How I Made My Stone Deflector

[cruza driver]

I've noticed that there has been a bit of talk on here lately about stone deflectors to protect the very exposed front of your Expandas.
There is a few different options available and this is what I built after having the same design on my Outback Hawk which worked well for me.

Since building this deflector it has covered around 10,000k's and has worked extremely well. Each deflector does have its pros and cons but here is how I went about building mine.

Not sure what stone deflector I wanted on the Expanda I decided to build one that was the same as the one I built for the Hawk. There is a lot of fibreglass on the front of the Expanda that could easily get peppered with stones and rocks, and since most of our trips are dirt roads it needs a deflector on the front. Maybe I should have kept the one off the Hawk but half the fun is making one and then seeing it in action ;D
(iPhone pics)
Supervisor checking the mudflaps

Working on some angles

Cutting some angles

Setting up the mounting plates and checking clearance for the bed when it folds down.

 

[cruza driver]

Rust proof gloss black

The finished product I covered it with shade cloth and put some mudflaps off the front too.
All up it cost about $140 the dearest being the bolts. Its the same as the one I built for the Hawk but this one is a bit higher and the rake of it is a bit different also. (iPhone pics)

 

[Bank of Dad]

Cruza Driva - That looks fantastic.............cool dog too!

Do you mind if I use the photos to get someone to make me something similar? I am hopeless with a welder - wouldn't even know where to start!

 

[boots33]

Hey cruza that does look good. any idea what the weight of the finished product is. What did you use to hold on the shade cloth.

 

[NissPat]

G'Day Cruza, looka the goods mate, when are you starting on mine
I was thinking of just putting one length of rubber guard on the back of the vehicle under the rear guard, but this looks very neat

 

[cruza driver]

Cruza Driva - That looks fantastic.............cool dog too!

Do you mind if I use the photos to get someone to make me something similar? I am hopeless with a welder - wouldn't even know where to start!

Of course mate no worries :thumb: I found the longest part of the build was making sure it was even on each side, and that it would clear the bed when folded down. I also made it so I could open the spare wheel carrier all the way with the Expnda hooked on. I'll get some measurements to if you like.

Hey cruza that does look good. any idea what the weight of the finished product is. What did you use to hold on the shade cloth.

I'm not to sure what the weight is but it can be easily lifted yet strong enough to push the Expanda with. The rubber flaps are pretty weighty though as I didn't want them to rip apart when getting hit with rocks and the like. The shade cloth is held on with cable ties but good quality ones as the cheaper ones seem to break and stretch which then loosens off. There is other ways of securing the shade cloth but this way its doubled over and I find it works well.

G'Day Cruza, looka the goods mate, when are you starting on mine
I was thinking of just putting one length of rubber guard on the back of the vehicle under the rear guard, but this looks very neat

Thanks NissPat, I like the idea of a drag flap but for me I thought if I leave the Expanda as a base camp and head off 4WDriving I didn't want the drag flap to get damaged or hooked up on anything. Also if the drag flap does happen to touch the road it can spray more rocks up at the Expanda especially along dirt roads where the crown of the road can vary.


:tea:

 

[Bushman]

HMMMMMM me thinks me seens these pics somewhere before:laugh:

 

[cruza driver]

HMMMMMM me thinks me seens these pics somewhere before:laugh:

Correct its in my Expanda thread but I thought I'd put this here for everyone to see for those that may have missed it :gossip:

 

[busybusymum]

This looks great! Just a question - how have you attached it to the van - have you bolted it on? I can't quite work this out from the pics.

 

[cruza driver]

This looks great! Just a question - how have you attached it to the van - have you bolted it on? I can't quite work this out from the pics.

Sorry I just saw your question :sorry: The stone deflector is bolted to the drawbar with some U bolts through some plates welded to the base of the deflector

 

[andrewandjodie]

thats neat and practical and the best part is youve not made any new holes ,good for resale .gonacopythat1

 

[cruza driver]

Copy away if you want any measurements let me know :thumb:

 

[Turtle]

Hey Cruza, Just a couple of questions before I do mine,
1) Material, 25x25x2.6 RHS?
2) 2200 wide all up? 1300 straight and 500 on the angle on each side (150 degrees)?
3) 480 straight hight? about 520 on the angle (25 degrees)?
Thanks in advance.

 

[cruza driver]

Thats pretty close when I get a chance in the next couple of days I'll post up my exact measurements :thumb:

I maybe off line for a couple of days. :smile:

 

[cruza driver]

Ok Turtle I've had a chance to pop out into the shed and do some mesurements for you

Your right on the size of the steel I used.

The centre section is 1100 across. The side wings are 710.
I made them longer so they deflect anything away from the back of the Cruiser better. When travelling on dirt roads you can see the rocks deflecting away.

The height is 520 and that includes the width of the 25mm section top and bottom. When I fold the bed down it just misses the top of the deflector as I wanted it as high as possible.

As for angles I haven't measured them I went off what worked on the deflector I made for my old Hawk.

A few tips is just make sure the deflector does sit a fraction wider or spot on to the width of the van as the join where the front wall meets the side walls will get damaged. I worked out the width after working out where I wanted the deflector to sit on the drawbar so I could still swing open the wheel carrier and access the rear of the Cruiser. This also detemined the angle of the deflector in some regards but I was happy with the angle so I was lucky.

For mounting it I just got some scrap plate and welded it to the bottom of the deflector drilled some holes and then bought some suitable 'U' bolts to mount it, they are actually square bolts to mount around the chassis.

I can even push the Expanda around off it so it comes in handy for that. It might not stop every single rock and stone but I dont think there is one perfect solution to stone protection.

Dont forget to post up some pics :thumb:

here are a couple of different pics of the deflector

You can see it working in this pic

 

[achjimmy]

Damn I forgot about the rear door on the tug. I am hooking her up today to go for some warranty work so will measure it up. I do have a bit of leeway with the extended drawbar. Otherwise I am thinking for me this is the best option. I reckon the stone stompers are great and probably the ultimate but I just don't want to be hooking and unhooking the big dusty curtain each time.

 

[cruza driver]

Hey Jim, one way around the rear door is maybe when possible just park with the Expanda and Paj on an angle to access the rear. You might be able to have enough clearance then, as you said you have the longer drawbar.

 

[Stone Stomper]

Or...completely out of your way with less effort than connecting the safety chains.

 

[achjimmy]

Thanks Cruza and Christian

I still might go the stone stomper. My plans have changed and first I am fitting a box to the front like above but a front opening. I am tossing up between 1200 or 1400 wide it will sit forward of the bottles by 450mm which given my 300mm extended drawbar makes it protrude forward of the standard vans bottles by 150mm.


Does any body know how close the bottles get to the car in a full lock turn?

 

[Turtle]

Thanks for you help Cruza