Interesting Product Coming RV-DE-FENDER

Interesting idea, but to me this treats the symptom, not the cause.

What is it? None of the links work on the page.

Yeah, that's the whole idea behind it, to prevent damage form the blown tire, not prevent it, since blown tires can happen for many reasons. But I do wonder how much protection you'll get from the sheet metal, it's barely over 1/16" think. Those exploding tires have a not of energy to be diverted.

It says backing plate is 1/8" and arch is 14 guage. Although I don't know if that would be enough to hold up to a shredding tire. Also I don't know how it would work inside the wheel well of the RV as it would move up and down with the axle and wheel (not connected to the frame or body of the RV).

HarleyEnough wrote:
It says backing plate is 1/8" and arch is 14 guage. Although I don't know if that would be enough to hold up to a shredding tire. Also I don't know how it would work inside the wheel well of the RV as it would move up and down with the axle and wheel (not connected to the frame or body of the RV).

I would expect to have a mangled 1/8" backing plate and a twisted up 14 gauge sheet metal arch to remove after the blowout in addition to the normal plastic or thin gauge sheet metal wheel well, the plastic skirt, and possibly twisted up wiring, cracked plumbing etc.

Wade44 wrote:

HarleyEnough wrote:
It says backing plate is 1/8" and arch is 14 guage. Although I don't know if that would be enough to hold up to a shredding tire. Also I don't know how it would work inside the wheel well of the RV as it would move up and down with the axle and wheel (not connected to the frame or body of the RV).

I would expect to have a mangled 1/8" backing plate and a twisted up 14 gauge sheet metal arch to remove after the blowout in addition to the normal plastic or thin gauge sheet metal wheel well, the plastic skirt, and possibly twisted up wiring, cracked plumbing etc.

Yeah, they tout on their website that you just need to change the tire after a blowout since their product will protect the trailer. Methinks that just ain't gonna happen.

I would think it would mount very close to the tire, so there would be sufficient clearance between the De-Fender and the trailer body. But it would have to leave room for some tire expansion with heat. And it would make changing tire sizes problematical.

Personally I think anything strong enough to protect against a blowout is going to be very heavy. Probably too heavy to be practical.

fj12ryder wrote:
I would think it would mount very close to the tire, so there would be sufficient clearance between the De-Fender and the trailer body. But it would have to leave room for some tire expansion with heat.

Airflow to cool the tire is another consideration.

On dualies, the weight capacity of each tire is often de-rated somewhat, due to the reduced airflow between the tires.

I’ve blown 2 tires in the past 15 years on trailers. Each time, the tire damaged the outer fender, no damage inside the wheel well.

Their site sucks. Best I could determine is there're two products, one that shields the trailer under-carriage from damage, and a "tire band" to assist a motorized RV, or a tow vehicle. Frankly, I'm wouldn't be concerned about the trailer tires because its unlikely to cause a loss of control. Tire bands have been around for years. I would consider bands for front wheels because those are the ones likely to cause a vehicle to swerve.

phillyg wrote:
Their site sucks.

With a mighty wind.

I'd like to believe that whoever designed their products gave more thought to them than whoever designed their website.