Our Sideway Windows, Doors and Hatches

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For our mobile home, we need windows doors and hatches

We have had a lot of requests for our Sideway windows, doors and hatches lately. We were asked where we bought them, whether we are satisfied and much more. This post is intended to remove all of your question marks about our Sideway windows doors and hatches. Have fun 🙂

Many motor homes, but also many expedition vehicles, are far too dark for our needs in the interior. Most are for our taste, although taste is of course very individual, too few windows and too many walls. And at least we don’t exactly feel comfortable in such a construct.

It should be bright in our new home. So let’s first think about how many windows and how many flaps we will install. The choice initially falls on four windows around the bed, one window on the left and right behind the bench, one window on the left and right at the bed and a slightly smaller window in the kitchen area.

Meli and i quickly agreed on the stowage flaps: two large stowage flaps in the back of the slopes for removing bicycle, table and chairs, and two smaller stowage flaps for tools and the pull-out water filter system. Then we would like to have a flap, 80 cm by 60 cm for our access to the cab and a large stable entrance door 60 cm by 170 cm.

So far so good…

Another Producer of windows doors and hatches…. or Sideway?

In winter 2018/2019 we are in the middle of Portugal’s dreamlike nowhere and are looking for windows for our new home on the Internet. We roughly have a plan. For the expansion. For the windows, door and the flaps that should come in there. But only roughly.

Real glass windows should be. Those with thermal insulation glazing should please, because we want to stay away from freezing in the morning. The single glazing in the predecessor vehicle always generously distributed the heat to the surroundings during the night. We would have preferred to keep the heat to ourselves in the future.

So we first browse through the vastness of the global network and inform ourselves about the offered windows that meet our criteria. Since our vehicle builder, Tobias Teichmann from 4wheel24.de, at this time preferred to recommend the fittings from a european producer, our choice fell on this manufacturer.

Jump into summer 2019. We are now at the expansion site and have just become the proud owner of our great empty GRP case. But the window situation doesn’t seem to be the same as it was a few months ago.

Because more and more we don’t read good things about our chosen products. You hear about badly glued window handles that you suddenly hold unintentionally in your hands because they have fallen off. One hears of warped entrance doors into which it rains because the material has warped. One also hears from gas pressure dampers which have given up their gas pressure quite quickly due to the sun’s rays.

For these reasons, we spontaneously decide on the offer made by 4Wheel24 to switch to the brand new Sideway products that were not yet available on the market at the time. However, we trust Tobias because he has never given us bad advice. And we shouldn’t regret it …

We are the first GRP case with the Sideway windows doors and hatches. You do not have to cut a step cut into the GRP to install these windows and flaps, unlike with other products, which means a lot of labor savings for us.

Photo 1: A completely warped entrance door of the other brand. 

Photo 2: The door is in its place at the lock area, but stands out clearly above and below. Not only cold wind, but also moisture can go its way unhindered.

Photo 3: Why on earth does the material warp so much? Warmth? It should be prepared for that …

Photo 4: You either live with thick socks or heat a wolf … Not like that!

The Windows

We are initially planning seven windows. However, this turns out to be more complicated than expected. Because our case is beveled at the back. Slope angle and such. You already know 😉

Now our two spare wheels have to be attached to the shelter at a fairly high height. Which in turn means that no more windows can fit there. We just swipe them away and hang wall cabinets on the ceiling instead. Because storage space also has its good points.

So we take two windows on the right and left on the bed and on the benches, measuring 100 cm by 45 cm and a fifth, the kitchen window measuring 100 cm by 35 cm. We have the option of glazing with thermal insulation, which we also use.

Our windows are equipped with gas pressure dampers and a locking lever from Bansbach. With the locking lever we can easily raise the windows and lock them as needed. The glass frames are attached to the window frame with a hinged hinge and thanks to the small rain gutter above it does not drip into the interior in any opening position when it rains. We were particularly looking forward to that, because it always dripped into the old sliding windows in Fienchen when it rained.

The blackout and fly screen roller blinds that match the windows are installed in a stable aluminum frame that is hung in the interior with screws in front of the window. Like a picture frame that you hang on the wall. Two screws on the right and two on the left. As it should be, the blackout is installed above and the fly screen below, magnets hold the whole thing together. Works just fine.

Regarding the frequently asked topic of condensed water: We have had the internals for about half a year now, but we slept in the suitcase even at sub-zero temperatures and could not really find much condensed water on the windows, flaps and doors. In the beginning, we had to insert a shore power cable through a window in the case so that we could use our small 2 kw fan heater during the day. At that time, a little water condensed on the window edges. Since we no longer have to do this, there is no condensation.

Photo 5: From left: kitchen, bench and bed, view with the windows fully open

Photo 6: From left: kitchen, bench and bed, windows are half open.

Photo 7: Closed. The inner frames are black. The outer frames were already available in the shelter color for us.

Photo 8: Double locking. Can only be opened at the push of a button. Everything made of sturdy aluminum, that’s how it has to be!

Photo 9: Window handle in locked ventilation position. The handle can only be turned after the safety button has been pushed in, but this is not possible from the outside. Can prevent one or more dogs and / or cats from falling out unexpectedly when used correctly, but still lets air in. Running. 😀

Photo 10: Window handle with the window open.

Photo 11: General view of the driver’s side.

Photo 12: Inside are our blackouts and fly screens. Handy hidden in a frame matching the window as a roller blind. Darkening comes from above, fly screens from below. A magnetic stripe holds the two together securely, yet separably, so that you can vary them well.

The stowage flaps

Foto 13: Photo by MOMA, NY

Shortly after deciding on the Sideway brand, we are given the opportunity to freely choose the flap size, which we gratefully use. We have seen on other mobiles how small standard-sized storage flaps can be. So small that we couldn’t even lift our folded chairs in. We don’t even want to talk about the table or the bike. Such fiddling need not be at all.

We want to have good access. To everything we have with us back there. Everything else is just annoying. And if it’s annoying, we don’t use it. We know each other really well.

Our large storage flaps under the bed area are so big that you can easily reach almost everything under the bed. So big that even Lyggie can crawl in (and out again): D. However, due to the height of the vehicle, you can only reach in comfortably if you e.g. on a cola box that we carry with us for this purpose. And then we are also limited by the length of our upper bodies and arms, which means that the objects in the middle of the vehicle can only be reached with difficulty to a limited extent, the Shelter is simply too wide for that. But somehow we always manage.

The storage flaps that make the compartments of our benches accessible are approx. 83 by 38 cm in size. It was important to us for all flaps, but especially for the smaller flaps, that they can be opened so wide that, for example, our drinking water filter system can be pulled out very easily.

Here we first encountered the problem that the clear dimension of the flap does not correspond to the actual opening width as described, i.e. the dimension when you want to push something through, since the wall thickness of the flap reduces this dimension when open. Hmmm … have I been able to express this clearly?

All damper flaps also have small rain gutters so that rainwater is kept out, even if they have to be opened when it rains. The large flaps have a two-point lock, the small ones have a one-point lock. All locks on flaps and doors have the same key. So we don’t have to carry around unnecessarily a lot of keys. It’s pretty handy. The flaps also have strong gas pressure dampers from Bansbach so that they can remain open. Thats how it is suppost to be.

Photo 14: Our “small” storage flaps.

Photo 15: Large, slanted storage flaps and small storage flaps.

Photo16: The flaps can be opened so far that we can easily pull our drinking water filter system out of the vehicle to change the filter.

The doors: entrance door and access door to the cab

Photo 18: Our front door. The handle and lock are recessed so that they cannot be broken off from branches, for example, while driving. It is securely locked in three places.

Photo 19: Our front door seen from the inside. Latch and knob for locking.

Photo 20: Our front door seen from the outside. Latch and lock for locking.

Photo 21: The access hatch seen from the cab.

Photo 22: The access hatch seen from the cabin.

Another producer or sideway? Our conclusion