I had new glass put in my wing vents when my 55 F350 by Safelite when my truck was in the body shop. The glass is a bit too big the driver's side can not close properly. The passenger side closes but I think the division bar needs moved forward a bit as the window goes up and down hard.

I called Safelite and spoke to the guy that put the glass in the vents. He said I could bring them in and he would fix them. I don't feel like taking them out so I asked if I could drive the truck to his shop. He said I could grind them down with a belt sander. He said use a 70 or 80 grit belt. I figure I need to shave off about 1/16th inch.





Can anyone give me any tips before i try this?

 

Sounds scary to me, Abe. How would you get it straight? I think I would just take it in and let him fix it.

 

Abe is it the rear of the glass hitting, or the front wing frame that's hitting the rubber? Also if the rubber tape or black adhesive was to thick when they set the glass into it's slot, it could cause the glass to be pushed back.??????????

 

It's the back of the glass hitting the division bar on the driver's side. You can see the glass stick out beyond the frame on both vents. It doesn't do that on my 54 vents.

 

You would have to worry about heat build up abe and use diamond belts but I'd really let they do it. I've watched experienced guys do it with a belt sander..

 

If it is laminated glass it can be shaved with a belt sander, I had about 1/4" taken off my windshield. If it is tempered there is nothing you can do with it, make up a pattern that fits well out of masonite or similar and have a new piece cut.

 

I've had glass made to fit locally, and the guy used a diamond belt sander with constant water flow on the glass and belt.

Abe, the division bar can be adjusted fore-aft.

 

yes, I know. But if the vent glass is too big then I can't move the division bar forward to allow the window to go up more easily. I can't move the division bar back more since the door glass is tight already. I did not replace the door glass so it is not a matter of it being too wide.

Thanks!

So the general consensus is to have the glass shop do it. I will have to call him to see when I can bring my truck to him.

 

When I set my wing vent glass i pushed them too far into the frame and then had a gap at the division bars. You can realistically only adjust them so far without compounding 1 problem into 2. I had to slide the glass back out of the frames a bit to close the gap.
in your situation is the glass pushed all the way into the channel? If it can slide in a bit further would maybe fix the problem?
good luck with it.

 

Maybe you have rust built up in the frame preventing the glass from seating correctly? Do you stil have the old glass for a comparison with the new one?

 

no i do not.

 

 

 

Here is a picture of the vents with the old glass in from the outside perspective. Notice that the glass does not stick out as far as the glass does now.


Another picture of the driver's side to compare.

 

Im thinking a 1/8 to 1/16 inch will do it. The guy said to draw a straight edge line with a sharpie before I begin.