Repairing window latches on a Thomas built bus

[David from Ontario]

I have a 2004, 10 window Thomas built bus. The windows slide open and closed vertically. As the bus bounces down the road, several windows open about an inch. (That is, they appear to land on the detents in the window channel second from the top ones.) There are a couple of windows that stay open about half an inch on just one side. (see attached photos.)

I'd appreciate any suggestions about how to get them all to stay closed, in a way that still permits them to be opened normally.

Over Christmas there was a blizzard in our area that caused us to lose power in our home for four days. Sustained strong winds blew snow horizontally. If you want to see all the unexpected places where snow can end up inside a skoolie (and why I'm so pressed to get these windows fixed) check out this three minute video I posted a few days ago:

 

[dbsoundman]

In my Thomas bus I’m able to manually push those latches into locking position if they don’t slide over on their own, have you tried that?

In terms of your drivers area I’ve found that sliding toll window is very leaky, every time I get the bus washed the drivers seat is soaked even though the window is shut. Water comes in above the window as it really doesn’t mate with the frame well.

 

[David from Ontario]

Thanks for your reply. The latches are meant to be spring loaded. I wonder if there is a lubricant that would help them slide into the locked position more easily.

I see your point about the driver's window. Not a great seal where it slides in its channel.

 

[Cheezewhiz]

I bet some graphite would do the trick

 

[nikitis]

So there are two things wrong here. If your latches are in good shape and the spring is in tact then that's one of the things wrong that isn't wrong.

The other thing is that the latch hole, the hole in the window frame that the latches slide into IS NOT punched in as well as it should be, causing the plastic latch to not LATCH properly to the frame. You hit a bump, and there goes your window sliding down an inch.

There is a tool to fix that:
Window Frame Latch Repair Tool

You simply put your windows down, insert the tool, and give the tool a whack with a hammer. This better shapes the latch hole. The folks building the buses were building these quick and didn't always punch them as well as they needed to.