stone guard fabric

[gpaholloways]

I am in the process of making a stoneguard for our c/t, but have been unable to find any reinforced rubberised "Sarlon" to use. I don't think the normal Sarlon shade cloth would be very durable. Can anybody steer me in the direction of a supplier please. I am situated in Cairns

[evolution]

For what its worth, Most of the stone guards that I have seen (other than rock stomper) have been made out of the general shade cloth from bunnings. I asked Kingbilly the question before I did mine as to how it held up, and no problems. I have used it on mine and am more than happy with it.
Best thing is it is cheap and easily replaceable.

Cheers
Evo

[DannyG]

Welcome to Myswag

We just use plain old shade cloth on ours. Its not on there tight so the stones wont bounce off it and it lasts fine. When it gets worn out buy another $10 piece

[Brucer]

Has anyone tried using Pet Mesh?
This stuff is designed to replace normal flyscreen where abuse from pets or children are a problem. I put some on my sliding doors and found it pretty good. Thinking of using it for a stone guard.

[Taz64]

Has anyone tried using Pet Mesh?
This stuff is designed to replace normal flyscreen where abuse from pets or children are a problem. I put some on my sliding doors and found it pretty good. Thinking of using it for a stone guard.

I believe the lack of flexibility in the pet mesh will be an issue.  For a stoneguard to work effectively you need a material which will absorb the impact force of the object stricking it to prevent it piercing the stone guard material and also minimise the object being flung forward into the Tug.

Like most others have stated, use shadecloth, it's flexible enought, easy to work with and cheap to replace.

[Brucer]

Taz, the stuff I'm referring to is pliable and flexible just like shade cloth, not the rigid metal security screen you may be thinking of. Anyway, just a thought. It's readily available in the local Bunnings so check it out. I reckon it would be better than shade cloth because it's designed to withstand abuse, whereas shade cloth is, well just for shade.

[crackacoldie]

I used 90% shade cloth on ours, doubled over at the ends and stiched with ey-lets in it.

[woody too]

G'day all, we have used pet mesh for the last two outback trips and it shows no sign of fraying along the bottom edge as did the shade cloth we had on before, after the first trip the shade cloth had a hole in it the size of a twenty cent coin, we also put a pad on the rear window for protection, we are about to embark on another outback trip where we expect to do a couple of thousand clicks on gravel roads, so will see how it stands up this time.
regards Woody

[gpaholloways]

Thanks to everyone, I reckon I've got a better outlook on the situation now. I'll check out petmesh and see what it looks like.

[Taz64]

Taz, the stuff I'm referring to is pliable and flexible just like shade cloth, not the rigid metal security screen you may be thinking of. Anyway, just a thought. It's readily available in the local Bunnings so check it out. I reckon it would be better than shade cloth because it's designed to withstand abuse, whereas shade cloth is, well just for shade.

Yeah I was picturing the metal pet mesh.  Have had a look at Bunnings and it looks like it would be more resilient than standard shade cloth.  Let me know how it works for you.

[Diesel Power]

The proper material is the heavy duty mesh that Upholsterers use for the front of trucks as a bug screen.
One thing about the frame to hold your mesh is that you shouldn't have any hard metal surfaces facing forwards. Stones will hit the steel and bounce back onto tow vehicle. Make sure that you put foam tubing or foam sticky back strips on front facing steel work before fitting your mesh.
You can tell if trailer manufacturers are serious about their off road trailers by this feature of padding under the mesh.
Regards
Angus.