Suggestions For Back Glass?

[Hossman]

Drove 400 miles to pick up my, new for me, 94 Climber Saturday, and like a big dummy I shattered the back window Sunday after I got it home. I was trying to see if my Honda Foreman would fit in the back of the truck, but I forgot to check the hook on the winch to make sure it was not sticking out too far ...... so I am pretty sure you know what happened when I got too close to the back glass. Luckily all the glass stayed in place, I have it taped inside and out with duct tape to hold it in place until I can get it fixed. I was thinking of trying to install a new one of plexiglass or lexan myself. Has anyone else ever done this with one of these trucks, and if so how did it turn out? Also does any one have any idea how thick the glass is in the back window so I can try to find the right thickness to fit in the "track" of the window if I do decide to try it myself. I did stop in and talk with a glass shop yesterday but I will have to bring it in because I could tell that they didn't have any idea what kind of truck I was talking about. From what I have seen on this site I am sure someone has tackled this before. I did several searches to see if I could find something but all my efforts were in vain. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Oh! By the way the Foreman fits just fine with the hook turned down on the winch!:frustration:

[Timetripper]

Sorry to hear of your bad luck.
I would suggest you try one of the sponsors at the top of the forum starting with who evers closer to you.
If no luck stateside then I would try Minibrutes.com [also a sponsor] up here in Canada but like I say start close to home first.
Good Luck:)

[MichTrucks]

Your glass shop should be able to get you a piece of tempered glass as you indicated. I've gotten quite good response and service from G R. They have a banner and are a sponsor on this forum.
Good Luck and congrats on you new truck, the Climber is one sweeeet truck.

[greg0187]

Just use some Lexan. It will be cheap and if your not happy with it then you can go with pricey OEM glass. Just my $.02

-Greg

[glenn]

Well...Glass is my "x-per'tease":cool:.........your glass thickness will be 1/8" or what we call 3mm thick....you might be able to fit a piece of lami glass (as2...aka.... .o15) in the rubber but you might have to go to a plate glass shop to have a custom piece of tempered glass fitted that is 1/8" thick.
most auto glass shops will be able to cut a piece of lami glass and fit it in...just like a construction back hoe truck glass.
....to make a pattern...take out all the glass and rubber, make a cardboard pattern of the opening size....reduce and allow for the rubber gap...when you put the rubber around the new glass.....you can dry fit it against the frame to see if it is cut right...once you have seen that it will fit you can install it....here is the part where you have to pretend that you are a cowboy from Texas:rolleyes:.......take a 1/8 thick nylon rope and roll it in the groove of the rubber...overlap the two ends on the bottom....place the glass that is in the rubber in front of the opening with the two rope ends folded inside the cab....hold the glass in place with just a little pressure and start to pull the rope from one side up and in....as the lip if the rubber goes over the frame push it with your fingers back down over the metal fin to cover the lip....as more rubber goes into place..slap the outside with an open hand against the glass and it will start to seal in place(something like a bitch slap but not as hard:eek:)...once you get to the other end of the rubber on the bottom...it should snap into place....any rubber that is still bumpy should be pulled up and snapped over.....a few more bitch slaps on the outside of the glass (remember to use an open hand) will finish the job.

I do not recommend using plexi or lexan......for one it will scratch and yellow...and two...with extreem heat...it will bow......plastic expands and contracts much more than glass.

any other glass questions.....you can e-mail me at our office.

http://www.newmarketglassandmirror.com

glenn:D

[Stuff99]

Father has plexiglass in one of the back windows of his mini van and it has not yellowed, scratched, or warped yet. the passenger side rear window kept getting knocked out by rocks, so after 150 bucks a window he got a plexiglass one installed. now if you don't have the problem of knocking it out every time you put your toy in the back, i see no reason not to get a replacement glass. if you do it more then 2 times, go plexi :P

[Colin]

I think the rear window in my Sambar is polycarbonate... it has a couple of scratches in it. Appears to be stock. :confused:

[glenn]

Father has plexiglass in one of the back windows of his mini van and it has not yellowed, scratched, or warped yet. the passenger side rear window kept getting knocked out by rocks, so after 150 bucks a window he got a plexiglass one installed. now if you don't have the problem of knocking it out every time you put your toy in the back, i see no reason not to get a replacement glass. if you do it more then 2 times, go plexi :P



I think the rear window in my Sambar is polycarbonate... it has a couple of scratches in it. Appears to be stock. :confused:


Stuff, lucky?....you also don't get the same weather they get down in the south...it will scratch every time you wash and wipe it...just my experience.....next time you see a pick up truck with a cap that has had it's back glass changed to plexi...take a closer look....the older it is...the worse it looks.....

Colin, ......i don't think so...all oem windows have to have a stamp...either on the windshield (lami) or side and back glass(tempered)...no matter where it is made or for what market....you might have replacement if it is polycarb.....look for a stamp....

I didn't say not to use plastic...just that I don't recommend it.....

my experience is working on car glass as well as plate glass...I.ve worked on cars from model T's to hummers...I'm one of a few people in the area that have this much experience on custom autoglass work....although I have stopped most of my autoglass work....I still get people who look me up for a custom job on their "little baby".

glenn

[Mighty Milt]

in my experience, the only place to use plexi is in a drag car.

i used 3/16" in mine so it still looked stock, the windows all rolled up and down, but i lost about 100lbs for running down the track in my "street car" it was in the garage more often than not, and wasn't exposed to the elements.

i also used "mr 10" i think that's what they called it. it was supposed to be the best you could get as far as scratch and mar resistant. i spent a pretty penny on it. the stuff you get at home depot will fill the hole, but it won't hold up as well through weather.

i've seen a lot of guys with dune buggies trying to shield thier eyes from the dust and the cheap stuff just doesn't hold up.

i would certainly recommend spending the money on good glass. when i was running baja bugs around, i never bought proper VW windshields, i used to go to a glazier tha would cut tempered green glass for my windshields... it wasn't really GREEN, just enough to keep the glare off.

[Stuff99]

ya i guess lucky. i imagine it is a bit scratched up from dirt roads and rocks etc by now. i could take a pic of it sometime i guess. its kind of a hack job though..

[glenn]

in my experience, the only place to use plexi is in a drag car.

i used 3/16" in mine so it still looked stock......... the stuff you get at home depot will fill the hole, but it won't hold up as well through weather.

i've seen a lot of guys with dune buggies trying to shield thier eyes from the dust and the cheap stuff just doesn't hold up.

i would certainly recommend spending the money on good glass......................i used to go to a glazier that would cut tempered green glass for my windshields... it wasn't really GREEN, just enough to keep the glare off.

I have cut some lexal for a few race cars...the weight was an issue.....3/16 is fine...just not 1/4 inch....your right about the holding up to the weather part.......your green glass is really "solar green" glass.....made to cut down on the uv rays and glare...you can also get solar green lami glass.....most cars and trucks have it already...some a little more solar than others...next time check the stamp on the windshield or side glass...it will say solar on it...this solar glass is also good for boats on the lake

side note: a number of years ago we got the contract to change the autoglass for Halton Regional Police.....it seems that Ford changed the degree of solar in the glass to make use of a smaller compresser in the air conditioning units....this extra solar would help keep the car from heating up as much however..it would give a false reading to the radar gun mounted inside the cab of the cruisers...we hade to change the windshields to the medium solar glass from the previous model...thanks to my alerting them to this fact we got a good paying contract that lasted three years until I left the location to run the flagship store in Ontario.

glenn:D

[Hossman]

I had bought a piece of Acrylic and brought it back. Then I bought a piece of Lexan and brought it back. I just couldn't make myself put it in to save a few bucks on my new baby. I think I am going to go ahead and bite the bullet and take it to an auto glass shop on day this week.