Trailer Stone Guards

I have some clear plastic sheeting which I have glued to the front of the trailer. Use same sheeting velcroed on to rear windows. It works.

Cheers

Snowey,

In my experience it would make very little difference.

The idea of a well designed Stone guard is not only the impact absorption quality of the mesh material but also the angle of the whole assembly which directs stones downward. At least that's the theory.

But, if the stone hits the steel frame of the guard, it can still bounce upward and forward, as happened in my case once.

A Stone guard mounted on the A-frame of a trailer, etc., primarily protects what is behind it, so it is good to give protection to the front of the van or trailer.

A Stone Guard mounted horizontally, underneath the A-frame, between the towing vehicle and the object being towed is good when it is dry, but add a bit of outback mud to the equation and you can kiss the "trampoline" logic goodbye. (Tried that too)

If you wish to protect the rear window glass of your vehicle, there is only one sure way of doing that and that is by covering it with some sort of protective cover, anything from beer cartons (cheap, emergency use) to a "Screen Saver" (the best).

I use both a Stone Guard mounted on the A-frame of the Camper and an Obies Outback Rear Screen Saver over the windows. Haven't experienced any noticeable damage to the rear paintwork so far. At times I add a full length "mud flap" mounted across and behind the rear wheels of the Jack. Maybe I'm just a little "paranoid" because I had to complete the majority of a three week trip to the "Corner Country" with beer cartons taped both inside and outside across the bleep tered window of the Jack to hold the glass in place. Not an experience I wish to repeat.

I have just fitted a self designed guard made from 40mm pvc, shadecloth ,doubled,
sewn with fishing line. As you can see it was cheap but is untried at this point.
Leaving on trip Saturday. The design is flat & covers the area from the storage box
to the bumper with triangular cut outs on corners to allow turning. Further cutouts
allow for vertical spare wheel carrier & jockey wheel.
It looks like it might work but will carry bubble wrap & cardboard & tape to use
on rear windows if thought necessary. I will post my thoughts on the effectiveness
when we return. Using energy absorbing material on trailer front should be
useful also....oldbaz.

I have a shallow "V" type stone guard angled slightly forward. It is covered with a thick shade cloth firm but not tight.

In a 4 month trip over some rough a stoney roads of weatern Queensland, not even a stone chip on the paint work. I also had clear covers on the rear windows. But after that trip I dont think I will bother with the window covers again.

Hey Snowy,

The Kimberly Kamper web site has one that can be fitted to their trailers - I would look into something like this or if it is a KK then just buy the off the shelf one. Or you could try this guy www.obiesoutback.com.au/obie1.htm.

Cheers

I use the horizontal shade cloth type held taught with 6mm shock cord - works a treat . When the going is clay mud all the small clods form into one large "doughboy" which can be easily removed - no probs with excessive sagging and still enough flex to do full lock turns .
Cheers John

I have filled in 2/3 of the A-frame with sheetmetal so that it looks like an upturned boat. Before that I broke 2 rear windows on the Oodnadatta Track, since then (3 years ago) not even a stone chip on the paintwork. Of course the stones now bounce outwards and upwards which might inconvenience traffic coming the opposite direction, but 99.999% of the time that's not a problem. I just slow down for oncoming traffic if I'm on a gravel surface.

Cheers
John

G,Day Willem
Yeah , working allright - excavating black mud out of our base moorings to float the boats - too many clean people having showers in Adelaide I bet . The level is down a metre so far .
Will try to catch up at Waraweena for a day or so .
Cheers John

IMO, the essence of stone guarding is to "deflect" the stones out and away - don't try to "stop" them as such. Has paid off for us.........

Shade cloth, set up like on teh Trak Shak camper trailer..
Thats the go ?

Cheers Mate !

Bucky

ps....I can do a foto if required !