Rock guard for towed

[somewhereinusa]

Question for you who tow a vehicle. My "new" towed is over 30 years old. Needless to say the windshield would be a might hard to come by. Do you use some sort of rock guard? My old jeep was a piece of crap that already had a cracked windshield, so I didn't care. I did get a stone chip while towing, but can't honestly say it came from me. I've read varying reports of good and bad on the various guards and contraptions that people use. I honestly can't see how a rock could get to the windshield from my own tires. I have 9 feet of overhang and there are mud flaps behind the wheels anyway. The mudflaps aren't quite as wide as the tires on the outside, but that is much wider than a little 'ole VW truck.To get to the windshield a rock would have to travel somewhat low for 9 feet then abruptly rise to even get to the windshield. What are your thoughts?

[abwetzel63]

Rocks defy all reasonable laws of physics and subscribe to the soft Brownian motion law... i.e.: poop occurs. Chuck of conveyer belt and some really good magnets and bungie cords will work a wonder. Learned this from my paw after he had to replace a windshield on a 20' center console (boat). Who woulda thunk that a rock would be tossed by our 73 Olds 98 up into and through a piece of heavy plexiglass located where it should have never ever been hit, ever...

[syke]

We've towed an old Chevy cavalier (2 door small car) for about 2000 miles total. The first 200 miles the beautiful windshield was being sandblasted. Tiny little pot marks all over the place. There was no evidence of any big rock hits but it was definitely being pelted by small rocks.
The quick solution was a uhaul blanket folded in half and covering the windshield. We just pinned it with the front doors. A bit unsightly but it fixed the issue. We don't tow often so I've not put much thought or money into a better solution.

Maybe the next move is the mustache approach and just hang some material from the rear bumper.

[lornaschinske]

No problem with rocks (due to the height of the 4WD Jeep?) but we had a flat on the Jeep and that tore up the headlight. So I'm thinking of maybe getting a Grill Guard to protect the headlight/turn light assembly as well as the transmission cooler.

That ain't my little green tractor!

As for rock chips, I will get a pro type repair kit and fix them myself. We've got a rather long crack in the driver side bus windshield that needs repair too. I figure we will never be able to completely avoid rocks hitting the windshield and I might as well learn how to fix them. Might make a few $$ on the side as well.

[gbstewart]

there are lots of ways to protect your toad, when I get mine ready to tow I think ill be getting a Protect a tow shield it looks like a good product and has good reviews
http://protectatow.tripod.com/
gbstewart

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by gbstewart

there are lots of ways to protect your toad, when I get mine ready to tow I think ill be getting a Protect a tow shield it looks like a good product and has good reviews
http://protectatow.tripod.com/
gbstewart

$219 plus for what looks like a piece of shade cloth with a few hangers thingys and bungie cords?

I could make one of those. Seriously, who has one of these and tell me if it is a piece of shade cloth. I'm too cheap to buy one.
This is my impression of what it is... A piece of shade cloth mesh with single piece of elastic cording run thru pocket seams on all the sides and a PVC tube run across the top that loops over the tow bar. The mesh panel attaches to the bus on one side and the tow on the other side with zinc spring links clipped into eye bolts. I will make this but make 4 "tubes" to run bungie cording thru the tubes and clip to SS eyebolts on the bus and the jeep for about $100 (got taxes on that) but I do have some shade cloth that I may be able to use plus I may be able to use lighter weight spring clips than what I priced (priced high just for initial project budget). I gotta think about this one. Thanks gbstewart... I got another project to work on!

What is Protect-a-Tow made out of?
Protect-a-Tow is constructed with a PVC coated polyester mesh. The zinc plated hooks are rust resistant and the anti drag bar is constructed with PVC and easily folds into three and fits into the compact storage case provided with each unit.

Protect-a-Tow hooks on to the eyebolts that are permanently mounted to the underside of your RV and towed vehicle. Once the initial installation of the eyebolts is complete it takes less than a minute to hook up the unit each and every time you need it......it's that simple!

Protect-a-Tow is constructed with an internal heavy duty elasticized cord so when making a turn the elasticized cord stretches on the outside of the turn and relaxes on the inside of the turn. With the aid of the cross bar Protect-a-Tow will not drag on the ground while making turns.

Who has one of these or actually seen one up close?

[Malkieri]

A quick search for DIY Protect a tow produced this one... looks about like you are thinking.

[lornaschinske]

My problem with the "protect a tow" both commercial and the DIY one you show, is the continuous shock cord that runs thru the edges. I fear that if it breaks in one spot, the whole thing drops, held up only by where it is held up by the PVC pipe tie. Hence my using 4 long bungie cords. On my next day off, I will unhinge my tow bar and see how far it stretch out and get some measurements as well as dig out the shade cloth I have tucked away... someplace.