Garrison Window Fix

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
I rebuilt me sliding windows before my AlCan trip last summer. Zack at Rovers North hooked me up with all the parts needed.
 

El Pinchi

Well-known member
I got the Garrison kit. Also, my windows are in very rough shape; sitting out in the weather for 21 years in wet weather; all the seals are perished and/or moldy. The bottom plastic tracks are cracked. I ordered pretty much everything for a full rebuild, in addition to the Garrison kit:


MWC7612: RUNNER WINDOW BOTTOM SLIDE DEFENDER
MWC7614: SEAL DRAUGHT RAIL -DEFENDER
MUC1008: WINDOW SEAL ROOFSIDE DEFENDER
MUC1005: FILLER STRIP WINDOW SEAL DEFENDER
MWC7617: GLAZING STRIP ROOFSIDE WINDW DEFENDER
MUC4025: RUBBER STOP SLIDE WINDOW ROOF SIDE DEFENDER
MWC7615: GLAZING STRIP REAR WINDOW

All available from RN and other sources. It adds up. :eek: I should be doing the rebuilds in the next few weeks.
So are the said gaskets included in the Garrison kit? I already have the kit. I?m not familiar with gaskets that go over rivets. Just trying to get some clarification.
 

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
Eddie,
The kit doesn't include anything that is outside of the window channel itself. No rubber strip on the outside or foam weatherstripping that goes between the frame and the body panel.
 

BarryO

Well-known member
So are the said gaskets included in the Garrison kit? I already have the kit. I?m not familiar with gaskets that go over rivets. Just trying to get some clarification.

No. The Garrison kit just replaces the felt weatherstripping that goes over the top and side of the sliding window. If you want to replace anything else, you must purchase it separately.

The filler strip that goes over the rivets is MUC1005
 

BarryO

Well-known member
Finally got around to doing the windows and just finished one. My take-aways:

  • DO use the Posidriv bit that comes with the kit to remove the screws (or your own; I already had a set of Posidriv bits). It may look like a Philips screwdriver will work, but the Philips bit is designed to cam out above a certain torque, and you're more likely to strip a screw head with a Philips bit. Use a hand driver rather than a power driver, too, so you can be as gentle as possible in removing the screws.
  • You may want to order a couple of new screws to replace the bottom middle rail screw in each window; mine were fairly rusty and they're cheap, relatively speaking
  • The instructions say not to remove the bottom middle rail screw, but I found it much easier to remove it and disassemble the vertical rail and fixed window from the bottom frame section. Having them still attached makes them fairly fragile (I ended up bending the bottom screw), and makes cleaning the bottom frame section much more difficult.
  • Don't bother with the Goo-Gone supplied in the kit. The instructions say "you may need to soak the channels up to an hour". Heck, I had to wait overnight. On the second frame section I used 3M 08984 Adhesive Cleaner (available at auto parts stores), which works in a few minutes.
  • The outside painted surfaces of my frames were dull with the paint oxidized; with the window disassembled they were easy to make shiny again with some polishing compound.
  • MWC7612: RUNNER WINDOW BOTTOM SLIDE DEFENDER: yes you definitely want to replace those while you're at it. Mine were brittle and cracked from UV exposure and essentially none-operational
  • MWC7614: SEALDRAUGHT RAIL -DEFENDER: This is the "sqeegee" that the sliding window slides against. Yes replace these; it's easy and mine had gotten hard and brittle
  • MUC1008: WINDOW SEAL ROOFSIDE DEFENDER: The seal between the window frame and the body panel. My originals were very compressed, so yes I'd recommend replacing them. Use the 3M Adhesive cleaner to remove all residue from the old seals
  • MUC1005: FILLER STRIP WINDOW SEAL DEFENDER: These cover the rivets. I got new ones, but they're just cosmetic and not critical. You can decide to change them later without removing the window again, so I don't think they're an essential item.
  • MWC7617: GLAZING STRIP ROOFSIDE WINDW DEFENDER: Glazing for the fixed window. Easy to replace but expensive; a judgement call and you may want to go with the old ones if they're still pliable and in good shape.
  • MUC4025: RUBBER STOP SLIDE WINDOW ROOF SIDE DEFENDER: Don't bother. The originals are glued in place and are a bear to remove, and there's no real need to replace them
  • MWC7615: GLAZING STRIP REAR WINDOW:The glazing between the vertical middle rail and the fixed window. Don't bother: the fixed window is wedged into the rail so tightly I was afraid of breaking something if I tried more to remove the window, and the strip seemed to be doing its job just fine. Replacements are also ridiculously expensive.
  • MUC3768: FILLER STRIP WINDOW SEAL: Cosmetic filler strips used two per window. I just cleaned mine up and re-used them. These also can be replaced with the window installed, so there's no big need to replace them with the window removed.

I'm pretty happy with the way the window turned out; the felt replacements work great and the window looks and works better than new. The most time-consuming part was cleaning and polishing all the old parts, especially the windows which has mineral deposits along the bottom (taken care off with toothpaste and elbow grease).
IMG_7221.jpg
 

Bostondave

Well-known member
Excellent write up Barry. Thank you for posting.

How long did the process take? What was the appx cost for the additional replacement parts? I already have the GO kit and plan to tackle it at some point. Did you use a pneumatic riveter for the reinstallation?
 

El Pinchi

Well-known member
Yes thank you Barry. Nice been procrastinating for 2.5 yrs to do this...garrison kit just sitting in my garage and I?m dreading doing this. This really helps with other parts needed.
 

BarryO

Well-known member
I really can't give a good estimate in total time since I didn't have to remove (or re-install) the windows; I'm having the truck re-sprayed and the shop removed the windows to do that; I just picked them up from them to rebuild them while they were out of the vehicle.

The most time-consuming thing was cleaning up the parts. Like I said, don't bother with the goo-gone, the 3M cleaner is much faster. I used Meguiar's Ultimate Compound to polish up the frames (but any polishing compound should work); maybe a 1/2 hour to do both frame sections(?). The most time-consuming thing was removing the mineral deposits from the glass, but that's something that others may not need to do.

Once the parts were all cleaned and polished, installation of the Garrison channel and the other parts went pretty quickly. Like with a lot of things, it's the preparation that takes all the time. :)

As I said, besides the kit you want have the bottom runner (MWC7612), the "squeegee" (MWC7614), the frame-to-panel seal (MUC1008), and probably a new bottom screw (AC606081L) for each window. Just get them from RN or Google the part numbers for other suppliers.

One other thing: Garrison published a 5-part Youtube video series for this kit; very helpful. I set up my laptop on the next bench and would step through it while I did the work. https://youtu.be/2eCMYe8q_s0
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
I cheated and used felt instead of my Garrison rubbers because I wanted to save those for a new set, or for a rebuild. However, just having new felt in place makes the windows so tight I can hardly move them. The felt is much thinner than the Garrison rubber strips. So I’m worried that I will rebuild the windows, but not be able to use them! Am I missing something? Have you guys seen better operation, as well as having the rattles go away?
 

Uncle Douglas

Well-known member
Callsign: delete
On rear sliders- having installed the Garrison kits, my .02.
If you have any white chalky oxidation on the frames inside or out, punt and buy new windows.
If you place any value on your own time you will spend far more time trying to get the screws that hold the frames together out than is worth it. If you are paying someone to install them- without question, go with new windows.
FWIW Zack has a stash of Puma new take off roof sides complete with windows for short $. We just went that route instead of fitting the anti rattle kit on a td5 vintage truck here. Have worked with the dark tint Masai sliders as well,nice product.
 

RBBailey

NAS-ROW Addict
Callsign: KF7KFZ
If you have any white chalky oxidation on the frames inside or out, punt and buy new windows.

That's what I'm afraid of. The job seems like it's going to be annoying at best. My windows look OK from a distance, and they keep out most rain, but once you get close you see the corrosion and dirt and warping. If I rebuild them, I'm afraid it won't be worth it. I'm checking some local sources, then will have to look to get some shipped. But still might need to rebuild mine, or at least do a partial refurb of some kind.
 

BarryO

Well-known member
I cheated and used felt instead of my Garrison rubbers because I wanted to save those for a new set, or for a rebuild. However, just having new felt in place makes the windows so tight I can hardly move them. The felt is much thinner than the Garrison rubber strips. So I’m worried that I will rebuild the windows, but not be able to use them! Am I missing something? Have you guys seen better operation, as well as having the rattles go away?
Mine work great. I went to the trouble to notch the Garrison strips at the places where the latch locks, and it smoothly moves from position to position.

I wonder if the glass thickness changed over time, like there is two different thicknesses for the alpine window glass.
 

MountainD

Technical Excellence Contributor
I did mine 5 or so years ago on the D90, worked great and still does. I have the kit for the D110 but I just have not gotten the motivation to do it yet--it is a big enough job to be annoying.
 

jon

Active member
I bought this kit for my front windows and it didn't fit on a Perentie. I thought they were the same LR window door tops. Apparently not.
They fit my perentie - the only caveat being I needed more of the rubber extrusion - almost double - which was strange. I thought I was going nuts but maybe there are more channels on the Perentie window tops. Reached out to Garrison and they sent me more extrusion no problem.
 

BarryO

Well-known member
If you place any value on your own time you will spend far more time trying to get the screws that hold the frames together out than is worth it.
I didn't have any problem with them with some penetrating oil and the correct screwdriver bit, but I didn't have any white crud on the frames, either (just faded paint). I can see how if the frames are that far gone the screws could be affected as well.

Yea it doesn't make much sense to pay a mechanic to do this.
 

javelinadave

Administrator
Staff member
Note to anyone looking to do the rear kit...I invested in the Milwaukee Rivet gun and it made this job a five minute job. Love this tool...

Milwaukee Electric Tools 2550-20 M12 Rivet Tool (Bare Tool) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07C67BGVJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_HMlTEbNFVA3N2
I have a well used Harbor Freight pneumatic rivet gun that made the window reinstall an easy and fast job. I also ordered new plastic tracks from Zack and replaced them while I had the window apart.
 

jymmiejamz

Founding Member
Callsign: KN4JHI
x2 on the HF gun. I had to take mine apart a bunch of times because it would get jammed, but still worth it compared to a manual gun.
 
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