Window Opening Mechanism Fix
We discovered that the crank out bedroom window in our 5er was broken and would not stay closed on our last trip. Back home today I investigated and found that the half inch round tube that runs horizontally just below the window's hinge point, was broken off at the crank end of the tube.
I figured it was easier to remove the tube's anchor plate at the other end of the tube away from the crank mechanism. When the anchor plates 2 screws were out the entire tube, its springs and both window closing arms came out as well.
I found that the tube originally had both of its ends (the last half inch) slotted, such that when viewed from the end it looked like a circle with a slash across it, the slash being about three sixteenths wide. The closing arms had matching cutouts to fit inside these slashes, and the crank mechanism had cogs that fit them as well. In our case someone (certainly not me!) had closed the window too tightly, stressed the ends of the tube and these tube fingers had broken off.
The fix was easy. Cut off the remaining broken fingers at one end of the tube to square it up, and then cut new slots into the tube. Cut the entire tube in half and find a bolt the same diameter as the inside of the tube and at least 3 or 4 inches long. I cut the head off the bolt and slid the bolt inside of the 2 tube sections, made sure that the slots at both ends were angled the same direction, measured the entire tube's length to what it was originally, and welded the bolt to the tube sections.
A little grinding to smooth out the welds, some sanding with 120 grit sandpaper, primer paint and a final coat of silver wheels paint, and I had a repaired tube. I reinstalled all of the pieces and I have a perfectly working window again.
The price was right, and I didn't have to try and find the manufacturer of the window to try and order parts.
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2004 Cougar 285
2003 GMC 2500HD CCSB stock,
except for Bully Dog Power Pup Level 2
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