Trailer Stone Guard / Protector build.

[Whitey1 Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close Whitey1]

Head over to http://www.myswag.org/index.php you'll find a heap of info on camper trailers there.

[rooboy Junior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rooboy]

I looked at stone stompers when they first appeared years ago and thought they were a good thing but they still don't stop any stones from getting up under the rear of the car area. I ran a string line from the bottom of the tyre and up against the bottom of the stock mudflap to see how high they go. You'd be surprised as to what height is achieved only a short distance from the wheels.
I run a second set of mudflaps about a foot back from the originals made from conveyor belt and bolted to the underside and it's lowered any crap coming out the back to the same height as the "A"frame on the camper. A couple more bits of rubber here and there on the camper and i haven't had any stone blasting in the 5 or so years they've been on there.
Works best for me.

[HugoStiglitz Member Find all posts View Profile Close HugoStiglitz]

Well finally got some more stuff done.
Painted the support bar and made some retaining strips to clamp the mud flaps in.
Drilled and checked the bolts all still lined up


Went for a trip to Clark rubber to get material for the flaps. Got talking to one of the grey nomads that worked there had he mentioned that I addition to full flaps wanting to rise up at speed he has had someone come in after fitting a solid flap. He blew a diff on his new cruiser, Toyota was good enough to replace it under warranty but only if he would remove the solid stone guard as it it likely that the reduced airflow lead to an early failure.

He recommended using a flap with airflow.
Settled on the below and it cost ~45 for the 900x600mm section (each flap 450x600)
And said that if u wanted even finer protection zip tie some black shade cloth on the flap.


After some measuring I found a height that worked. Giving me just over 100mm of space to the road.



The design of the rubber makes it super easy to adjust the height and it shouldn't rise up like a solid flap.

I also picked up some eye bolts so if I want to upgrade to the suspended shade cloth it's just a matter of changing the outside bolts on each flap and fitting some elastic cord.

[LeadWings Member Find all posts View Profile Close LeadWings]

Another set of DIY Stone guards

Just come back from an 8000 km trip to central Australia, about half on fast gravel. I was amazed at the stone damage to the underside of the Prado and camper trailer. So I have decided to try to keep the rocks down at the Prado end and also change my trailer stone guard.

First photos is forward face of my tow bar - you can see how much stone damage there is. Notice the two bolts where it bolts to the chassis bracket - these are the ones I use to hang the new stone stopper off.



Brackets I made up from Bunnings shelf brackets. I have twisted them so the angle sits about 30 degrees off vertical to help angle the mudguards back so stones are sent downwards.

Plan is the brackets live on the vehicle, and I can take the stone guard on/off by removing 4 bolts. So 5 minutes tops to put on/take off when I go away.



Mudguards made up out of 3 pieces using 4mm 2 ply rubber from Clark Rubber, $125. Cut-outs for exhaust etc. Figured I would use 3 pieces to make it easier to cut/modify and replace if they break. Note this is trial fit only - will all be painted back and will use nylocks for all bolts.



Trial fitting. Note our garage floor slopes up so the photos are deceptive. Gives about 15cm clearance from the ground behind the wheels and 20 cm in the middle. Also note the rubber bends over on the top to protect the underside of the car.



So all up $125 of rubber, $30 for the 25 x 25 x 3mm angle, $10 for brackets and $20 in bolts etc. Now to do some field testing!

[LeadWings Member Find all posts View Profile Close LeadWings]

Went for a trip to Clark rubber to get material for the flaps. Got talking to one of the grey nomads that worked there had he mentioned that I addition to full flaps wanting to rise up at speed he has had someone come in after fitting a solid flap. He blew a diff on his new cruiser, Toyota was good enough to replace it under warranty but only if he would remove the solid stone guard as it it likely that the reduced airflow lead to an early failure.

He recommended using a flap with airflow.
Settled on the below and it cost ~45 for the 900x600mm section (each flap 450x600)
And said that if u wanted even finer protection zip tie some black shade cloth on the flap.

HugoStiglitz, I thought about some sort of perforated material to let air through - how did you find the matting you used works? Is it durable enough?

[whitey83 Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close whitey83]

DIY stone guards, great idea gents.