Stone Guard holding mechanism

[SurfsideEd]

The previous owner of my Triple e fashioned a stoneguard out of plywood held together with light aluminium trim. To hold it up in the open position, two short rods are used, with hair clips and washers as the original mechanism is no longer there.

Has anyone fashioned anything to this nature or is there a source where I might locate an original type mechanism. I looked at gas struts, but most of them have too much pressure for such a light guard.

Hope I have explained this correctly. If not, I can take pictures,. Please advise.

Thanks Ed

[RogerDat]

Pictures are great idea, helps a lot in finding a solution, plus someone may look at it and decide they want to make one like it.

[BCDave]

I will be watching this with great interest - my son's Surfside has the same issue and the P.O. did about the same solution.

[Raz]

McMaster Carr is one of those sites where I can spend hours. Don't know if this is what you have in mind. If not, poke around and you might find what you need.

McMaster-Carr

In Canada Lee Valley might be a good place to look.

Lee Valley Tools


Raz

[George Lauver]

Ordered my struts from McMaster-Carr: look under Hardware, Lid Supports, Gas Springs. I installed the 15 lb. gas springs with ball-joint fittings on my Uhaul rock shield; they fit perfect and work great. Ordered on a Thurs. and arrived the following Tues. Part #4138T541 / $14.47 ea. plus shipping.

[SurfsideEd]

Thanks all, for your replies. I'll look into the gas struts. I like the idea but couldn't find anything lower than 28 lbs and that was way too much. Will see if I can get some 15 pound models. For now, I drilled a hole in each end of the guard, and used a rod with each end of the rod (last inch) bent at 90 degrees with a hole drilled in the end of the bent section, for a pin type keeper. Requires a little more effort than struts but does the job .

Ed

[SurfsideEd]

I've done a very simple mod to get me through this summer. I would still like to use gas struts and is just a matter of finding a pair with just the right pressure. I've included pictures of my modification which can easily be done in a day and takes 5 minutes or less to open or close the stone guard.

The rods are bent at each end and holes are drilled in the ends for the pins. Holes are also drilled to accommodate the ends of the rods. I screwed little rubber lined keepers on the inside of the guard to hold the rods in place while travelling.

To put the guard down, the lower hair pins are removed, the rods moved out of their holes and lifted up and placed into their respective keepers. Process done in reverse to hold guard open.


No issues over 3000 kilometres. All the gear can be purchased at your nearest NAPA or other hardware/autoparts stores.

Ed

[Raz]

A simple solution at a very good price I'm sure. Alternate application on the wire tie, very clever. Raz

[SurfsideEd]

Originally Posted by George Lauver

Ordered my struts from McMaster-Carr: look under Hardware, Lid Supports, Gas Springs. I installed the 15 lb. gas springs with ball-joint fittings on my Uhaul rock shield; they fit perfect and work great. Ordered on a Thurs. and arrived the following Tues. Part #4138T541 / $14.47 ea. plus shipping.

Hi George,

My stone guard is made of very light material. How much force did you have after you installed the two 15 pound gas springs? Was it hard to close the guard? I tried a couple of 28 lb gas springs and they were way way too much, and had to take them back. I'm still interested in doing the gas spring mod though. I would say at best, my stone guard weighs 15 pounds.

Ed

[Donna D.]

At the bottom of this page is Part #4138T541 / $14.47 ea. plus shipping that George referrenced in post #5 McMaster Carr page 1204 of catalog

[George Lauver]

Originally Posted by SurfsideEd

Hi George,

My stone guard is made of very light material. How much force did you have after you installed the two 15 pound gas springs? Was it hard to close the guard? I tried a couple of 28 lb gas springs and they were way way too much, and had to take them back. I'm still interested in doing the gas spring mod though. I would say at best, my stone guard weighs 15 pounds.

Ed

Ed,

The 15 lb struts work great. I went for the 12.2" length which was longer than my origional; however I like that they lift my guard a little higher for a better view outside.

[SurfsideEd]

Originally Posted by George Lauver

Ed,

The 15 lb struts work great. I went for the 12.2" length which was longer than my origional; however I like that they lift my guard a little higher for a better view outside.

George,

Thanks a million. I think they should work fine for my guard as well. Appreciate your time in adding a pic to go with it.

Ed