rear window cover

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Guys, i am looking for a rear window cover to go over the rear window when towing a trailer just in case you get a stone fly up. Not sure were to start looking for one. Anyone help.

[Steve & Sandra Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve & Sandra]

caravan retailer or try obiesoutback.com.au

Cheers

Steve

[dustie Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close dustie]

Hutch,

I've known people who use bubble wrap. Maybe a cheaper solution :?:

[bitdist Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close bitdist]

Another solution friends have used, is to get some perspex and then some double sided velcro and cut the sheet out to fit the windows and then velcro it to the windows with 4 bits of velcro.
Seemed to work OK on the trips I have done with them and would be fairly cheap to make

cheers

[whiteman Member Find all posts View Profile Close whiteman]

I've never heard of this. I have towed my boat thousands of k's without a problem. I would have thought a van would have much better stone guards than my trailer.

Is this common?

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

I've never heard of this. I have towed my boat thousands of k's without a problem. I would have thought a van would have much better stone guards than my trailer.

Is this common?

yes.
i've seen 100 series windows smashed, by defected debre.
this happens when towing anything with a parallel surface to the vehicle, enclosed motor bike trailers are another example.
a boat trailer is less likely, given the design of the hull, would defect
debre off in an outward direction.

[waltec Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close waltec]

I was talking to a tour operator, does trips to the red centre etc. He runs a large full length rubber mud flap across the bsck of his coaster bus to stop rocks bouncing of the trailer and back into the bus.

Unfortunately the trip before I was talking to him he had made a new rubber flap, and made it so once the bus and trailer were loaded it just touched the road, thinking this would work well.

It actually was the opposite, the flap draging on the dirt flicked the rocks up, badly chipping the back of the bus and also smashing one of the back window, very expensive lesson.

Matt

[Johnnos Brisbane Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Johnnos Brisbane]

Whiteman,

This is not an uncommon occurrence and creates significant problems if it occurs somewhere remote (which is why you might be on a dirt road in the first place).

Without a rear window, it's hard to keep dust, rain & fumes out and if you are 3 or 4 days drive from a reasonable service centre (eg Tanami track). We always carry a cheap painter's drop sheet (plastic) and gaffer tape for emergencies and haven't had to use it yet on our car but have supplied to others in need.

The shape and leading surface of the trailer has alot to do with it. A box trailer with square, steel front surface is the worst offender and will reflect many more stones than a bare trailer frame and boat (which I assume you have). Caravans are (typically) bad offenders also.

We hire camper trailers and have to be quite careful with their design to minimise reflections (imagine how unhappy a novice traveller would be if one of our trailers ruined their trip!). We use several designs including absorbent mesh (similar to shadesail but far more resilient) and sloping surfaces to minimise the reflections quite succesfully.

As to the original question, cardboard is the cheapest and most effective method. I've toyed with commercialising a clear perspex window cover which stands approx 40mm off the windscreen (I've done the prototypes and testing under my TrekTable business). This would allow the driver to still see thru the rear window (something cardboard lacks) but each time I do the maths I can't get the finances to stack up (insufficient sales demand). Cardboard or careful trailer selection wins each time.

Andrew

[rhs58 Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close rhs58]

Yep.
Have taken the stone ricochet from the camper trailer and done the back window in my previous Prado 90.
And that was with stone deflectors on the trailer!
Fortunately, if you can call it that, the window had had tint film applied which held it together, and liberally applied duct tape held it all in for another 4000km of outback dirt driving, so remained dust and water proof, if not see through.
Those rear windows cost a motza too, what with demister element and all.
Subsequently have applied a couple of layers of el cheapo bubble wrap over window, held on by duct tape, when towing the CT off the bitumen, but still got stone chips to rest of rear door and bumper.
Cardboard and tape ok, and have also resorted to an old mattress cover slung over the door and then close door.
Have also used a home made sheet of shadecloth fixed between lower edge rear bumper and lower front edge of trailer held on with occy straps - worked ok but hot exhaust melted adjacent shadecloth!
Have considered perspex cover but $$ issues.
You'd reckon the headlight and bonnet protector manufacturers could set something up?

[cjd Member Find all posts View Profile Close cjd]

I did the back window on the Oodnadatta track, despite having deflectors on the camper trailer. As we were doing the Tanami next, (before it was the highway) I came up with a solution on the road. I made a sling out of shadecloth we had as a rough awning. Used a broom handle on one end and a rake handle on the other and secured shadecloth (doubled over) to both. Used elasticised rope (ocky strap type stuff from same awning) to attach one end under the drawbar of trailer and the other off towbar on the vehicle. Worked brilliantly. It is still going nearly ten years later but did have to replace the rake handle when it split a couple of years ago. The only problem was build up of little stones in between the layers of shadecloth, but this was tipped out at the end of each day. When we set up camp just had to unsling the strap off the vehicle and hook up when ready to go again.

[Guest Close Guest]

"Acquire" a couple of corflute real estate for sale signs, cut them to fit and then gaffa them over the back window.

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

Have just returned from 7000k central oz trip with trackabout trailer in tow and Obies outback rear window protector on. At about $200 it saved the Prado back window twice when what must have been big rocks hit the back window with a huge bang. However, there were problems with the adhesive velcro stickons separating from the protector. Mike who owns Obies is aware of the problem and is working to fix it. We fixed it with tape and it lasted the trip. We also saw at least 6 or 7 broken back windows. We saw 2 on the Plenty hwy on the way over from Cairns.

So even though there were sticky problems it saved the cost of a new back window.

Cheers

Kevin

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

This is an all to common problem.

I have done many a travel in South Africa on roads that offer you that extra little surprise - a smashed back window. To solve this problem you can surely put covers and plastics and a host of other materials over your windows to protect it. The problem however then becomes visibility.... either when traveling or reversing

To solve this issue we took a tarp and hung it from the back of the car bumper to the front of the trailer... "easy, cheap, simple & effective" The tarp acts as a barrier and allows any of the projectiles to ricochet of it and back onto the road where it belongs.

I tried to find some good photos but unfortunately could only track these down - hope this helps...