Preventing stone damage on the road

[vcrt]

Well, we have a new to us 2007 2499 that has been gently used. The previous owner said it was mostly parked in a campground, and it seems like it since there were only a few dents on the front from stones on the highway. But, on our first trip out, we picked up some more. At this rate, in a short time, the aluminum siding at the front, especially the lower panel would look like the surface of the moon. So, I made a stone guard that on our first trip has proven to prevent any new dents.

Here's the dents that are already there:


First, a frame was needed, this is welded from 3/4"EMT:


Here's the connections looking down on the frame:


And here's the cover fabric velcroed and strapped in place:


This is my third try at some sort of a cover to block the stone damage. The first two did not use a frame and wind at even 40mph was enough to cause billowing and loosening of the fabric. This one has gone 65mph with no problems.

Rich

[vcrt]

Two more photos.

Here's a view from behind with the cover on:


And one from the side:


Rich

[Gene]

I like it. I think you should market it.

[mainah]

Maybe because I have mud guards on the truck but the only place mine gets clobbered is down low on the frame just beats all the paint off the frame. I made aluminum plates to cover that section of the frame and left them unpainted.

[vcrt]

mainah, someone had mentioned having a full width mud flap on their TV awhile back and I thought about doing that, but without knowing if it would truly keep the stones from hitting the front of the camper, I decided to just cover it up!
Rich

[MACK C-85]

Factory option on mine: the area from the stripe down is Aluminum Diamond Plate, not all that thick, but it takes cares of the stone chip issue.

[mainah]

It was interesting when I bought mine the paint on the hitch and front frame were pretty beat up I sand blasted the tong and repainted it then figuring the front of the frame would get hit pretty good from the wheels throwing stones but pulling it with my Tacoma that has factory mud flaps it does not seem to be the case. The aluminum guards I put on the frame edges I can't say wither they have been beat up or not because I did not paint them. The mud flaps have got to help.

[vcrt]

That is interesting. So mainah, you've found that the majority of the stones hitting the trailer are being thrown off the TV tires. I also noticed on my last camper, there were dents above the front stripe, so I always thought that they were coming at the trailer from other vehicles on the road, like trucks hauling dirt, gravel etc, you know, the stuff that usually cracks your windshield.
But I guess our own TV does a certain amount of damage too.
Rich

[Poppy & Nana]

We brought our trailer to a local (snowmobile/motorcycle) trailer manufacturer and had them put on a piece of aluminum diamond plate on the front up to the seam line - cost us about 100.00 and lt looked great......I think Hutch did the same thing.

[PTHutch]

Originally Posted by vcrt

mainah, someone had mentioned having a full width mud flap on their TV awhile back and I thought about doing that, but without knowing if it would truly keep the stones from hitting the front of the camper, I decided to just cover it up!
Rich

Rich,

What you did looks really cool - great job. Have you tried it out yet - how does it work?

I've used a full width mud flap for years and seems to work well to minimize stone chips on the front.
Here's a link to my Mud Flaps post that shows what I used and how I connected with the Sunline.
I still use the same mud flag with the FW, but now have it attached via the hitch receiver so it's removable.

I've also installed diamond plate on the front of our FW.
The front got damaged from driving down a freshly tared and stoned road to our storage area and I didn't have my mud flap on.
I posted some pictures of the FW's front diamond plate on the Jayco Owners Club site.

If you're thinking about putting diamond plate on the front of your camper, ModMyRV.com has some info on this mod.
Also, Suebobby installed diamond plate on their Sunline, here's his post on his stone guard.

Hutch

[vcrt]

Hi Tom, thanks for the thumbs up, I did see that post on your mud flap, in fact you might not have seen it, but I posted a question asking if you found that it worked. I was thinking about adding a wide mud flap to my truck, but I was concerned about stones and gravel thrown off from other vehicles as well. I made the guard high enough to cover the stripe and with the angled top, I'm hoping it might even deflect the air higher than that.
I've had it on Rte 15 coming back from Gettysburg up to 65mph with no problems.

On the diamond plate, I had put that on the front of my 92 Solaris because the previous owner had an unfortunate incident that made a gash in the original aluminum. I still have the other half of the sheet I bought, but since the original aluminum on this camper is in such good shape, I'd really like to keep it that way as long as I can.
Rich

[JohnB]

Rich,

Your fabric skills handy work once again is very nice. Good job!!!

On ours, we have towed a lot and pinged up the lower front. The diamond plate mod is in our future to help address the problem and make the front look better again. I am getting to the point I should pull the corners and reseal them to be proactive and at that time would be the time to update the diamond plate.

Thanks for sharing

John

[vcrt]

Well, the idea with the wrap-around vinyl didn't work. On a several hour trip, the right side came loose without my seeing it and scuffed the lower panel. That part of what I'm trying to prevent so that idea had to go.
Version 3 is pictured below (I tend to be stubborn and persistent), it uses the same frame extended out to the full 8 foot width of the camper an no part of it touches the camper. The fabric I used is a vinyl coated polyester which you probably have on you deck chairs. It's very strong and weather resistant and allows air and water to pass through it whil blocking the stones and gravel. I've had it up to 65 mph and traveled a few hundred miles with no problems.
Notice the cables to keep everything secure.


Here's a side view:


Rich

[vcrt]

Correction: Re-reading my older posts, I realized this is actually the 4th version. Hopefully, the last.
Rich