Gravel Guard to Protect Lower Gel-Coat/Painted Surface

[Joseph Olajos]

Hi All
Has anyone installed or applied a "shield" to the lower front surface of their Egg to protect that area from being riddled with stone chips caused by the tires of your own tow vehicle?
How has it worked out, and what was used?
I've seen examples where just a heavy(black) spray-on material was applied; didn't do much for the appearance of the trailer !
Would full width "mud -flaps" on the tug work/look better?
Your thoughts ?

Joe

[jojo]

Hi
our Trillium's front part had been sprayed with some sort of rock guard paint by the previous owner (he didn't remember the name). I sure wish he hadn't done it, it just looks awful (even though the colour was a close match it looks all 'gorpy'). Everytime I look at it I feel bad. We don't know how or if we can remove it, people on this site suggested we sand it flat and paint it. My advice to you is to do a test on an inconspicious area to see first.....Jo

[Kurt & Ann K.]

Joseph,
How about an alternative?
We felt it was easier and more effective to install "Rock Solid" brand mud flaps on our Tundra. We purchased a set which were long enough to go entirely across the back of the truck. A welder friend installed an angle-iron bracket between the frame rails of the truck and behind the spare tire, to which we attached the mud flap brackets. The flaps hung down too far initially, but about 15 minutes with a pair of tin snips cured that. Installed as one long flap it is as wide as the Tundra's rear bumper is long.
No rock chips yet in about 15,000+ miles. No snow or mud build-up on our Casita either.
Purchased @ Camping World.

We prefer simple solutions, particularly when they prove to be very efficient!
Kurt & Ann K.

[Frederick L. Simson]

shield looks good.

[Doug Mager]

When we adopted or egg (from Alberta) it came with a layer of dark green ASTRO TURF (indoor outdoor carpeting?) as a rock guard. It musta worked, looked like (had a great deal of water retension), LOL and was peeled off when we repainted the trailer and just used the sort of spray on paint that most newer cars have on their rocker covers. Don't think it worked too well. Rec'd a handfull of rock chips (towing with new truck). We just bought an add on (ball mount mounted) rubber trailer protector. NOW I need to get a different ball mount to be able to add the new rock guard to the mount.

[Donna D.]

Gene Layton (web master of the Casita Travel Trailer Forum) has a topic he started about using "Transit Shield." I'll post the topic URL so you can read the info for yourself, but it's a protected forum and you have to be a member of the Casita Forum to view:
Trailer protection, Going to Alaska or snow country?. The upshot is Gene is very happy with the Transit Shield.

I guess I'm one of those that consider the chips on a trailer a badge of honor...it shows the trailer is towed and used. Hot rodders have a not-so-very-nice saying about hot rods/classics that are chip free "Trailer Queen," which means it's never driven and is strictly seeking trophies. YUCK It astounds me the lengths people will go to by covering up the front of their trailer with some really UGLY stuff, and then think a few chips is somehow uglier

[Herb P]

Rock chips turn into holes which turn into leaks. My 1700 had some rock chips that I could see light through from the inside once I removed the insulation...

On my 1300, I filled the rock chips and sprayed with 'rubberized rock guard' which I felt was largely useless... On my 1700, I've applied truck bed liner and we'll see how well that works... I'm a "function over form" sort of guy... I have enough things in my life to fix without having to constantly fill rock chips on the front of my trailer.

Frederick: how well did the box liner work?

[Joe Loiacono]

I have numerous chips in my 1980 Trillium 4500. I have a mobile painter comong to my shop tomorrow to repair the chips and repaint the lower front of the camper. After the paint is completely dried I am going to laminate a clear polyurathane film to this front lower section. This product is called VentureShield and I have a business where we install this product to the front hoods of new vehicles to reduce damage caused by flying debris. The product adheres very well and is guaranteed not to turn yellow. We have installed this on hundreds of front ends with few comebacks. there website is www.ventureshield.com.

I hope this helps you.
Joe

[Joy A]

For my Alaska trip last year I purchased Paint Protection Film from J C Whitney, online.

It worked well save the lower 2 inches which weren't covered. I didn't order quite enough film to cover the entire front. Didn't have time to order more before my trip. I now have dings where there was no film. Fortunately this is the portion that hangs down is beyond the floor so no chance of leaks.

[Kevin A]

JC Whitney also has a separate rock shield that attaches to the hitch frame in front of the trailer and looks like a giant flyswatter to catch rocks. I don't know how it handles the wind at traveling speeds, but it must be porous. It looks to be about 18 inches high and 4 -5 feel wide.

[Herb P]

JC Whitney also has a separate rock shield that attaches to the hitch frame in front of the trailer and looks like a giant flyswatter to catch rocks. I don't know how it handles the wind at traveling speeds, but it must be porous. It looks to be about 18 inches high and 4 -5 feel wide.

The place where I store my trailer is a boat store... I get along well with the owner and he's fairly open with me on various things... He sells this trailer mounted rock shield because he gets people asking about it all the time and people do buy it... In his experience, it's not really a high quality product. Pretty flimsy and gets in the way of launching/retrieving boats... He tries not to sell it but his customers still want to buy them. I can't imagine having that annoying thing at the front of my trailer.

[Patrick M.]

I just washed and waxed my Scamp yesterday and noticed the drivers side had more small nicks than the passenger side - wonder why? Anyway, after 24,000 miles of towing it's all very minor, and unnoticable from more than 6" away.

I did install a pair of $10 mudflaps from AutoZone on my Element at some point, and think that helped keep the debris flinging down.

[Gina D.]

I am with Donna...

Think.. carpet runners..

I am very proud of my shiny red Jeep finish, and it sure looks purdy when it all spiffied up... but.. last weekend was the first time it was actually covered in dirt from taking it offroad. It had semi mud on it everywhere. I stood back and said "Thats what a Jeep is SUPPOSED to look like..