We love our Winnebago EKKO, but from the beginning, I’ve wondered about a window in the EKKO’s door.  It just seemed like it was missing something up there.  Of course, the reason there was no window was because of the heavy-duty screen that would have made the window difficult to see out of.  Well, I removed the screen door and replaced it with a magnetic one a couple weeks ago.  That left the door wide open (literally!) to install the window I’d always been thinking about.  Check out the video!

 

First off – I want to mention that we have no affiliation with Motion Windows or Peninsula Glass at all.  We paid full retail for the window, so we’re just customers like you.  Their ordering process was simple, and it took about a month to have a custom window manufactured and shipped to us.  It arrived well packaged, in good condition, and with the installation supplies you see in the video.

And while there are about a hundred thousand videos about installing windows in a van, there were a lot fewer about installing them in a “traditional” RV.  There were plenty of videos about window replacements, but it turns out that not so many people are eager to take a saw to the walls of their Class A.  So here’s my take on the process, and a few things I learned along the way.

  • Cut out your opening in a smart way so nothing comes crashing down on you while you’re cutting.
  • The trick about when to leave the paper backing on the sealant tape – and when to remove it – actually works.
  • Misting with water doesn’t seem to affect the final adhesion, and does seem to provide a slower initial tack so you can get your positioning down.
  • There’s not really a good way to install these windows without a second person.
  • Taping the bag to the inside of the door to catch debris certainly helped keep the mess down – but it was by no means a cure-all.

 

The Thing I Wish I Had Done Differently

All in all, I’m happy with how it turned out, but there is one thing that concerns me.  I’d like to put some metal reinforcement around the perimeter of the hole inside the door – think of it as framing for the window.  Perhaps some hollow aluminum tubing.  It’s fine for now, but I have a concern that, over time, the clamp ring squeezing down on just the fiberglass/Styrofoam sandwich may eventually compress the door and cause small cracks in the fiberglass.

So while it’s OK for the moment, I’ll be looking to uninstall the window and install some kind of interior window framing at some point in the future.  The hardest part about that will be removing the Styrofoam from inside the door without messing up either the inside or outside skin.

OK.  An update…

I wound up being more worried than I thought I was going to be about the level of reinforcement in the door.  So I removed the window and added some wood framing around the window opening.  The framing doesn’t round the corners as the window frame does, but there are no screws clamping it down in those locations either.  Chiseling out the styrofoam was tedious and messy, but once that was done, it was simple to cut some wood to the exact right size and glue it in place with Loctite PL300.  Here’s a quick photo of how it looked before I put the window back in place.

The Order Form

Someone asked about recreating our order.  It’s easy.

You can find the order form from Motion Windows’ site, here:  https://www.rvwindows.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/New-Order-Summary-Worksheet-RV6.pdf

The dimensions we used were 13 1/4″ wide, 22 1/4″ tall, and a thickness of 2 5/16″.  We also noted the following on the form”These dimensions are the outer width and height of the indoor window frame.  There is no existing window, so we’re cutting a new opening.”

Considering we wound up with a gap of about 3/16 in our install, don’t take our word on this.  You’ll probably want to measure your own door.