Ultimate camper stone guard
Submitted: Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 20:38
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Anthonyp0808
I have ordered my Ultimate camper for pick-up next February from the factory. By way of background, the camper has a large, curved boot upfront so there is no traditional draw-bar area.
One of the concerns is that boot can kick stones forward with consequent rear window damage!
I have been doing some research into appropriate stone guards but most seem to relay on something over the A-frame draw bar.
Any suggestions from Ultimate owners?
Reply By: Lex M - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 20:52
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 20:52
Thought the idea of the large curved boot was that it did not throw stones forward.
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466802
Reply By: Shaker - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 20:57
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 20:57
Google 'stone stomper' .
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Reply By: Life Member Dick B - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:01
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:01
Hi Anthony
I have an Ultimate (#519) and tow it behind my Troopy.
The Ultimate sits up quiet high and most of the stones go underneath it. If they rise high enough to hit the nose, they are deflected out the side. I do have Orbie's rear window protector installed but I don't think it is really necessary.
Ask Ultimate to give you access to the Ultimate Owners
Forum, there is a lot of good info on there and you can ask questions to many owners.
Dick
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Follow Up By: ljsroslyn - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:11
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:11
We also have an Ultimate and yes they do throw stones up, albeit probably not as much as other campers. Friends of ours just broke the rear window of their Prado whilst on a trip. They had taken the rear window protection off and hadn't put it back on and the next day the window was smashed.
We too cover our back window and have even at times covered the back tailgate to prevent stone damage. Once you get your Ultimate you will have access to the Ultimate
forum and there has been discussion about this issue on there.
Hope this helps.
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Follow Up By: Mark - Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 at 10:50
Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 at 10:50
When we picked our Ultimate up around 12 months ago they did mention there were problems with the Prado's specifically throwing stones due to the short mud flaps. We have no rear window protection on the Disco currently but will probably do something when we start going on gravel roads.
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Reply By: Member - Neil G (VIC) - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:14
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:14
Hi Anthony,
We have had our Ulti for about 8 years now and we tow it with our 60 series Landcruiser. We have not had any problems with stones in that time and we have been on lots of rough and rocky tracks and roads. Most stones either glance off the front of the camper or go under the camper. Even when we went through hordes of grasshoppers on our travels the camper stayed pretty much splat free but we had to clean the front of the car several times a day.
We only have standard mudflaps on the Toyota. I'm sure you'll love your camper! Ours is great.
Hope this is helpful,
Cheers,
Neil.
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466805
Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 07:16
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 07:16
Anthony,
I believe the
Stonestomper product would best suit your needs.
Not only will it stop stones from bouncing back into your rear window, but will also stop the "boot" of the camper and rear of the vehicle from stone chipping.
When I looked at stone guards, I chose
the Rock Tamers and are happy enough with them. I didn't want to "block" access to the rear of the vehicle.
One problem I do have is that access to the underslung spare tyre is nigh impossible and I have chosen to carry it on top of the camper.
I can see stones being ejected out the side and I am careful to slow down when passing oncoming vehicles to limit a stray missile frompossibly hitting them.
I guess any stone guard will be a compromise of some sort, but the Stone Stomper looks to be a very good product that stops any stone from lifting above the underside of the A frame.
Maybe one concern is how they would cope with mud.
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Reply By: Member -Wellsa55 - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 07:59
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 07:59
Hi Anthony,I also own an ultimate(713).I have just completed a trip across the
Gibb River Road and with a Stone Stomper installed no damage to camper or BT-50.Ring Christian at Stone Stomper he is very good.Enjoy your ultimate Rob
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Reply By: time waster - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 08:01
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 08:01
Hi Anthony,
The stone stomper is the way to go with the Ultimate, it connects to the car easy with a few snap hooks which make access to the back of the car really easy, most times I don't even disconnect to get to the back of the car just push my shin against the mesh.
I will attach a couple of pictures.
Site Link
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Reply By: Peter McG (Member, Melbourne) - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 10:42
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 10:42
Anthony
I'd endorse the comments from others. Our Ultimate was one fo the early ones - from 1996 and we tow with a Nissan patrol as you can see.
I wouldn't use a stone guard as I think it will just complicate the access to the boot, back of the car and be a hindrance in rough country.
See you on the Ultimate
forum in due course and welcome.
Cheers
Peter
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Reply By: Member - Magic (VIC) - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 12:44
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 12:44
Hi Anthony
We tow an Ultimate with a Landrover Defender (previously a Mazda Bravo), and use a set of rocktamers when on rough roads.
We've been very happy with them up till now with no damage to car or trailer.
Enjoy your Ulti!
Cheers
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Reply By: Darren H1 - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 13:08
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 13:08
Anthonyp0808,
We pick up ours on the 2nd Dec woo hoo. Hope to see all you fellow ultimates on the road soon.
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Follow Up By: Member - Jdub - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 15:10
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 15:10
We have an Ulti behind our 80 series,raised with 35's all round so most stones disappear underneath, however i have found some on the rear tow bar.
I was not aware of the stone stomper 6 years ago so I made up a similar set up only using shock cord to stretch the shade cloth into position with 3 small stainless steel saddles attached on the rear bumper.
Works a treat, no problems in 120,000 camper kms. and folds up neatly about shoebox size for easy storeage in right rear locker.
Mm if you want more details
cheers
John
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Follow Up By: AdelaideGeorge - Thursday, Oct 06, 2011 at 20:22
Thursday, Oct 06, 2011 at 20:22
Hi
John
Wouldn't mind a
pic or two of your set up please
Happy days
George
adelaidemac@hotmail.com
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Reply By: RobAck - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 19:02
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 19:02
We tow our Ultimate XTrak behind a 150 Prado and take tours across most of Australia. Never had a problem at all. Yes we get a few stone chips on the bulldog coating but so far (20,000km off bitumen) all we see are the slight nicks in the coating. Oh and a couple of chips on the level indicator. We took several Ultimates and a TVan across the Simpson, up the
Hay River and along the Plenty Hwy to Alice than back to
Adelaide and all except us used some form of
Rock Tamer type flaps and no-one had a problem.
This issue has had plenty of discussion on the Ultimate
forum and in my view and experience the vehicles that seem to have problems have the tow hitch set lower than level, that is the Ultimate has a distinct nose down attitude. Our setup is level and one of my team also has one and we towed over the same tracks with the same tow vehicles and his had stone damage on the nose cone (had a nose down setup) and we didn't
I suggest you consider your tow setup and keep it as level as possible then keep and eye on things before you consider some
Rock Tamers or similiar. But if you are concerned then they are pretty easy to make up
Regards
RobA
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Reply By: Anthonyp0808 - Thursday, Oct 06, 2011 at 23:35
Thursday, Oct 06, 2011 at 23:35
Many thanks all for the great advice, and for the great Pics.
I can't wait to get access to Ultimate
Forum - I have requested this from Ultimate but no joy until I collect my new toy!
So great information until I get there.
Elsewhere in this
forum there is mention of Obie's Outback back window saver - looks like a simple solution but does noting for the trailer. See
http://www.obiesoutback.com.au/
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Follow Up By: Mark - Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 at 11:00
Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 at 11:00
Hi Anthony,
I can send you a snapshot of a stone guard thread in the meantime. Just send me a PM to mdw000%gmail.com (replace % with @)
Cheers
Mark
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