All My Fault: Breaking the Rear Truck Window with my Fifth Wheel

No excuses. I promised I’d do a tell-all on breaking the rear truck window of my Ford F-250 with my fifth wheel. So here’s the full story, embarrassedly told in hopes it will prevent others from making the same costly mistake I did.

The below lays it all out.

The backstory on my breaking the rear truck window

It happened in Tampa, FL, when we showed up to camp for a week at the Florida State Fairgrounds during the big Florida RV Supershow in our Arcadia 32.5-foot Fifth Wheel. Jen and I were upfront in our Ford F-250 Super Duty, with Bo in his usual spot in the back seat.

A fairgrounds employee in a golf cart led us to the spot they had set aside for us – a very narrow spot at that. Jennifer asked him if there was something a little easier to navigate. It was basically a take-it-or-leave-it response.

So we took it.

I’m fairly new to the fifth-wheel life. While I think I’ve done pretty well learning the ins and outs of dropping off and hooking up, backing in was still a bit challenging. But I thought I was up to the challenge.

Besides, all the other campers were watching.

Then came Mistake #1

“Let me get out and spot for you,” said Jennifer.

“No,” I said much too fast. “I got this.”

Dumb, dumb me.

But I reasoned that this was good experience for me. I just needed to go slow.

I started the approach, cranking the wheel in the opposite direction I wanted the rear of the fifth wheel to move. I made it in about 20 feet or so, then pulled out to make the turn a little less severe.

It really was tight.

I cranked. The rear of the Arcadia was moving in the right direction. So I kept going.

Then came Mistake #2

I was watching the rear of the fifth wheel, not the front end. And as the angle in the turn increased, the front end got closer and closer until…… CRRRACK!

The rear window exploded in a loud shower of tinted glass. The front of the fifth wheel pushed right through it.

Bo lept from the back seat onto the front, smack down on Jennifer’s lap. All 65 panicked pounds of him.

And I immediately knew I had screwed up big time.

I was not watching the front of the fifth wheel at all. A simple glance would have shown me it was getting way too close. Or if I had let Jen out to spot.

I suppose it could have been worse. The front end could have caved in part of the rear cab as well. Instead, it took out the window.

I was so embarrassed…. as I should have been. I still am.

There was a third mistake I made.

I have a great fifth-wheel hitch. The A-20 from Curt. It is a sliding hitch.

I assumed, out of total ignorance, that a sliding hitch meant that it would slide automatically.

The dealer who installed my hitch gave me no instructions at all. So I assumed it slid all by itself when the RV was cranked at a tight angle.

It doesn’t work that way.

There is a stout black lever that needs to be pulled that then moves the hitch from the “towing position” to the “maneuvering position.” In the above video, a representative from Curt at the RV show generously came to the campsite to demonstrate how the sliding hitch is supposed to work.

If I had done that one simple step, the hitch would have slid back a foot and not have broken the window.

It would have been nice if the hitch installer had told me how it works. But it would have been even better if I had read the instruction manual. I hadn’t.

Ignorance is no excuse. And for my ignorance, I had to pay the price in getting the damage repaired.

EXTRA: See the 43 Dumbest RV Camping Mistakes

Finding replacement glass and a repair person was no easy feat

I forced myself to calm down. Jennifer didn’t say a single word of criticism. She didn’t have to.

I still had to get into the tight camping spot. A neighbor came over and spotted me as I slowly backed in.

Word of my mishap traveled quickly.

Within minutes, a small crowd of other campers, including some other RV influencers, came over to commiserate. A couple of them kindly brought us a ShopVac, which Jennifer immediately used to start cleaning up the broken glass. She never complained.

I should have cleaned the mess I made. “We’re in this together,” she said. “You feel bad enough.”

The task of finding someone to replace the window took a couple of days.

I first tried Safelite, the “we come to you” window company that advertises so heavily. It was impossible to talk to anyone there. It’s all done on the web. There were no phone numbers and after filling out a form, I got a return email message that no, they would not come to me.

Instead, Safelite informed me that I’d have to take into one of their repair facilities in Tampa. The soonest they could get me in was a week from the following Tuesday.

We needed to be long gone from the Tampa area by then.

I next tried the closest Ford Dealer I could find, in nearby Brandon, FL. The service department said they don’t do that sort of repair. They referred me to a local car glass company. All I got was an answering machine. I left several messages. They never returned my calls.

It so happened that there were two RV glass companies that were exhibiting at the RV show. They felt my pain, they said, but were much too busy to come to me in the adjacent campground to even look at my problem, let alone fix it.

Then I found a company called Auto Glass Geeks. Their website advertised that they do mobile windshield and glass repair “anywhere in Florida.” I called and the next day, they sent technician Wyatt Johnson from up near Orlando down to me at the Tampa fairgrounds with a perfect replacement for our F-250.

He did an amazing job.

It took him just over an hour. It cost me just under $1,000.

This is my penance

This is an embarrassing post to write. But maybe, like I said, my mistakes will be a learning experience for others.

Since my setback in breaking the rear truck window, I have learned that a lot of others have done the same thing.

And people have been very kind.

But it was all so preventable.

If only I had listened to my wife…..

Where to next?

Mike and Jennifer’s 7-Day RV Adventure Guide of Southern Utah

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You can hit everything in seven days, do a whirlwind weekend tour, or you can take your time and explore the area over a 2+ week period.

Planning an RV trip can be very time-consuming so that’s why we’ve done the research for you! Just take our guides and use them, we’re sure you’ll have an RV trip for the ages! Instant download. CLICK HERE for information on ALL our RV Travel Guides

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