[VAC] Re: Safety Vue windows2

["Terry Tyler" <tylerbears@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Gerald and Donna,

I've been following your thread and thought you might like to read another choice. Granted, it's
only an interim option, but it may prove useful until you settle in on a permanent solution. 

At most carpet stores (and other places, I'm sure), they sell "rug runner" in clear plastic with
little "nubs" on one side. I bought a long piece, cut it to size, used duct tape and attached them
(tape on the glass not the aluminum) over my street side windows when we took our Alaska trip. 

We traveled many gravel roads (with little razor sharp rocks) where big trucks coming the opposite
way would throw those rocks at our trailer and truck. This temporary protection was extremely
effective for the trailer. We replaced the windshield once. Although the Alaska highway is paved,
there is always reconstruction occurring due to frost heaves from the previous winter. Ever since
then, I've carried those rug runner pieces with me. 

What does this have to do with you? Here's another example. During our 2,000 mile Baja trip, we
occasionally drove on dirt roads where bus traffic was heavy. It only took one bus coming at us from
the opposite direction for us to realize rocks were being tossed at our truck and trailer when the
bus roared by in the opposite direction. Five minutes later, the rug runner was on our street side
windows. After we were back on paved road, they came off. 

I may never need the rug runners again. But, if I do and I don't have the pieces with me, then I
made the decision to risk having my windows broken. Some of my decisions are by omission. I don't
like it when I do that. Petty? Maybe, maybe not.  

As an aside, during the last day of our Alaska trip after a rainstorm, one of the rug runners
started coming loose and had partly filled with water. Instead of pulling it off, cleaning it and
reattaching it, I just pulled it off. That day, a rock broke that window. 

A year later, after hundreds of attempts to locate a new window or a used window from a junked
trailer, and dozens of stops at abandoned Airstreams in odd locations with attempts to buy the whole
thing just for the window, I finally found a replacement. $300 later, I was again a happy camper. 

Lesson learned? For me - obvious. For you - ..........?  

Terry
mailto:tylerbears@airstream.net