Rock gaurd for 72 compact jr

[Heath G.]

Well I am not doing a complete resto. on the JR yet but I do need to replace the rock gaurd on it. I have already taken the old one off. What was on it was plywood coverd in what looks like formica. It was heavy and water soaked and rotten. I have seen that most of them look like some sort of fiberglass sideing or the like. I was thinking of the stuff they cary at Lowes, I can get it in clear white or smoke. I have a sample pice of it and it fits in the grove of the outer suports but not sure if it is strong enough fo a rock gaurd. I have used this stuff for an awmimg on my house but not sure about impact resistance.

[JMS]

Heath,
I'm currently looking into building a rock guard for our Burro and Lowes sells a fiberglass sheet that they call "wall & deck liner". It comes in a 4x8 sheet with one smooth side and one embossed side. My plans are to sandwich a piece of plywood between layers of this fiberglass liner and use an aluminum channel around the outside edges which would keep the plywood dry as long as you put a sealant in the channel prior to attaching it to the core. I hope this helps you unless someone knows where to have a custom rock guard made.

[Joseph Domingos]

From what I've seen from looking at my rigs rock guard (factory original one) it looks like a simple aluminum channel framework with fiberglass material about the weight of fiberglass roofing tin in it. It's really very light, honestly doesn't feel very 'heavy duty' or super durable, but it's been on there for 30+ yrs and still going strong. It is separated into 3 separate 'boxes' by two aluminum 'ladder rungs' rather than one big open rectangle shape. Probably gives it more structural rigidity. I've also noticed that the middle of the three fiberglass panels orginally had the 'Compact II' logo on it, though it's all faded out now. I've noticed that on other II's with the original rock guard. Have been kicking around repainting that, to show it off, but not that artistic or brave YET...hehe
Anyway, that's my two cents guys, hope it helps...

[Dana T]

Heath, are you talking about the guard over the front window, or a guard for the lower body, which is where most of the really heavy rocks hit?

If you're talking about a window guard, not much is needed for several reasons:
1. Heavy rocks thrown from the tow vehicle's rear tires can't be thrown that high.
2. The front window is plastic, not glass, and is quite tough and hard to break. It scratches more easily than glass, though.

My Compact Jr has an intact window rock guard that is made out of thin fiberglass, and that trailer has obviously been towed many miles, including over dirt and gravel roads. The fact that mine has no holes helps substantiate my first reason.

However, I have had a car windshield taken out by a rock thrown by an oncoming truck. But this has happened only once in my many decades of driving, so I wouldn't worry about such an infrequent event.

Keep it light and keep it simple!

[Heath G.]

Ok everyone, thanks for the advice. I was going to wait till sep lake erie rally to look at Rick's compact and see what he is using but I was bored the other day and felt like taking it off. Good thing I did because it was so wet and rotted it was olmost falling off. It has the original chanels that it came with, they wer just screwd into the coverd plywood. so I think I will use the stuff at lowes I found. It is just as light as the original but it is bade for awnings on homes and shouldn't fade out in the sun.

I would love to gut the camper and make it mine but it is honestly in such good shape it would almost be a waste. I toold my wife we would just use it as is for 1 or 2 years to see what works and make a good plan so we only have to do it 1 time. She is pushing to let her paint the ugly wood drawers and faces white. I don't think that will jhurt anything.

I will post some pics of the gaurd in the proces of the rebuild for anyone else interested. Thanks again.

And Dana, I have been following your thred and good work. looks like almost done. By the way, have you noticed that there seems to be allot of compact jr stuff latly on this forum? maybe it is just me.