Tow protection

[Rwake901]

Does anyone use a product called "Protect-a-tow"? The car we tow is starting to get some chips in the paint from towing it and I'm looking for something simple to use to protect the paint. I already have the large mud lap across the back of the Motorhome. Seems to get beat up the worse when driving in the rain. I thought about a bra on the car but hear those will rub the paint off too. Just was wondering how hard this Protect a tow would be to take on and off. Thanks

[big_jim_2]

Protect a tow works as advertised I would not hesitate to purchase again if something happened to mine. Many miles with no gravel under the wiper blades, a welcome change!

[spitfirepete]

To answer the question.....I have about 40,000 miles with Protect A Tow. It is a terrific value and works as advertised.

[xctraveler]

Tow defender from Road master uses a similar setup but the side bars press against a fixed plate that is part of the unit. Maybe they have figured out how to protect the pivot bolt so it doesn't sheer the moment it does the ground, a curb, whatever.

[Mile_High]

ncrowley wrote:
We purchased the car shield with our Blue Ox tow bar. Ours is a plastic shield that stands up straight and folds in half when not is use. I am not sure they have it any more. It works - no chips in 4 years and many thousands of miles.

I tried to find one "Kargard" and its still on Amazon, but Blue Ox replaced it with Kargard II which is a mesh weave type. I was going to get it, but in turns it uses the MH to collapse gas shocks on each side then when you straighten out is resumes its rectangular form. It would actually rub on the paint of mine, and not real thrilled about that. They say it is soft and not a lot of pressure, but the rear is the first thing that catches all the dirt and it would be grinding dirt into my paint.

[ncrowley]

We purchased the car shield with our Blue Ox tow bar. Ours is a plastic shield that stands up straight and folds in half when not is use. I am not sure they have it any more. It works - no chips in 4 years and many thousands of miles.

[Mile_High]

DSDP Don wrote:
For years, I've been using a bra on my Silverado when towing. I wax the hood before a trip and put a piece of black electrical tape in two spots where it rubs. You do have to take it off and clean it and behind it.

I decided to try something new. I bought some of the clear carpet protector with sticky on one at Home Depot. 18" x 100' roll. I attached it to the front edge of the truck and stretched it across the front like saran wrap. I took the truck on a 100 mile trip and found a couple of issues. It wasn't as thick as I would like it and it was too sticky and didn't come off as easily as I liked. I decided I had stumbled onto something and could possibly make a better product if I could find a company that made the material I wanted. I decided, before I started counting my millions, I better check the internet.

Sure enough, there is a company making the product called "Road Wrap". It comes in two sizes, 18" x 100' and 6" x 100' which is just their larger roll cut with a saw. It's sold on Amazon as a Prime product.

I've tried it on three trips now, currently on a 7K trip. It's got just the right amount of stickum and is thicker than the product from Home Depot. I can leave it on for several days and even cut a hole in the center for radiator airflow. So far, it's doing a good job. When I get to my destination, I just peel it off and throw it away.

People say you have to have something thick, but that's not really true, most of the rocks and debris are just glancing off and are not direct impacts. The plastic is plenty dense to protect the paint. It's like an easily removable 3M film that comes on the front of coaches.

A watched a guy peel that off of his 5th wheel in the campsite. Says he does it for bugs.

I'd have to try it to see how much of a hassle it was before deciding if it was a benefit.

[DSDP_Don]

For years, I've been using a bra on my Silverado when towing. I wax the hood before a trip and put a piece of black electrical tape in two spots where it rubs. You do have to take it off and clean it and behind it.

I decided to try something new. I bought some of the clear carpet protector with sticky on one at Home Depot. 18" x 100' roll. I attached it to the front edge of the truck and stretched it across the front like saran wrap. I took the truck on a 100 mile trip and found a couple of issues. It wasn't as thick as I would like it and it was too sticky and didn't come off as easily as I liked. I decided I had stumbled onto something and could possibly make a better product if I could find a company that made the material I wanted. I decided, before I started counting my millions, I better check the internet.

Sure enough, there is a company making the product called "Road Wrap". It comes in two sizes, 18" x 100' and 6" x 100' which is just their larger roll cut with a saw. It's sold on Amazon as a Prime product.

I've tried it on three trips now, currently on a 7K trip. It's got just the right amount of stickum and is thicker than the product from Home Depot. I can leave it on for several days and even cut a hole in the center for radiator airflow. So far, it's doing a good job. When I get to my destination, I just peel it off and throw it away.

People say you have to have something thick, but that's not really true, most of the rocks and debris are just glancing off and are not direct impacts. The plastic is plenty dense to protect the paint. It's like an easily removable 3M film that comes on the front of coaches.

[2gypsies1]

We pulled into Whitehorse in the Yukon after driving extremely slow on a gravel road. In front of us were two motorhomes also driving slow. They had the rear flap and we had only a flap behind each tire. At the RV park they were removing the rear flap. They showed us a layer of 1/2" stones at the base of their windshield and many marks on the hood of their towed vehicles. Our Jeep had absolutely no damage.

Later we were driving through Salt Lake City on a very rainy day. I began watching the opposing traffic. With the motorhomes with the stiff flap across the rear, the water was being thrown in a high arc onto the hood area. Those without a flap had the water thrown at tire level.

That convinced us that we were wise in not paying extra for that advertisement on the rear.

[Tom_Barb]

Tom/Barb wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:
WoW over 200 bucks for a over sized window shade.
http://protectatow.tripod.com

Price out a few yards of heavy PVC coated polyester mesh, if you can find it, and then add on about 20 feet of bungee cord, six snap clips, six eye bolts with double nuts and fender washers, 7 feet of 1/2" PVC conduit with two molded end hooks and two couplings, a grommet and 2 feet of smaller bungee cord, plus the labor and equipment to cut and sew the fabric, cut and sew the nylon material for the carry case, cut the conduit to size and install the couplings, print the instructions, and package the finished product. Now tack on a percentage for fixed overhead and profit margin and that $220 starts to look pretty reasonable...

Removed the flap, $0.00 problem solved.

Don't drive many gravel rods, do you... The vacuum behind the motorhome can still pull up small stones, flap or not. The Protect-A-Tow even cuts down on the amount of dust getting on the back of the rig. Some toads are better at not getting dings than others due to their height or front end design, perhaps, but certainly not all of them.

as a matter of fact, we do, but we slow down. every time we got a chip, it was on the freeway. at speed.
The Vacuum you speak of is created by the flap causing the air from under the coach to be reverted around it.

The vacuum is created even with no flap. Ask any race car driver how drafting works. Rather than belabor the point though, you protect your toad your way, and I'll protect mine my way. It's great that we have choices...

when you reach speeds that your towed is drafting... I'll get out of the way.
the vacuum isn't the cause of stones jumping up. the disturbance from the flap is.
put a remote camera down there and see what happens when the flap fans the road.

[Tom_Barb]

deleted duplicated

[Dutch_12078]

Tom/Barb wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:
WoW over 200 bucks for a over sized window shade.
http://protectatow.tripod.com

Price out a few yards of heavy PVC coated polyester mesh, if you can find it, and then add on about 20 feet of bungee cord, six snap clips, six eye bolts with double nuts and fender washers, 7 feet of 1/2" PVC conduit with two molded end hooks and two couplings, a grommet and 2 feet of smaller bungee cord, plus the labor and equipment to cut and sew the fabric, cut and sew the nylon material for the carry case, cut the conduit to size and install the couplings, print the instructions, and package the finished product. Now tack on a percentage for fixed overhead and profit margin and that $220 starts to look pretty reasonable...

Removed the flap, $0.00 problem solved.

Don't drive many gravel rods, do you... The vacuum behind the motorhome can still pull up small stones, flap or not. The Protect-A-Tow even cuts down on the amount of dust getting on the back of the rig. Some toads are better at not getting dings than others due to their height or front end design, perhaps, but certainly not all of them.

as a matter of fact, we do, but we slow down. every time we got a chip, it was on the freeway. at speed.
The Vacuum you speak of is created by the flap causing the air from under the coach to be reverted around it.

The vacuum is created even with no flap. Ask any race car driver how drafting works. Rather than belabor the point though, you protect your toad your way, and I'll protect mine my way. It's great that we have choices...

[Tom_Barb]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:
WoW over 200 bucks for a over sized window shade.
http://protectatow.tripod.com

Price out a few yards of heavy PVC coated polyester mesh, if you can find it, and then add on about 20 feet of bungee cord, six snap clips, six eye bolts with double nuts and fender washers, 7 feet of 1/2" PVC conduit with two molded end hooks and two couplings, a grommet and 2 feet of smaller bungee cord, plus the labor and equipment to cut and sew the fabric, cut and sew the nylon material for the carry case, cut the conduit to size and install the couplings, print the instructions, and package the finished product. Now tack on a percentage for fixed overhead and profit margin and that $220 starts to look pretty reasonable...

Removed the flap, $0.00 problem solved.

Don't drive many gravel rods, do you... The vacuum behind the motorhome can still pull up small stones, flap or not. The Protect-A-Tow even cuts down on the amount of dust getting on the back of the rig. Some toads are better at not getting dings than others due to their height or front end design, perhaps, but certainly not all of them.

as a matter of fact, we do, but we slow down. every time we got a chip, it was on the freeway. at speed.
The Vacuum you speak of is created by the flap causing the air from under the coach to be reverted around it.

[xctraveler]

We had the Roadmaster Tow Defender and after the third time a pivot bolt broke I pitched it. Generally they broke when I really needed the Defender as I was on dirt roads and the flex arm (nearest the coach) caught on something when the rear end went down low. Currently using the Roadmaster Guardian which works fine. It is a pain to stow. I have the stowmaster on the coach but don't want to move the coach with it there as it bangs against the coach and blocks both airflow to the rear radiator and view of the license plate. It is also a pain to breakdown so I can put it in the back of the Jeep.

[Dutch_12078]

Tom/Barb wrote:

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:
WoW over 200 bucks for a over sized window shade.
http://protectatow.tripod.com

Price out a few yards of heavy PVC coated polyester mesh, if you can find it, and then add on about 20 feet of bungee cord, six snap clips, six eye bolts with double nuts and fender washers, 7 feet of 1/2" PVC conduit with two molded end hooks and two couplings, a grommet and 2 feet of smaller bungee cord, plus the labor and equipment to cut and sew the fabric, cut and sew the nylon material for the carry case, cut the conduit to size and install the couplings, print the instructions, and package the finished product. Now tack on a percentage for fixed overhead and profit margin and that $220 starts to look pretty reasonable...

Removed the flap, $0.00 problem solved.

Don't drive many gravel rods, do you... The vacuum behind the motorhome can still pull up small stones, flap or not. The Protect-A-Tow even cuts down on the amount of dust getting on the back of the rig. Some toads are better at not getting dings than others due to their height or front end design, perhaps, but certainly not all of them.