Community Forums

hf · 03-14-2006, 03:53 PM

I went to camp world to have rear rock guard or skirt put on and none of them ( 3 choices)would fit. I have seen them on Alpines does any one have a guard that is not factory installed? if so what brand. One of the tech at CW said Prevost did a study and found guards were not efective was this cause could not do one orhasanyone else heard this. I seem to have awlful lot of paint chips on tow car and road dirt.

hf · 03-14-2006, 03:53 PM

I went to camp world to have rear rock guard or skirt put on and none of them ( 3 choices)would fit. I have seen them on Alpines does any one have a guard that is not factory installed? if so what brand. One of the tech at CW said Prevost did a study and found guards were not efective was this cause could not do one orhasanyone else heard this. I seem to have awlful lot of paint chips on tow car and road dirt.

Dale777 · 03-14-2006, 07:33 PM

hf,

For the 1st year with my coach, I did not have a rock guard or skirt. As a result, my Jeep Grand Cherokee got dinged up quite a bit. So, I purchased the Ultra Guard from Camping World and installed it myself. ( Ultra Guard ) At the same time, I also installed a wind deflector shield on the front of the hood of the Jeep, to deflect the really small stuff from hitting the hood and windshield. Between these two items, the Jeep no longer takes much punishment.

I installed the Utra Guard with angle iron attached to the bottom lip of the fiberglass tail end of the coach. To prevent the bolts from pulling through the fiberglass, I put an aluminum strip (1/8" by 1" by width of coach)across the lip of the fiberglass tail end on the uppper side, so that the bolts go through the angle iron, then into the fiberglass, then through the aluminum strip. The angle iron then is fastened to the Ultra Guard. No problems for 4 1/2 years.

Dale
2001 Alpine Coach 38FDDS

Rick M · 03-15-2006, 05:49 AM

You may want to also check on underskirt protection?
Protect-A-Tow

These can not be used with read exhaust or drop hitch RVs. Lots of threads on rv.net/woodalls like:
Tow protection

I found that the rock guard mounted low will kick up huge amounts of gravel = had a 'load' of gravel on our toad windshield.

Rick

fisherman1964 · 03-16-2006, 03:53 AM

I also have Protect-a-Tow and love it. It works as advertised on their website. Rick M made the comment that they don't work on rear exhaust or dropped hitches but I know that they do work with a drop hitch setup. As for the rear exhaust, there are some people with rear exhaust that are using them. I found the sales people at Protect-a-Tow very helpful and honest, call them and I'm sure they can tell you what will work or not.

htg3 · 03-16-2006, 08:13 AM

I am very happy with my "Protect-a-tow". We have over 18,000 mi towing a GMC Envoy. There were some "growing pains" with the hardware for the first few miles until we got the configuration correct, but now it is easy and works good. I had read alot about the various other methods of tow protection and this sounded like the best. Good luck.

EngineerMike · 03-20-2006, 11:32 AM

FWIW, the hard mounted guards (like the ones currently installed at the factory) are supposedly more prone to throwing a rock up into the engine bay where it might cause trouble (e.g. get caught in a serpentine belt) that the ones that are suspended by a shackle and can swing. This opinion from a service tech who does only high end coaches by appointment only.

WeBrzn2 · 03-20-2006, 12:06 PM

I was dissapointed at first that the Avalanche doe snot have the rock guard, nor does it really lend itself to one easily. I then had the opportunity to follow two other coaches (not Alpines) of the same design/model down a dirt road for about a mile. One of those coaches had a Rock Solid guard and the other did not have any rock guard. It was very interesting to see that the cloud of dirt and dust behind the coach with the rock guard was an order of magnitude greater than the coach without the rock guard. Also interesting was the amount of dirt and small rocks on the toads, the one with the rock guard had a lot more debris on it!

Richard and Cris · 03-31-2006, 10:22 AM

Rock guard on my 98 Alpine was kicking up a lot of dirt and rocks. Dealer installed it to hang with several inches gap on top. I raised it up high as it would go and no more problems. I also added mud flaps behind each wheel and noticed even more improvement.

denwhit · 04-01-2006, 03:48 AM

I saw the Protect-a-tow and THE PRICE and went to my local canvas shop to fabricate one for me. $38 later I was out the door with about the same fabric that water will drain down through, with gromots about every foor on the front and back. I had it tapered; size 7' X 5' and four feet deep to fit the back of the coach and the front of my Jeep GC. I bought some plastic conduit and wired it to the front and back sides. Now all I have to do is bungy cord at two points on the front and back. It rolls up and stores. Wallaaa.

fisherman1964 · 04-01-2006, 05:30 AM

Hey denwit, there is no grommets on my Protect-a-Tow or any conduit on the front and back sides? Not sure what your building or if it will even work. Protect-a-Tow has a built in shock cord all the way around. Fabric $38 conduit $?, grommets $?, bungee cord $?, finding the parts $?, Misc parts $?. If it doesn't work it's all for nothing. Good luck with all that but for $170 dollars I bought the original at www.protectatow.com "wallaaa"