Rock Guard vs Bra for toad

[Wrinklemeist]

I have seen Alpines (and other coaches) use a full front bra for their toad like the one Coastline Covers sells, and others using a Roadmaster Guardian Rock Shield. Any advice or input on the up and downsides of either one? We do not drive on dirt roads but our toad gets REALLY muddy towing in the rain on freeways. I was thinking that the bra might be more work as it needs to be cleaned and the car should be clean before installing. Thoughts please? Thanks in advance,
Mike

[Dav5942]

Neither one! By far the best protection for the toad is a Protect-a-Tow. Have seen the shields bounce rocks into the rear of the coach.

[azloafer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wrinklemeist I have seen Alpines (and other coaches) use a full front bra for their toad like the one Coastline Covers sells, and others using a Roadmaster Guardian Rock Shield. Any advice or input on the up and downsides of either one? We do not drive on dirt roads but our toad gets REALLY muddy towing in the rain on freeways. I was thinking that the bra might be more work as it needs to be cleaned and the car should be clean before installing. Thoughts please? Thanks in advance, Mike

You don't say if you have mud guards behind the rear duals. Our coach didn't come with mud flaps, so we added them because they stop the rocks right at the point where they would be propelled from. If you have mud guards, I don't think adding that large flap in the back will be necessary. As far as just plain dirt on the toad...I don't think anything will prevent that. We used a bike hitch on one trip and were really surprised how dirty the bike got after only a 50 miles. Happy trails, Joe

[Wrinklemeist]

We do have mud flaps right behind our rear wheels.

[Chuck 1935]

I have found that a ROCK SOLID on the rear most part of my coach is the most effective in preventing damage to the front of the toad. I have one of the fancy guards that says ITASCA in chrome across it and thats all it does, it's useless. The ROCK SOLID goes all the way from side to side with no gaps. I cut a hole for the hitch and trimmed the bottom about 3 inches from the road. By having it all the way at the back it prevents any debris from getting over the guard which is the problem with the factory guards. I also have the flaps behind the rear and front wheels of the coach but if there are any pebbles on the road they can bounce around them. This system has worked for me for 72,000 miles of flat towing.

[OldForester]

I have a Roadmaster Guardian Rock Shield that I have used on two different toads with the Alpine. If you were close to me I would make you a great deal on it, plus a Stowaway bracket, and brackets to go on your toad.

Quite frankly, the only time I noticed much help from this was on our trip to Alaska when it protected the toad from a lot of rocks and mud that was thrown at it over about 600 miles of the trip.

I stopped using it 2 years and 20,000 miles ago in the U.S. and I can't tell the difference. My view is the mudflaps behind the wheels combined with the large cross-body mudflap on the rear of the Alpine Coach, combined with its relatively low ride height compared to a lot of other brands, does a good job of keeping the damage down on the coach.

I think most of these systems on our Alpines are a waste of time and money. I even cut the receiver portion of my Blackhawk tow bar to get rid of the extra space so it doesn't stick out so far behind the coach.

[Algoma]

I tried the factory bra on my Subaru and all it did was scratch the paint on the hood. Now I just put up with having to wash the car after a long trip. Never have got a stone chip.

[fansill]

Can you use the Protect-A-Tow with a tow dolly???

Faith

[Catch and Release]

Go to your local carpet dealer and rummage their dumpster for old carpet. They give it away. Put it pile side down on the hood and windshield of your toad. Make it 2 pieces with the windshield carpet tucked into the windshield wiper recess and have the hood piece overlap the windshield wiper recess.

Then get bungee cord that allows you to pull it tight. Total cost $9.95. Works great.

[mythplaced]

My TOAD is male and would not feel right wearing a Bra!

[JohnFreyja]

I had a "Protect-a-Tow" and it did a pretty good job going to Alaska and back but it wore the perimeter bungee cord out at the corners so I have replaced it with the RoadMaster Tow Defender which is a little more robust and stores easily but more expensive. The Bra's get sand or fine dirt behind and scratch the surface of the Toad. I had one on a VW Bug and was able to buff out the fine scratches but never used it again.

[Dick1142]

I used a bra on my first trip with a new car. We were travelling the coast. Sand worked its way under the bra and etched the paint. No more bra. (prefer that anyway )

[Wrinklemeist]

I really appreciate all the input. I was looking for an easy way to keep the toad clean but I guess that's just not possible. So, it's off to the local carwash.

[fireguy-42]

Mike,
You bring up a good point. We have tried both, the full width, solid rock guard, and the Tow Shield (full bra), and though a little hard to install, prefer the tow shield. In my experience, when using the rock guard, we had a lot of pitting damage to the toad, and never had a problem with using the tow shield. Consensus was that the solid mud flap across the rear of the motorhome created a lot of extra turbulance, flipping road debris up on to the front of the toad.
I have talked to a lot of toad towers, that use the rear mounted solid, full width (mud flap) protection, and they all say they have no problems, but I find that hard to believe. We are in our second tow shield, as the original did not fit the new Honda CR-V, and I wouldn't consider anything else.
Oh, by the way, is anyone interested in a used tow shield that fits a Honda CR-V model years 2002 to 2006?
(Cheap!!!)
Gerry