home made rear window saver

Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 22:44
ThreadID: 76500 Views:7005 Replies:10 FollowUps:9
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g'day all has anyone made a rear window saver themselves? it cant be that difficult. i thought i would use 3mm polycarbonate with suction cups. has anyone tried this already? much obliged thomas qld
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Reply By: Motherhen - Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:04

Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:04
Cardboard with sticky tape, or clear plastic (thick stuff like from Spotlight - is that what you mean by polycarbonate?) with Velcro tabs or sticky tape as we found the Velcro could come adrift in very hot weather. Certainly not difficult and lots like above can be seen out on the road.

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Reply By: Member - Mark G Gulmarrad - Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:10

Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:10
Thomas
your best bet would be to get some Corflute sheets (the same stuff real estate signs are made out of) and some 100mph tape,cheers.
AnswerID: 406991

Follow Up By: Member - Myles F (QLD) - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 06:24

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 06:24
G’day Mark,
I like your new signature (rig photo). Does it indicate another Toyota pulling a Nissan out of a bog? Or what exactly is going on there? hehe.
Myles.
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Reply By: Member - Ed C (QLD) - Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:25

Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:25
Yep, I've done exactly what you are contemplating....

In a nutshell, I got sick o' the bl@@dy things & chucked 'em in the bin...

Got meself an appropriate sized piece of Altrex Light Skinz material, cut it to size (2 pcs), stuck 'em on, sealed the edges w/- auto silicone, and that's it... permanent... no more dust between poly & glass, no more suction cups poppin' , no more having to fit window protectors every time I take a trailer off the tar (they're on there permanently;-))

Aaand, I can still see out the rear window ('till it gets covered in dust, then I just blow that off;-))

Last time I checked, Autobarn had the lightskinz material in 1.5m x 600mm.. If they don't have it in stock, they can order it in whatever length you require..

Not exactly cheap (can't remember actual cost), but still a whole lot cheaper than a new window;-)

Beats all other options hands down IMO (YMMV)

:)


Confucius say.....
"He who lie underneath automobile with tool in hand,
....Not necessarily mechanic!!"

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Follow Up By: Harrow - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 00:49

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 00:49
Done exactly the same with the Skinz

3M product

works a treat

Once on stays permanent

Just avoid using rear windscreen wiper
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Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 04:31

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 04:31
Guy's
Not a bad Idea that one..its brilliant !
Could cut silicone off at the end of your trip ..

Poly carbonate and suction cups drove me mad.. but it worked !

Gray Taped it on in the end, and used foam rubber bits in the middle, to stop the rubbing glass effect..

Still that started to after a few days, but hung on til we got back into Alice Springs..
Cheers
Bucky
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Follow Up By: Member - Ed C (QLD) - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 11:02

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 11:02
Bucky,
the Skinz is self-adhesive (peel & stick), so once it's on it stays there... (that's the biggest advantage of it, IMO)

The reason I use the silicone, is to stop dust/ moisture working it's way in underneath (at the top edge mainly) & causing loss of adhesion...

No need to cut nothin' off at the end of a trip, it stays in place ready for the next trip, and the one after that, and the next........well, ya get my drift;-))

The wiper remains fully operational, but if ya use it while the window is covered w/- dust/ mud, then the Skinz WILL scratch!

:)

Confucius say.....
"He who lie underneath automobile with tool in hand,
....Not necessarily mechanic!!"

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Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 19:43

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 19:43
Ed

Even better mate
Cheers for that

Bucky
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Follow Up By: kev.h - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 19:51

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 19:51
I made headlight protectors out of the offcuts works a treat
Kev
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Reply By: Member - Josh (TAS) - Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:39

Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:39
We had a good stone gaurd on the trailer and never had a stone hit the rear window or the car at all for that matter in 3 years on the road. We angled the mess down a bit so the stones landed back on the road where they said be. This may help reduce the risk a bit.

Josh
AnswerID: 406998

Reply By: wato35 - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 07:45

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 07:45
Hi Thomas

I went through all this before our trip, I assume you are towing?
Have a look at this link of a stone guard. It cost me $200 and worked a treat.

http://www.campertrailers.org/stoneguard10.JPG


Regards

Wato
AnswerID: 407014

Follow Up By: Off-track - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 22:38

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 22:38
I like this idea and have seen before. How did you attach the cross bar to the towbar?
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Follow Up By: wato35 - Thursday, Mar 04, 2010 at 07:43

Thursday, Mar 04, 2010 at 07:43
Thats not my vehicle, its the one I got the idea from, it was already on the net. My stone guard is very similar, the cross bar just attaches to the tow bar holding the trailer. As you tighten the trailer pin the bar become tight and will move as one with the vehicle. I had to get a longer pin, so it would fit through the trailer and the cross bar at the same time.
Hope this helps.

Wato
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Reply By: Moggs - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:13

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:13
Hi Thomas,

I have made my own and you are right, it is not difficult. I have posted in the MySwag forum on how I did it:
Home Made Window Savers

Please note that the original post mentions velcro dots. These did not handle the heat well and I changed them to the 3M Dual lock fasteners. They have been on the Patrol since 2007 and are great.
AnswerID: 407016

Follow Up By: Member - Mark E (VIC) - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 21:37

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 21:37
Concur......

Copied Moggs' idea a couple of years ago and it all works a treat.

Also DO use the 3M Dual Lock fasteners. WAAAy better than velcro.

Cheers and thanks to Moggs... :-)

Mark
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Reply By: Member - Carl- Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:25

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:25
Hi Thomas,

Many great ideas and I am about to remake my stone guard. This is the one I have at the moment. A layer of clear PVC (Bunnings) 2 layers of grey boat carpet (Bunnings) and a layer of grey PVC (to match the car colour). Sew together with velcro on the back. The velcro on the glassis Velcro (brand only) "Sure Grip or True Grip". It will not come of with the outback heat where others will.

In this way you can just take it off and put it on, as many times as you want.

If you have a 200, the rear window is $2900 to replace. Yes.. toyota have caught with Mercedes and BMW at screwing (can I use that word) you for parts.

To prove it works, I showed my wife it, by throwing a rock at the back window. I missed, and hit the car itself. That was not good.






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AnswerID: 407018

Reply By: Member - Oldbaz. NSW. - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:29

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:29
While the window type no doubt protect the glass, they do little to stop the
damage to surrounding paint, lights etc on the rear of your tug & do nothing to
protect the front of your trailer.
...I made a very cheap & effective stone guard from 40mm PVC
pipe & shadecloth, that mounts on top of the A frame of the C/t. Works well...not
one mark on trailer or tug. Only downside is slightly decreased ease of access
into back of tug, but results outweigh that easily. Sorry no pics, but happy to supply details if requested...cheers....oldbaz.
AnswerID: 407019

Reply By: brushmarx - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 10:17

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 10:17
We made a set from polycarbonate, drilled holes for bending etc as per moggs' detail, and even made a small set for the tail lights. They worked, but they kept popping some of the velcro's on the corrugations around Birdsville. The poly didn't fall off, and the system worked, but after a bit of dust build up, the velcro dots were less efficient.
Last 2 trips, we ditched the poly protectors and built a stone guard for the CT from arc mesh and shade cloth, and had no problems.
Corflute and cardboard taped on would work, but I can view the road behind me over the top of the trailer, and don't want to lose that option.
If you have a higher trailer or van with no rear view, I guess the cheaper the better.
Cheers
I'll get there someday, or die wanting to.

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AnswerID: 407038

Reply By: alwaysrovin - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 10:36

Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 10:36
We used approx 5mm thick black high density foam, cut to shape and sikaflexed on. It saved the back windows several times, though a couple of the bigger stones left small chips in the foam. If you're just doing a 'one-off' trip the sika comes off quite easily, and the remains you can srape off with a sharp knife/scraper. We've left them on as we aren't worried about lack of visibility as the vehicle is either towing a trailer or loaded to the max, and very rarely sees a city road. - Funny the number of times people ask what sort of window tinting it is!!
AnswerID: 407040

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