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martinto's avatar
martinto
Explorer
Mar 01, 2014

Diamond plate stone guard

Has anybody had a diamond plate stone guard applied to your travel trailer? My vinyl type stone guard disintegrated when water gift behind it. The diamond plate would be a better solution.
  • Coincidently, I am facing the same issue. Recent heavy rain worked its way behind the plastic rock guard through the night and the weight ripped half the plastic off. After looking at a number of options, I finally settled on Line X (will be applied next week).

    I wanted diamond plate initially but two things caused me concern - price (about $1000 Can for a 7 X 3 foot section) and thickness (it was way thicker than the original plastic and that meant the trim would have to be removed all the way over the top of the trailer as it could not be just slipped under the current trim - too much work). If you do go diamond plate, make sure you confirm it is the real stuff as some trailers use the plastic look-a-like.

    I have seen Line X on other trailers and it looks quite good. It is guaranteed and it only cost $300. The only issue I am having is taking off all the old glue (although the surface will be sanded prior to application). I am also considering getting the tongue and frame Line X'd for an extra $150 as it it starting to show some wear and rust.

    Marv
  • ExxWhy...Did you have to use a top moulding or drip cap on that to keep water from getting behind or did you just use something to caulk it? Looks good.
  • I just caulked it with some clear silicone type exterior window caulk. Seems to be holding up OK for now and it's easy to redo. It's not really sealing anything critical underneath anyway, I just screwed it on over the top of the existing siding. A trim piece if you can find such a critter would probably be ideal.
  • I added the diamond plate to my trailer also. I put butyl tape behind were I used screws to mount it. I don't know where the guy above got his prices, but don't go to thick and this stuff is very affordable.
  • "The guy above" got his price from an RV dealer/service centre.

    I should have clarified that the quoted cost was for the price of a 4 X 8 sheet (regardless of size needed, you have to pay for a full sheet at $400) and the $600 cost associated to the labour/installation. As I wanted the sheet placed under both the side and bottom trim and the job needed a sheet metal break (the front of my trailer is not flat like in the photos provided by ExxWhy), which I don't have, I figured I shouldn't tackle it myself.

    Also, when I contemplated doing the work myself, other than the noted two reasons already given, I was also concerned about just driving in some screws to hold it as I was unsure of what type of material the screws would have been put into and whether they would have held firm (not sure whether they would have hit something solid or just hard foam etc). Perhaps ExxWhy could indicate how he determined what his screws were going into??

    As it turns out, I may not be getting Line X anyway as, for the life of me, I can't remove the old adhesive (and I've tried everything) and he won't guarantee the application on an unclean surface.

    Marv
  • Look up a metal supply plae. get a sheet of Diamondplate Aluminum, have them cut it to whatever dimension you want as trailers are mostly 8ft wide and pop rivet it in place using a good sealent before you rivet it down, then sealing the edges. You can polish it with jewlers rouge and a power polisher anytime it gets dull. It's easy to do the whole job by yourself.
  • I used a stud finder and found some studs. Alas, they weren't all right where I wanted them and a couple screws go through the inside behind the bed where I used some large washers/nuts. I did use a liberal amount of sealant on the screws/holes.

    Might look for a gutter or siding guy locally that would have a sheet metal brake.