Side vent window "fell out", Where to buy replacement ?

[Lee_H]

Hello folks, Had an unexpected problem. Driver side rear window became unglued at the hinge. Had no idea this happened. Had a funny rattle while driving at slow speeds around town, pulled into a parking lot to see what was loose. Thought the side window was half closed, decided to open and close again. Glass immediately fell to the ground and broke into little pieces. Used gloves and a snow brush I had left in the truck to put the pieces into a part box I've been meaning to throw out (it had the old radiator fan clutch). I've seen some u-tube video on replacing the window on a Excursion (nothing with this body style Expedition). It looks like the whole assembly must be replaced. Looked at RockAuto and Amazon, no luck there. Please let this be a third party replacement part and not a dealer only thing. As an assembly I'm going to be charged a small fortune if it is from the dealer. This type of part is going to be destroyed if I try to get a salvage yard part, It does not look easy to remove. Kind of rip the thing out, clean and carefully put the new one in. Also - any other landmines I should look out for while replacing? Any help would be appreciated in locating a reasonably priced replacement part.

 

[Hamfisted]

Yeah, that's definitely a rare event. But you can find plenty of them at salvage yards or ebay. You can get a new center piece for the rear of your floor console too. Yours looks pretty beat up.


https://www.ebay.com/itm/Driver-Rea...phd&fits=Year:2004|Model:Expedition|Make:Ford

 

[Plati]

If it was me & my truck ... I would make one out of plywood or some other material. Don't need to see out of that window so opaque is ok. But that's because my BEATER is on it's last legs and I just want to milk it for whateveritsworth and not put any money into it unless I have to. YMMV

Other than that "how about a window glass company"?

 

[Lee_H]

If the most reasonable fix is to get a plain part of glass from a salvage yard I would need to know what glue to use (normal epoxy is not going to do it nor Black Max superglue).
The old one is "cleanly" off the two metal flexing hinges so no clue there. Next is the other end which needs a snap on ball joint end to attach to the gearmotor. Mine broke in two as it fell. So no luck there either. Adding the glass is far easier than ripping apart the interior to rip the frame out as well. Still no idea where the whole assembly is unless it is a dealer only part. Car-Part. com does not have a window or glass section, I'll have to do this the hard way and email the local yards to get pricing and availability. As far as the homemade solution I would like to try and have the truck to look like it wasn't broken. Plywood is cheap, perhaps a clear plastic from HD or Lws that is bolted on would be a last resort spray painted with tint to match.

 

[Hamfisted]

You can probably call an auto glass repair shop in your area and they'll install it with the correct "glue" if you bring them a good glass panel to work with. Or send a message to that yard there on eBay and tell them you need the whole panel and hinge assembly intact.

 

[Lee_H]

Update, did not find a window yet. Will call and look in nearby part yards this weekend. Has anyone had experience with 50ml cartridge epoxy that looks like the squeeze things in hardware stores but need a mixing nozzle and special feed gadget or caulking gun adapter? The adhesive I'm looking at is Loctite E-20HP industrial epoxy. It can be had at Amazon or Grainger, looks good for glass and kind of thick to stay in place. Just wondering any good or bad with working with the stuff.

 

[Hamfisted]

Update, did not find a window yet. Will call and look in nearby part yards this weekend. Has anyone had experience with 50ml cartridge epoxy that looks like the squeeze things in hardware stores but need a mixing nozzle and special feed gadget or caulking gun adapter? The adhesive I'm looking at is Loctite E-20HP industrial epoxy. It can be had at Amazon or Grainger, looks good for glass and kind of thick to stay in place. Just wondering any good or bad with working with the stuff.

View attachment 38083

That is more of a "crafts" epoxy than a "glass" epoxy. I wouldn't recommend it on glass. Generally glass adhesives are of the polyurethane family of adhesives. Hopefully you can get the entire glass and hinge unit altogether from your local yards. But if you DO end up trying to adhere the glass to the hinge mounts I would at least call a local auto glass shop and get their recommendations for a bonding adhesive for your purpose. But it's gonna take something like JB Weld epoxy or one of the other high psi strength polyurethane epoxies. There is a lot of leveraged weight on those mounts. Best to remove the hinge assembly and clamp it all together on a work bench for a few days to cure. I gave you a eBay link in a post above to the whole assembly for a hundred bucks. Seems pretty easy to me.


https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009EU5ZM0?tag=tools1st-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

 

[Lee_H]

I had bad experiences with eBay, I'll only spending an amount of money I'm willing to lose. Now, times are such I'm not willing to lose a hundred bucks. I'll live without the window until I see what I'm buying first hand.

The Loctite adhesive is an industrial product, I would look at this stuff for machine repair work. Most of the adhesives/ sealer for windshields (body shops) are meant for sealing first and holding second. Common store bought epoxies I would not trust in this application. Mostly I wanted to know how much waste in the mixing nozzle, how well does it mix and assembly - disassembly time compared to the working time given.

I found on car-part dot com that the listing for the part is Quarter Glass or Quarter Window. No luck on this at Amazon or Rockauto, I've bought parts from both and managed getting the correct part in the past.

 

[Plati]

I still find to hard to believe you can't just go to an auto glass shop and say "can you please fix this" and get it done. The OP never said if that was done? Not sure why, trying to do it on the cheap?

Btw ... those 2 part syringe type epoxy dispensers simply meter the appropriate amount of each component ---> you still need to manually mix them. Epoxy needs a thorough mixing.
update** I see the mixing nozzle now, didnt before ... never knew they had that, still would mix by hand **

 

[Lee_H]

Over the weekend I went window shopping at the local Salvage yards, bought the window from one, it will be Tues. or Wed. to get it out of the truck. I'll let you know how that went Thurs. or Fri.

The idea of a mixing nozzle on the epoxy is to do just that mix. How well it mixes is another question. If folks had made use of this setup (if it becomes necessary, there is still a chance the Salvage yard will remove the whole window frame and all) I would like to know how it worked.

If I was sitting on a pile of money I could "just go to an auto glass shop and say "can you please fix this" and get it done". No pile of money - no can do.

This is where "Know how knowledge" is so valuable, once learned it can be used over and over again. Welcome to the school, it does take a little bit of time to ask but helping each other is how stuff gets done. How many go to U-tube to find out how to do something, it works because folks share. I got the door code because someone shared the technique of aiming a phone camera by the fuse box and clicking away until the factory sticker could be read. Is going to a Ford dealer and paying $$$ money for the same information better?