Teardrops n Tiny Travel Trailers

Hi All,

I have a question I'm hoping you may be able to help me out with.

I bought three black camper windows, brand new, for my TTT.

For the front window, a large crank out, I drilled holes into the rim on 4" centers to mount with screws from the outside.

The two door windows, much smaller sliders, have a gasket around the inside and drilling holes to mount them from outside would cut into that gasket, (the gasket spans the entire width of the lip inside). I did buy the mounting rings for them when I bought the windows so I have them on hand.

I'm assuming that the wise decision would be to mount the door windows with the ring and not drill through the gasket.

I'll be using butyl tape for the front window before I mount it. Should I use the butyl tape over/with the gasket on the door windows, or just secure them with the ring and put a bead of caulk around it, inside and out?

I'm hoping to mount them this afternoon so any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

As always, thanks for all your help. I do appreciate it.

Brian

Nosty wrote:Hi All,

Should I use the butyl tape over/with the gasket on the door windows, or just secure them with the ring and put a bead of caulk around it, inside and out?

Brian

I'm not familiar with the rings, but I sure would not use both the gasket & butyl. One or the other. Every gasket I've ever installed has had bolt or screw holes through it. The screws will pull the trim in tight enough to seal the holes you make with the drill. I think i'd leave the caulking out too. The gasket or butyl should seal it well enough all by itself.

Just my opinion. I'm not a pro.


As a light mechanic, I've always been of the opinion that if you need to use a wet sealant with a gasket, then the surfaces the gaskets touch were not prepped properly or are warped. I despise rtv gasket sealer in engine components.

That's the main problem, Jim. There are no holes in the windows. The ring mounts on the inside and pulls the window in, thereby compressing the gasket to the door. I didn't want to drill through the gasket and ruin it.

Thanks for the reply. I do appreciate it.

Brian

Nosty wrote:That's the main problem, Jim. There are no holes in the windows. The ring mounts on the inside and pulls the window in, thereby compressing the gasket to the door. I didn't want to drill through the gasket and ruin it.

Thanks for the reply. I do appreciate it.

Brian

Gotcha... Had to pull up a pic of an rv window with the rings you were talking about. I guess I would install them with the ring as designed. The end result should be sleeker that way too. Sorry I didn't know what you were talkin about with the rings.

p.s. I'd stay away from the caulking anyway. That gasket should work its magic without help.

I vote for using the rings also!

You'll have a much neater look that way, and shouldn't have any issues with water getting in. If the surface isn't VERY flat (like my painted resin over plywood) I would add a bead of clear silicone for insurance.

Thanks guys. That's what I did. It didn't make any sense to drill through a brand new gasket and cause the potential for leaks. I'm a little leery of the rings, but I'm pretty sure that's the way they're mounted on most travel trailers and motorhomes so I'll just check the windows every once in a while to make sure they're staying tight.

Thanks again for the responses. I really appreciate the help.

Brian

I used butyl tape for the windows and the trim rings. If I used screws on the outside I would use the black tube caulk used by auto glass places. Just because I think it would be more likely to seal around the screws. Same for butyl tape.