protecting toad

[bobkatmsu]

I have a Blue Ox tow system to pull a Jeep. Has anyone had any experience with Kar Gaurd II or any other protective shield?

[Tinstar]

I had a Rock Guard on my old coach. Never had a problem until one year I hit about 1/2 mile of gravel road construction. That 1/2 mile ate my front air dam up on my Pontiac toad. I hear that mud flaps are better at keeping rocks off the toad.

[Old_Blue]

We have the car guard shield and like it very much, gives the car a lot of protection. When we went to Alaska, I towed my 1/2 ton truck and made a front shield with plywood, to protect the front of the truck, again horror stories, it worked so good I should have painted it to make it look nice. Anyway we had our M/H with mud flaps, and full rear flap that was about 3 or 4 inches off the pavement, no problem with big stones or anything else. We did get a 3" round smash in our windshield before we even got to Alaska, log truck, and two cracks in Montana on the way home so Alaska isn't as bad as some of the stories going around. We also got some heavy material from Walmart and went across the windshield and tucked in into the doors to hold the cloth.
This is what we did and worked out fine for us.
Have a great time on your trip.
Bill

[okgc]

Gjac wrote:

bobkatmsu wrote:
I'm heading for Alaska in 2018 and have heard horror stories. I have the solid flap that goes all the way across the back and I have heard people take these off when traveling to Alaska, as they kick up more rocks on uneven roads that the prevent.

When I went to Alaska I ended up cutting about 4 ins off my rear flaps because they dragged and kicked up stones on dirt roads. I also made a Protect a tow type covering along with screens over the headlights and radiator and a windshield cover for the tow car. The only thing that I found really helpful was the 4 in off the mud flap and the windshield cover. The protect a tow was a pain to put on, remove and store especially when it rained and was covered with mud, it was not needed on the paved road. The tow car windshield cover was easy to install and remove and did save my wind shield from stone thrown up by passing trucks.

Correct you will not want a full low hanging mudflap for Alaska.

We went in 2015 and were very happy with our GMC protected by Roadmaster Guardian Rock Guard with a piece of naugahyde material across the windshield tucked into the doors & wipers.

[aerbus32]

I find a good rock guard is all that is needed in normal towing. Being a trailer boater in the past, I always point out that damage to boats while towing is rarely a concern.

[Jim]

I'm counting on only the mud flaps behind the RV tires AND that 3M Scotchgard Clear Bra (Paint Protection Bulk Film 6-by-60-inches) that I got from Amazon that covers the plastic headlight assemblies.

Put the 3M product on the headlights of my '01 Saturn which I bought specifically to tow. Its wedge like angular profile seems to me to be a natural protection against rock damage.

So far only 3500 miles towing but no windshield or paint damage. I did find a rock hit evidence on one headlight but the 3M minimized damage enough that I don't need to replace the headlight assembly.

My decision to forgo countless protective products came from years of reading threads like this one by people who've bought various products.

[Gjac]

bobkatmsu wrote:
I'm heading for Alaska in 2018 and have heard horror stories. I have the solid flap that goes all the way across the back and I have heard people take these off when traveling to Alaska, as they kick up more rocks on uneven roads that the prevent.

When I went to Alaska I ended up cutting about 4 ins off my rear flaps because they dragged and kicked up stones on dirt roads. I also made a Protect a tow type covering along with screens over the headlights and radiator and a windshield cover for the tow car. The only thing that I found really helpful was the 4 in off the mud flap and the windshield cover. The protect a tow was a pain to put on, remove and store especially when it rained and was covered with mud, it was not needed on the paved road. The tow car windshield cover was easy to install and remove and did save my wind shield from stone thrown up by passing trucks.

[bobkatmsu]

I'm heading for Alaska in 2018 and have heard horror stories. I have the solid flap that goes all the way across the back and I have heard people take these off when traveling to Alaska, as they kick up more rocks on uneven roads that the prevent.

[crasster]

Typically flaps will do a very good job. Just standard run of the mill mud flaps. 🙂

[doc_brown]

I have been using Protect a Tow on my last two Jeep Wranglers and I have mud flaps behind the rear tires as well as the big flap across the back. The flaps came with the coach.

[2gypsies1]

We didn't use any Jeep protection for 8 of our full-timing years. We also didn't have the full, stiff across-the-rear mud flap on the motorhome - just flaps behind the tires.

When we spent all summer in Alaska we pulled into a campground in Whitehorse, Yukon and saw a couple motorhome owners taking off their stiff flaps. They invited us to view their windshields and there was a layer of large rock laying at the base. We had absolutely no problems and we had just traveled the same road as they did.

[Jim_Norman]

about 9 years towing our Jeep Liberty, no issues, (SO FAR) had a big nylon brush type guard on the last rig, it maybe kept some stuff from hitting the Jeep. The new rig has a rack guard, again, so far so good. I'll agree that maybe being a bit taller than a car has a lot to do with it. Maybe it is just luck.

[RayChez]

I have towed four different vehicles with the only protection is the rock guard that goes all the way across the back of the coach and I have never had any damage on any of the four I have towed. I towed a Ford Ranger, 2004 Honda Pilot EXL, 2014 Honda CRV and now a 2017 GMC Terrain.

[chuckftboy]

I can't speak on the Kar Guard and I have never used protection but I have pulled a jeep across country several time with no damage. I attribute this to the fact that Jeeps generally sit higher than most vehicles.
Haven't done Alaska yet, so that might be a differen't story.