Tongue-mounted stone guards...

[SWITAWI]

Why don't we see these here in the U.S.?

Weight can't be a problem as these appear to be aluminum-framed with poly netting stretched over them. Aerodynamics should also be a minor consideration with them being mounted so low between the tow vehicle and trailer. And yet it seems our idea of 'trailer stone guard' is sheets of diamond plate on the trailer body, even when propane bottles, batteries, etc. are mounted to the tongue.

Maybe we're more concerned with squeezing out every inch of turning clearance without lengthening the tongue?

What set me down this path was that I just finished Chris Cordes' long-term wrap-up article on the Schutt XV-2 trailer. In particular the part where he expressed concern over excessive heat from the fridge being in the sealed, black front box. I figured if there was a tongue-mounted stone guard the box could be painted a lighter color or at least not so heavily-coated.

One the one hand you figure if there was real merit to having the tongue-mounted stone guard that manufacturers like Adventure Trailers, Schutt, Moby1, etc. would have been doing so for some time.

On the other hand we commonly see fuel/water cans, propane bottles, coolers, even the occasional generator mounted to a trailer tongue here on Expedition Portal. I seem to remember a post from Paul May of Equipt (http://www.equipt1.com/) about how a stone thrown from under his old 100-Series Land Cruiser rebounded off the front of a trailer and broke his rear window, never mind what anything mounted to the trailer tongue was getting blasted with.

And when anyone inevitably points out the pavement-biased nature of most U.S. travel and most U.S.-built trailers I can only think that crumbling pavement, vehicle debris, or gravel spilled on the highway gets thrown from under deep-lugged tires (think about how popular the BFG KM2s are) and out the back like a cannon shot at those highway speeds. I've seen the horizontal stone guards under the front of travel trailers, but those wouldn't go over so well in places you might drag an offroad capable trailer.

Soooo... Why did the tongue-mounted stone guard not catch on here? Just curious what anyone thinks. Not looking for the standard internet 'you're wrong/an idiot because...' so leave that for Facebook, please. :beer:

 

[Deleted member 9101]

Simple answer: The vast majority of our roads are paved and in pretty good shape. If you try to cross the US on dirt roads, you are all but SOL... in Australia its almost a necessity (or so I gather).

I have towed all kinds of stuff over the years, for work and pleasure, and never had a problem. I don't ever recall getting a stone chip in a boat, enclosed trailer, or even a flat towed car.

I thought of putting one on my Jumping Jack when I had it (looked cool and people on the internet were doing it), but after looking at the front of the trailer over the years it didn't look like it had ever taken a hit from anything other than a bug.

Just my 0.02

 

[SWITAWI]

Simple answer: The vast majority of our roads are paved and in pretty good shape. If you try to cross the US on dirt roads, you are all but SOL... in Australia its almost a necessity (or so I gather).

I have towed all kinds of stuff over the years, for work and pleasure, and never had a problem. I don't ever recall getting a stone chip in a boat, enclosed trailer, or even a flat towed car.

I thought of putting one on my Jumping Jack when I had it (looked cool and people on the internet were doing it), but after looking at the front of the trailer over the years it didn't look like it had ever taken a hit from anything other than a bug.

Just my 0.02

Cool, thanks for the common sense reply. The majority of my own towing life has been farm, cargo, heavy equipment, or livestock trailers, and mostly gooseneck at that.

I have one trailer that might fit the ExPo mold and be a decent application for a stone guard, but it needs lots of love/mods/refurb before such 'secondary considerations'.

Hopefully we'll get some $0.02 from some manufacturers as well at some point...

 

[Chris Boyd]

I did notice that Lattitude Trailers fits theirs with a stone guard. But the whole design is Aussie-like (if not completely) , so I'm not sure if they've realized the need for it, or it's just homage to the design.

I've never liked the fridge in the nose box on XV-2. Something about it bugs me...

 

[alia176]

The Kamparoo has it and I've never broken a rear window while towing it. Guess I'll count my lucky stars!

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

[RubiconGeoff]

Whenever I forget to install my Jeep's mudflaps, my trailer gets all chipped by rocks. I also find countless stones in its tongue-mounted cargo and atop the tent inside the expanded metal trailer box. A tongue-mounted stone guard would help, but mudflaps that hang down near the ground are more effective because they stop the stones at the source, which also protects the trailer's fenders and other vehicles from getting hit by rocks.

 

[TwinStick]

http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/mud-flap-system/66703#readreviews

The beauty of these: it works with any & all of your trailers, not just one that has it attatched to the A-frame tongue.

 

[Yuman Desert Rat]

I did notice that Lattitude Trailers fits theirs with a stone guard. But the whole design is Aussie-like (if not completely) , so I'm not sure if they've realized the need for it, or it's just homage to the design.

I've never liked the fridge in the nose box on XV-2. Something about it bugs me...

I agree.... I'm not a trailer guy but it seems to make sense. Even if you cobble together a home made removable one that an be attached for when you know you'll be off road for extended periods of time. BTW I'm still finding bits of that rear window from time to time.

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/67246-Equipt-s-Land-Cruiser-100-Series/page9

Post #89

 

[dstock]

Whenever I forget to install my Jeep's mudflaps, my trailer gets all chipped by rocks. I also find countless stones in its tongue-mounted cargo and atop the tent inside the expanded metal trailer box. A tongue-mounted stone guard would help, but mudflaps that hang down near the ground are more effective because they stop the stones at the source, which also protects the trailer's fenders and other vehicles from getting hit by rocks.

I don't have mudflaps on my JK but I am noticing the same thing, bunch of chips on both front corners of my M101A1. Stone guard would be nice but I like the ability to open my tailgate when hitched so think I will be going the mud flap route if I can find something not to hideous for the JK.

 

[SWITAWI]

...BTW I'm still finding bits of that rear window from time to time.

Lol. Good to hear that Paul's former beast is still slogging around somewhere. Amazing how long broken glass stays in a vehicle. I had it rattling around in the door of a VW for 10yrs. Never could get all of it out.

Thanks for linking that thread. Here's Paul's post about the 'Wind Sock Mod' in it's entirety to save a few clicks for others...

Last month, straight from the SEMA show where we had the 100 on exhibit out in front of the Convention Center, we decided to go on an overnight adventure around the north side of the Grand Canyon and stay out at the Toroweep overlook campground. It was Mario from AT, Ray from OJ, Jess from Eezi-Awn, Muchi from Action Camper. We were having a great time. On the way out towards Fredonia AZ, we had a bit of an issue.

I was cruising down the dirt road at about 50 mph when I heard a horrific BANG! I quite honestly sounded like a cannon went off in the truck. I checked if I was bleeding. Nope. Windshield in tact. Yep. So I pulled over to see if there was damage to the truck some how. It didn't take long to find the issue. The entire back window of the truck was shattered. A sheet of pea sized glass. We think it was rock that deflected off the trailer. Not really sure.

So, we needed to cover up the hole. Muchi had picked up an orange wind sock from the road some ways back. We cut it open and duck taped it around the rear hatch. It worked great! No cold air ingress, no chattering at speed. Other than looking like a street barricade it was a great temporary fix.

We made it into Prescott that night. The next day we found a body shop that had a roll of collision sheeting. It is a clear material that body shops use to secure vehicle windows after an accident. Imaging a 3' wide roll of packaging tape. We had them put that on, and I drove from Prescott to Tucson and back, then up to Salt Lake City. No problems.

I had the rear hatch repainted, and the window replaced. Good as new. The only thing I am really missing is my "Dog is my Co Pirate" sticker. Loved that sticker.

Cheers,

 

[indiedog]

Really the need for these depends on where you will be driving. If you are sticking to sealed roads then mostly you won't need them and some good mud flaps should suffice. I say mostly as ALL cars kick up stones and it only takes one in the right spot to break your rear glass after it bounces off the front of the trailer. We recently had our front windscreen broken when a car with a caravan travelling in the opposite direction flicked up a stone. The thing was that the stone hit us BEFORE the car was even past us so the stone must have ricocheted off their mudguard or van and then travelled forward and to the side to connect with our windscreen. And this after we'd had numerous road trains go past without incident. So rocks can do funny things, bit like the magic bullet. If you are doing extended distance on rough dirt roads with a trailer in tow then at some point you will wish you had one.

These stone shields (plus bigger mudguards often used in combination) are just an added insurance policy against broken glass and chipped paint. There is a hell of a lot of nothing between not much in central Australia and you are better off to stop the damage happening in the first place before trying to locate the right piece of glass and finding someone who can fit it when miles from larger towns.

Also note a lot of our camping spots etc are often found off dirt roads when heading bush, we like it that way.

 

[mmuthart]

The beautiful powder coat on my Kamparoo frame has gotten all nicked and chipped up from stones (as expected). My plan was to Rhino Line (or similar) the impact areas. I'd also like to get a set of Rock Tamers:

 

[TwinStick]

I gotta get some rock tamers also. My BFG A/T K/O's are HORRIBLE for holding small stones & then ejecting them at warp 10 into anything i tow. Last camper had all kinds of dents in it, even in the diamond plate stuff on the lower front of camper.

 

[SWITAWI]

I still like the tongue mounted style, but the Rock Tamers do look like the best bet for purchasing a finished product in our market.

In my digging I ran across a thread on IH8MUD from waay back - http://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/large-q-d-mudflaps-for-trailer-gravel-protection.726738/

That thread also references this page that shows some expected and some rather imaginative ideas - http://www.campertrailers.org/stone_guards.htm

This guy makes a pretty convincing argument for DIY, with an extra helping of goofball...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdEiqb1mBOI

 

[indiedog]

Some good links there Switani. DIY stone guards is strong here in Oz including the "shade cloth" versions. Do you guys call "shade cloth" shade cloth? :