I picked up a Ford tinted slider on Craig's List the other day (first mistake right there ...). Installation went well (thanks 1clean42 and Rockpick for the how-to's), and I was a happy man. Looked good, worked well, having a slider in my reg cab was great!



Then it rained ... I checked this morning for leaks, confident there'd be none, but this was not to be. Further investigation revealed cracks in the window frame (I didn't see them during installation, maybe they formed when I tightened down the window), and a split in the frame at the end of the slider, where water was leaking in.



I'm thinking I'm SOL on this window ... anyone got any ideas?

 

Maybe some careful silicon application to the cracks could fix it, and it shouldn't look bad if you're not sloppy with it.

 

Not sure what to recommend here... best of luck getting it taken care of. Glad my old 'how-to' was able to help out just a bit.

 

x2 on the silicon

 

Ultimately, the window has to go away ... I can't have a truck that leaks. I noticed my '03 work truck has a different molding between the plastic surround and the cab than my '99 does, so I "borrowed" it and put it on my '99 (don't tell the boss). This significantly slowed the leak, but it's not a real solution.

This is the first bad experience I've had w/ a used Ford part (and I've put a lot of them on my XL). A little more research told me these windows are basically trash.

 

yeah.. my slider rattles very loudly when its cold out. i think it leaks too

i'm sorry it didn't work out

 

Hey, you win some, you lose some ...

Apparently Ford came out w/ a redesigned slider in 2003. I'll try to find one of those ...

 

for the 2003 model or in 2003 for the 2004 model? lol

I've considered doing the slider swap for the camper, when my daughters older she could sit in the camper and open the sliders while I drive. my problem is I've heard its very common for leaks, and only 97's had the reflective privacy glass. very narrow spectrum for me to work with there.

 

as soon as i bought my truck, driving it off the lot, i leaned back to open the back window and boom, the little **** thing that is stuck to it ripped off haha. now its a stationary window divided into 3 sections. sorry your sale didnt work out at least the truck is still nice

 

Fairlaner, somewhere I read that the sliders frames were different for SCABS and SCREWS and REG cabs. Maybe you got one that doesn't match the contour of your cab.

Sorry to hear about that. I personally would want to keep the slider so I would dive in and do a DIY repair. ***I would MAKE it work!!!***

 

Im agreeing on the silicone idea. My thoughts though (and granted these are my thoughts so dont quote me to this being a perfect fix)...

If it is leaking water in, obviously the water is coming from the outside. Why dont you take off the surround on the outside, and find the cracks and silicone from the outside, then put the surround back on. This would then not only fix the leaks, but also would not be visible to others if you are not the craftiest with the silicone.


Just an idea.


-Matt

 

I've paid a professional twice to stop mine from leaking, with no luck. I've been looking around for a solid one because I don't want to buy a new one They cost $DAMN. I was thinking about Masking off the top of the window frame and putting silicon on top, and then removing the edges with the tape.
But hopefully I'll find a used one before it comes to that.

 

i like the look of a solid window personally..

 

While I'm certainly not going to give up without a good fight, I'm not real hopeful I'll find a permanent solution ( I spent a hour reading threads from people who tried all kinds of things with little success). I really like the new window as it's tinted brown which looks good with my brown truck/interior.

deerhunter7979, I'm 99.9% sure the windows are the same for all the trucks ... the plastic surrounds are different though (different bolt pattern). The leak is not where the window frame mounts into the truck (where you seal when you replace the window), it leaks where the glass mounts to the frame ( this seal is made at the factory).

mcolford, I don't believe the surround can be removed without removing the window (although I think I read by cutting a few tabs when you have it off, you can make it removable w/o removing the window). At some point I will remove the surround/window and seal any cracks in the window I can find.

blackedoutV6, I have to agree with you. When I first installed the window my thoughts were ... "nice tint" and "what's this three part monstrocity all about ..." On the other hand, It's real nice when I have my shell on and I like the feel of cruising around w/ it open (now if I can just figure out how to get that toolbox lid from squeeking ...)

It's not really the rain I'm worried about (we almost never get rain from April to Oct.), the main problem is I live in the dirt, so I wash my truck pretty much weekly ...

 

hahah, yes i will admit it feels pretty nice to have it open when youre cruising around