Community Forums

Hansville · 09-03-2009, 10:07 AM

Hello All,

Just wondering if anyone in the motor home community knows where to locate winshield and hood protectors for our toad vehicle. We just drove about 300 miles and at the end of the trip found many pebbles and small stones that hit our hood and windshield. We have a mud flap on our Monaco Diplomat that is factory inststalled and it was useless at stoping small rocks from damaging the car. The toad is a Honda CRV and so far have not found anything to attach to the car to protect the hood and windshield, any help is appreciated.
Thanks

Troubleshooter · 09-03-2009, 10:27 AM

Try Here
CoastLine Covers

Bill

rex · 09-03-2009, 12:53 PM

Well if you are handy and up to a little work, contact me rbdtanasi at yahoo dot com and I will send you a write-up on making a underskirt to solve the problem. Doesn't look all that nice but works great. Have not had any damage to the toad since I built it. You can also buy one but it will cost more than building your own if you can get the necessary materials.

Dutch Star Don · 09-03-2009, 02:04 PM

Hansville....Have you tried looking for an aftermarket bra for the front of the Honda. I tow a Dodge truck and Dodge sold a bra that covered the bumper, grill and front edge of the hood.

The Coastline covers are nice, but everytime you want to use the vehicle you have to remove this large cover (covers windshield) which means you're going to get dirty and you have to store it somewhere. The bras made specifically for your car for normal driving doesn't need to be removed until you get home. Just make sure the bra will not cover up your tow bar mounts.

Hansville · 09-03-2009, 02:43 PM

Don, I agree with you as it probably will be a big job putting on and taking it off. But after my trip I had about three full handfulls of small rocks that hit the windshield and landed into that indentation where the the windshield wipers stow. There may be a shield that I can install between the motor home and the toad that may be easy to install and catch the rocks before they hit the car. I have hundreds of small pings on the hood and the windshield where the rocks hit.

nodine · 09-03-2009, 03:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hansville

Don, I agree with you as it probably will be a big job putting on and taking it off. But after my trip I had about three full handfulls of small rocks that hit the windshield and landed into that indentation where the the windshield wipers stow. There may be a shield that I can install between the motor home and the toad that may be easy to install and catch the rocks before they hit the car. I have hundreds of small pings on the hood and the windshield where the rocks hit.

This puzzles me because we tow a CRV with a Diplomat and have not had any trouble with this. Have towed the CRV about 13,000 miles behind the Diplomat and have not noticed one ding. When we towed it for about 3000 miles behind a previous motorhome that was not the case.

Bob

AFChap · 09-03-2009, 04:10 PM

Quote:

We have a mud flap on our Monaco Diplomat that is factory inststalled and it was useless at stoping small rocks

If the full-width flap is mounted too close to the pavement with the coach at ride height, it will sweep up rocks/debris and will cause more damage than it prevents (if any). This could explain why someone had no problems with one MH, but do have problems with another. Seems I recall the recommendation is that it clear the pavement by apx 6" - 8"

As for shields, there are all kinds of options from the "under skirt" variety to "vertical shields" (Blue Ox Kargard or Roadmaster Guardian) to "bras", etc. Probably the most effective with minimal drawbacks is the under skirt type, but they may not be possible with a rear exhaust diesel.

I use a Blue Ox Kargard that I have altered so it slants away from the front of the car -- the theory being that it will tend to deflect stones back downward rather than up into the rear of the MH and then onto the toad. You can see my setup on my webpage at Tow Setup ...go to the bottom of the page for the slanted setup.

Route 66 · 09-03-2009, 04:28 PM

Your Chaplin is your best friend.

Paul is correct.

When the rear mud flap contacts the road, it kicks up stones.

I have cut almost 2" off my mud flap.

I've never had any toad damage from stones kicked up.

Hansville · 09-03-2009, 06:31 PM

We were traveling on 101 in Oregon to Washington and there were many miles of road construction jobs where they oiled the roads and put down pebbles. Maybe the travels through many miles of road work may have been too many loose pebbles we traveled on and got past the mud flap. I will measure the distance of clearance from the mud flap to the road surface, that may have been part of the reason for stones hitting the car.

Dutch Star Don · 09-03-2009, 08:10 PM

Hansville.......Some of the others are right. If your small mudflaps behind the rear wheels are intact, than your mudflap maybe too low to the ground. With your coach on level ground and aired up, you shoul have at least 3"-4" of ground clearance.

I think if you make sure the height is correct and don't find yourself in construction on a regular basis (sometomes hard to do) you shouldn't have as many problems as the trip that caused the damage.