Stone guards and reversing.

[JT76]

Fitted a stone guard to our 14.44-4 a few weeks back and first trip out and as I was backing up the back of the Ute hit the guard. Fortunately hit the corner of the tray so no damage other then a bit of the black paint on the guard got scratched.

Our van has the gas bottle cover so to move it back I cut a small section from the corners of the cover to slide the guard further back. Then I put a strip of angle rubber along the top of the guard to hide the scratch and protect it if it happened again. As we are out and about now at our last of four stops it has caused more issues then it's worth making me remove it to back into some sites. While it's only two pins and it removes easily it's still a job I don't won't to do. At our last stop I decided I'll remove the black gas bottle cover completely and slide the guard all the way back until I run out of adjustment. This gives me about 800mm ish between guard and hitch but it will still hit if I turn hard enough backing up.

I'm thinking I'll get rid of it and just use the original cover and not have a proper guard but wanted to know if others have a similar problem. Our tow ball only just clears our tray but don't won't a longer towball hitch as it will affect things. An extended draw bar would solve my problem too but too late for that. So am I alone with this problem?

Might be a near new stone guard for sale soon.

 

[Sammy D]

I have been really impressed with the stonestomper, if you are going to change have a serious look at them. At full lock (with the car basically touching the aframe) they will just scratch on the ground on the inside corner but will not cause any trouble reversing.

About the only negative I can see is if you were in mud but other than that they are on a winner IMO.

And for the astute viewer this pic was taken on the day i installed them so the "splatter" was already there!

 

[JT76]

Thanks @Sammy D I usually go for the better option like a stone stomper first but this time I thought about how often I would need it vs the cost and went for the standard set up. Plus I could see issues with it clearing my tray as the towbar is only just exposed.

I think I might go back to the original cover but still interested in other people's experience with backing at tighter angles with a standard guard.

 

[chartrock]

I have fitted the same stone guard as you, and like you I don't have the extended draw bar. So far I have managed to break both my tail lights at different times by turning tightly in reverse. The first time I replaced the lens for $120 but the second one I just glued the pieces back in. It really needs a bit more concentration when backing the van. :doh: I do have to take the guard off to fit my HR WD bars as the screen does not allow enough movement of the lifting bar. But it does stop the stone chips.

 

[Dobbie]

For what it's worth....our stone guard was fitted on extended draw bar with the brackets as loosely as I felt was safe. The usual lock nuts and washers but checked regularly.

I found reversing at a tight angle presented few challenges but it was a bit too close for comfort so loosened the stone guard a bit and let it move rather than the rear of the car.

Did need checking though. Probably the wrong thing to do but it worked for us.

 

[JT76]

Thanks @chartrock and @Dobbie at least I know it's not just me. Now that I have moved it all the way back I'll see how much angle I can get when we head home in a couple of days. If it's no good there will be a stone guard on the market at a good price.

If nothing else this may help someone else decide to go down a different route and maybe use something like a stone stomper etc if they have a similar set up to me.

 

[Drover]

I built my stone guard for our 14.44 when I had the Jeep, first off I measured from tow ball to outside edge of bumper, this was then the closest I could mount the guard to the tow hitch, now this was good with the Jeep as the rear sloped away from the van but with the Colorado being a tray back and a vertical rear end, on a tight turn I crunched the stone guard for while the mount point was still clear because the top leant towards the ute it would now get hit, other than pulling the whole thing back closer to the van there's wasn't much I could do other than make it more vertical when I rebuilt it, closer to the van meant problems getting into the boot but anything inside that measurement is going to cop it.
When reversing I would switch to the ute cam so I could see the draw bar.......
Now with Big Mal, I don't have a stone guard just a spongy rubber bit on the front of van, as the guard would get cleaned up all the time but I use the ute cam trick so I don't take out the gas bottles, a tray back can jack knight big time very easily.
A Stone Stomper would be good but it's way down the list.

This was mine don't know if it's the Mk 1 or Mk2 but it worked a treat.

 

[JT76]

Thanks @Drover yes I measured and just don't have the room. Ute is 1900 wide at the tray which gives me 950 needed to clear. In real world would need even more if van was backing on a slight incline it will close the gap even more. So say 1000mm would be Min needed and that's never going to happen.

We drive home tomorrow so will see how close it gets as I pull out and wiggle around out of the site. Or home a few days then leaving for the snow in the van on Sunday so will probably take it off before we head down.

My luck is I'll flick a great big rock into the van as soon as I take it off!

 

[Drover]

I did have an idea to make a hinged joint at the bottom, pull pin and it would lay flat towards the front, it would be low enough to miss the back of the ute so the ute would find something else to mash.

 

[JT76]

Update on our stone guard. I liked @Drover idea about making the gaurd hinge down. Really made sense. So before our little trip I pulled the guard off and had a squizz.

Next thing you know on closer inspection if I flipped things around squinted a little, held my tongue in the right place etc etc I could actually move the guard a further 100mm ish so it's sits right up against the gas bottles, with just enough clearance to avoid rubbing.

This now gives me enough clearance to jackknife and still not hit.

Don't know why I didn't see this before but it's all good, happy days.

 

[Drover]

I've been thinking of putting little flag/posts on my draw bar, when I see them move it means the back of the ute is near to taking out the gas bottles, draw bar is lower than ute.

 

[JT76]

@Drover I have a walking talking sensor aka the misses, she should alert a warning noise if getting close to anything.

Unfortunately sometimes we are on a different channel / frequency so all I get is static. But when it works it's all good.

The flags would be a good backup to this system though.

 

[Sammy D]

Yes the Em R Ess sensors are good when they are working, even though mine is 100%australian made it still malfunctions occasionally. The last time it failed it resulted in a strength test for the basestation rear door/wheel carrier in which it faired better then the now leaning light post :doh::greedy_dollars:

 

[Drover]

Ha, :glee: brilliant you two, I'm glad I'm not alone my Em R Ess system failed, an anologue model, that was why the guard got mashed the first time and I have cameras everywhere now to cover, the system tends to be distracted by all manner of things...........................

 

[DWWood]

Was at our local caravan repairer and noticed they had these for sale. Haven't seen one fitted in person but they look like a good idea.

http://www.adpcaravans.com.au/canvas#Stone-mats

 

[crackacoldie]

Another one that has managed to break tail lights and bend the stoneguard, both reversing and tight cornering going forward. Will be a stone stomper next time.

 

[Dobbie]

Many many years ago we had an Aussie Swag which had a similar stone protection set up.

It was shade cloth on elastic edges and hooked to the existing fittings.

Worked very well but was obviously a prototype....they're much more upmarket these days. Bring back the simplicity.

Think it worked well as it wasn't rigid, easy to remove and had a lot of give. Not too pretty or expensive also.

 

[Drover]

My first stone guard build was like that, I started off with a single central post with some stainless eyes screwed to van and used Okky cord to tension the shade cloth I used, the MkII version had 2 posts off the draw bar but while it worked really well keeping the tension just right was a pain and getting into the boot on wet days and staying clean was not easy....................and I thought I had an original idea when i made it.

Oh, mine looked good.