Protecting rear window

Hi Fang

Even if you protect your rear window , you will most likely be creating a shower
of stones into oncoming cars, as so many of those towing trailers do.

I think better way is to not have a situation in which stones bounce off if the first place, anything like bigger flaps helps but a loose draped material like shadecoth
spaced a little in front of any hard surfaces works well.

Robin Miller

Mate, I had the same concern so I went down to windscreens O'brien and got them to cut a peice of 3mm perspex the same shape as the rear window (80 series). Then I purchased some suction cups that have a little clip that pushes into the back of them (there designed for sticking perspex signs to shop windows). I just stuck them on the window and marked their position with a felt pen. Then drilled the small holes and loctited them in place so they wouldnt come loose.
I hope it works......

Olly

Hi Fang,

I am not sure bigger mud flaps are the answer. There is a school of thought that as they move through the air at say 80 to 100kph they create an area of low pressure which picks up stones for the trailer to run into. The loose piece of shade cloth hung in front of the trailer works pretty well. That is what I have and I have not broken a window. However I do find small stones on the rear step which suggests it is not 100% effective.

I have considered a shade cloth guard hung over the entire rear door to protect both windows and paintwork but haven't worked out the details yet. Any suggestions?

As for the suggestion that trailers throw stones at on coming vehicles, well everything does. When entering William Creek we stopped to give way to a Cessna which was taxiing across the road and it through a stone in our general direction, it just popped out from under the edgte of the tyre. When approaching oncoming vehicles it is both common sense and good manners to slow down and give them as much room as possible. It has worked so far for me.

Duncs

Fang
I haven't seen it, but a friend of mine told me he set up a horizontal shadecloth screen between his van and rear of the Cruiser, basically blocking in the entire area of the A-frame. He had it mounted to both corners of van and back of car, with sides supported by shock cord (big occy straps?) to allow for turning.
I think it is mounted under the A-frame rather than trying to go over the top of the hitch and gas bottles etc. He said he has simple hook attachments ot make it easy to get out of the way.
He said the first trial was no good because the exhaust gases burnt a big hole in it quick smart. However, a bit of experimenting with a tail pipe extension (maybe bent?) and cutting a hole in the appropriate place to allow the hot gases to escape, he reckons he never gets a stone mark on his van or car now, let alone broken windows.
Might be wortyh a try.
Regards

Tuck has the right idea . I have no ( zero ) stones hitting the rear of my car ever, because I have shadecloth running from my camper to the bumper bar of my Cruiser .
The shadecoth is properley stitched and the exact shape to run from the camper to about a foot from my bumper bar . It is then attached to rings on each end of the bumper with stretchy shock cord .

Cheers,

Willie .

I chose the horizontal shadecloth for my Campomatic - not the easiest setup to live wityh, but practical enough. Roughly tailored to fit the Campo (with cutouts for the wedge box etc.) - held on with shock cord front - occies rear- not precise - not sophisticated by quite effective to date. Had the trad 45 degree barrier on the older camper, but not practical on this one.
Photo in the Campomatic section on my site ..... Here

Go the peice of perspex,$30-35 . I originally used velcro to hold it on but the bit that stayed on the window glass finally carked it .
now I just gaff tap the perspex on and it has the added advantage that you can seal out the dust that used to get between the window glass and the perspex.
I normally run around the edge of thewindow rubber with stanley knife to trim up tape to make sure paint doesnt get pulled off with tape after extended trips.
Cheers
Howard

I am in the process of testing a new stone guard that will fit most campers,trailers and caravans it is of the trapeze style made out of material similar to shade cloth but very much stronger.
Can email pics if anyone interested.

Christian

Hi Fang,

Found this following Web page reference on the Caravaners Forum site some time ago. May be of some help.

www.msnusers.com/Caravanersforum/msgattachments/1581

In the past I have also used taped cardboard and double layered plastic "bubble"
packaging on the rear window with good effect.

Cheers.

Peter W
"Life is not a rehearsal"

Thanks Christian would like a copy. rayl.smith@optusnet.com.au

Willem made us rear window guards - cut to shape from some thick clear plastic (like you can buy from Spotlight stores), stuck on with adhesive backed Velcro squares. Easy and cheap. When it was really hot, the sticky patches came off occasionally, but responded to being pressed tightly on again.

Believe me for I do not speak with forked tongue!

You are 100% on the money fang.
Bigger mud flaps will help, but won't stop every stone and it only takes one tiny little piece to bounce up off the frame of the trailer or stone guard for that matter and the damage is done. The one still imbedded in my window was about half the size of your little finger nail.

The "horizontal shadecloth" or trampoline is not a viable solution IMO.
As soon as the track gets muddy, (happened to me on the Birdsville track) the weight of the mud sticking to the shadecloth will drag the whole lot to ground level and be ripped off.

The vertical, angled stone guard mounted to the 'A'-frame of a trailer will only provide protection to the front of the trailer, or van.

If you want a quality solution, Obie's Outback Rear Window Saver is the best there is.

Have had mine for a couple of years now. It's quick to put on and take off.
The only modification I have done is to replace the velcro strips that are supplied, with velcro 20mm dots, placed around the circumferance of both rear windows on the Jack.

Only this, or a home made equivalent, will give you peace of mind.

If I missed out on sending anyone a picture send me your email and i will send one through.
We are going to have them ready soon in kit form, and yes when the track turns to mud its a 45 sec job to remove and replace.(you don't get stone chips in the mud).
Our trip last year took us from Adelaide to Birdsville,Plenty Hwy,Alice,Chambers Pillar,Old Ghan line,Coober Peddy and Goog's Track after 4500km of gravel we didn't have one square cm of unchipped paint left on our new Hilux.
Part of the trip we travelled with friends who hired an Adventurer camper with a trapeze style stone guard and had almost no chips. When we returned we made some enquires and they do sell them for $488 but will need major modifications and welding of brackets to the chassis to make it fit. So we have come up with a stone guard that will fit onto most chassis sizes and A frame widths without the need to weld and drill holes and the attatchment bar on the rear of the car simply bolts on with your existing tow ball/off road hitch and the bar stays on the car even when unhitched.

Thanks Christian

streets@sa.chariot.net.au

In 1991 we spent 3 months travelling through Central Australia towing a Cub Campomatic - 19,000 km including GRR and Tanami Track.

Before this I talked to a friend who said you'll just have to get the back of the Pajero repainted and if you're unlucky, you'll lose the rear window (like he did).

I wasn't happy with that and with my solution, we came back with not a single stone chip to the rear of the Pajero and no window break.

I cut two steel 20x20mm tubes - one the length of the Trailer, the other the length of the rear Bumper. I wrapped shadecloth around the two bars and fixed them on with cable ties. Then I ran Occy Straps between the two ends of the bars and attached the shadecloth using cable ties.

I screwed the tube to the straight front of the Trailer and made two brackets that attached to the Rear Bumper. The other tube attached to these brackets with asymetric wingnuts (so they won't undo). I would unscrew these wingnuts before unhitching the Trailer.

The shadecloth ran over the Drawbar and hitch. It survived the whole trip with no holes.

Mike