper glass. If the glass was not pushed up as high as possible or the slider assembly as low as possible the binding occured. A little (very little) nudge with the scissors jack was all it took to eliminate the bow.

I still don't have a clue about the H3 sliders.No worries Jon. You made it perfectly clear which type of window you were taliking about in your first post. Which is why I thought I would chime in with a little advise for Wayne as I am familiar with his problem.

[wayne]

Thanks everyone for your input.
Jon, I measured the window frame, and it does measure exactly the same in all points.
For those of you who mentioned Silicone Spray, it did help greatly.
Donnie...both of the stiff windows are located in slide out rooms. We took the screen off and sprayed silicone on top and bottom tracks....doing the see-saw movement as we went....it helped GREATLY!!
Thanks everyone for your input....the Stiff Sliding Windows chapter is now a thing of the past thanks to all of you!!

[dreamchasers]

This little tip is pointed to those of us that own XLs. My drivers and passengers sliding glass window has always been "stiff" to slide. When I come up to a toll booth, I struggle to open the window to pay the toll.

I removed the rubber seal that in installed on the edge of the window frame, I removed both the inside and outside seal (The seal pulls out of a slot in the window frame edge.) Then when I opened and closed the window, it was soooo easy. With that information, I waxed the glass surfaces that the rubber glass seal slides on and "magic". With very little effort, the toll window opens.

The stiffness of the window was attributed to the fact that the rubber seals were gripping the dry clean window and causing the slide window to be difficult to open. Since I waxed the inside and outside glass pane that the seal slides against, the window opens very easily. I used a spray on car wax on the window. It worked!

Sometimes its the simple things.

Hector