SplashT@B Stories: The Saga of the Stays

Well, well, well . . . you've come back for another Story . . . thanks!!

Today's chapter is all about parts, window parts. My windows are made in Europe and in the corner is the identifier - Polyplastic. Several summers ago while we were camping at the first Tearstock, Momma Sharon bought a pair of replacement window arms from Little Guy. Friend Sue replaced them for us at the Tanglewood Toast. Push an unfolded paperclip into a tiny hole, slide the arm off, take out two screws, and reverse the process to put the new ones on. Easy peasy!

Matching pair of old stays

The latches on the end that have different numbers

The arms, called "stays", on my driver's side window went bad so it was time for another replacement pair. We contacted Little Guy once again, but this time around, they only have right arms left. Hmmm. Not to worry says Little Guy, the right one can be modified to fit the left. Hmmm.

Last Thursday morning in The Holler, Uncle Rob came over to do the install.

Off comes the arm on the left one

Here's the old right one

Off comes the old right one

Bingo! The window stays open again!

We are in business!

But here's where the Saga takes a turn. Momma Sharon totally forgot that Little Guy told her that one of the two that they sent would have to be modified to work. To complicate things, their "right" is looking from the inside out and our "right" was looking from the outside in. Confused? Uncle Rob said as soon as he put them on, he knew something was funny-looking. Sure enough, the latch on our right side wouldn't close because it was backward. So off it came and the old one went back on.

Now my Camper Mom usually stays pretty calm, but this really rubbed her the wrong way. In her way of thinking, a new part shouldn't have to be modified using a ten-year-old part in order for it to work. Since Little Guy doesn't have any left-hand stays left, folks have no choice but to "fix" the new so it will work. That meant prying the latch off the old and new ones and making an exchange.

We were kinda afraid that the rigid old plastic might break in the process and then we would be in a heap of trouble with no way secure the window for travel down the mountain. So the old one went back on until we could get home and tackle the problem then.

In the meantime, both Momma Sharon and Uncle Rob are doing online searches for replacement stays. Seems they are available as spare parts in Europe by a company called Reimo. Thank goodness there's a button on their website to translate into English! On their site was a listing of their dealers and there are three here in the States.

We now have an email in to EuroCampers in Missouri to see if they have pairs of the window stays or if they can get them from Europe. Part 2 of the Saga will follow. We have our fingers crossed that we have located a source for us and all T@Bbers.

Today, my Camper Mom is going to put on her big girl panties, pull out the flathead screwdriver, and see if she can get the latches switched out using the old and new arm. I'm sure it will look like a three-ring circus, so I will be sure to document it . . . LOL.