Why don't camper, hybrid and caravan manufacturers do this !!

[McGirr]

I am still amazed how all manufactures of campers, hybrids and vans do not or have not come up with a better design or idea to protect their products from rocks etc.

You spend hard earned money on a new product and yet you still have to add things to try and protect your investment. Yes there are stone stompers etc but still rocks etc get through. Of all the great ideas they come up with why not focus on protecting their product.

Naturally the under carriage would be impossible to do but reading threads on people who have spent good money still have to come up with ways to keep the offroad damage to a minimum. Why !!

Mark

[Bird]

Once its out the door, why would they care.. its not their problem anymore..

[KingBilly]

Yeah Mark, I have wonderd the same.  Spend $20K or even 5 times that and you still haven't got a fully protected camper/van.

Have looked at a couple recently and asked why the chassis wasn't galvanised.  Both manufacturers told me they didn't think it was necessary but both were trying to sell me an offroad CT.  Obvously they have never tested their trailers on the dirt roads I have travelled and want to continue to travel.  Got home from the myswag Centre trip last year and the front half of my chassis was sandblasted back to bare metal.  I will never buy another camper with a painted chassis.

A Stonestomper would have stopped the damage to my upright stone guard and is something I intend to fit to my current CT very soon.  It also would have stopped the sandblasting of my drawbar but I don't think it would have stopped the stone damage further back.  Can someone please advise how far back a Stonestomper protects?

If you come up with a solution, send me a PM and we can go into business making them.

KB

[edz]

Have given thought about underside protection and come up with this product that could be easily attached under most every camper / caravan, easily cut and shaped and pretty tough / flexible and could be fitted in continuos strips or sections to the bottom side of chassis members etc . http://www.matting.com.au/media/pdfs/product/248_Recycled_Rolled_Rubber1.pdf

[jwb]

A stonestomper gets attached at a point that you decide the location of, it could be the front main body or as I chose the bottom extreme edge of the stone guard
Have a look at their website.
Cheers

[KingBilly]

A stonestomper gets attached at a point that you decide the location of, it could be the front main body or as I chose the bottom extreme edge of the stone guard
Have a look at their website.
Cheers

Thanks, I knew that.

My question was, how far back does a Stonestopper protect the camper's chassis?  If it stops at the stone guard, or the front of the damper, or whereever, does it stop stone damage to the underside of tbe camper further back from where it stops?

KB

[staghornflat]

Thanks, I knew that.

 does it stop stone damage to the underside of tbe camper further back from where it stops?

KB

In a word KB No.
 

[jwb]

Oh!
Ok then.
Back to my corner then.?

[KingBilly]

In a word KB No.
 

Ah, that's what I was afraid of.  Thanks.

KB

[MarkVS]

Thanks, I knew that.

My question was, how far back does a Stonestopper protect the camper's chassis?  If it stops at the stone guard, or the front of the damper, or whereever, does it stop stone damage to the underside of tbe camper further back from where it stops?

KB

KB,

I have a stonestomper on my camper that goes all the way back to the start of the main 'box' section of the camper. It is also as wide as the car wghich means it is as waide as the camper wheel mud guards.

I still got sand blasting on the outside of the camper and mud guards from my Cape York and Savannah way trips....I found that when you are travelling not quite straight (eg. corners, long bends) , it still sprays up stones outside of the stone stomper and sprays the exposed side areas of the camper.

As for the underside, it still strips it underneath past the point where the stone stomper stops.

MarkVS 

[KingBilly]

Thanks Mark.  Have you thought of a solution?  I know you are a thinker and you could save some of my grey cells 

KB

[outbackogre]

I've wondered about zip tying some lengths of 40x19 pine under the draw bar and chassis rails, then screwing shade cloth to these.  I know it would be destroyed in a decent dirt road trip but it wouldn't matter if it did the job and it's fairly cheap and easy to replace.

[Bird]

is under the trailer seriously that bigger deal to protect? if your that worried, get a full custom sheet metal bash guard made to go from the drawbar back to the rear of the trailer.

[Kangaron]

Then a bash plate for the bash plate would be needed by some

Sent from my GT-I9100 using Tapatalk 2

[MarkVS]

is under the trailer seriously that bigger deal to protect? if your that worried, get a full custom sheet metal bash guard made to go from the drawbar back to the rear of the trailer.

Bird,
I agree..but what I ended up doing was putting some protection in place for water tubing, connections and water tank......as after the first trip, where I had a stone stomper, I didn't expect it to do as much damage as it did further back under the camper.

Mark

[Bird]

GeoffA made his own Custom Made Stone Stomper on his setup... people could always do this..

or just some shade cloth from front to rear...  or some armour plating

[Rob C]

We have a stone stomper on our camper, but added to that they installed a rubber mat across the camper about 600mm back from the stomper end.
This is very heavy duty rubber.
This protects the floor, suspension, tanks etc
Works great.

Rob

[Diesel Power]

I have ordered a stone stomper from Christian. After its fitted I'm mounting a large rubber flap across front of camper but it won't be flat across front, it going to taper back following the chassis rails to deflect rocks out.
The Kimberley is well protected in regards to water tank fittings and is fully galved underneath, but as we all know the rock damage can be excessive.
I might even consider lining the wheel arches with a curtain of rubber with cut outs for the swingarms to travel up?
Regards
Angus.

[Barry G]

To what extent is damage exponentially related to speed?
Slow down, enjoy the journey, less damage is a bonus...?

[KingBilly]

At 30kph, I can hear stones striking the drawbar 

KB

[staghornflat]

Don't get me wrong, I have a stone stomper on our Kimberley and wouldn't be with out it. As Diesel Power said the Kimberley is fairly well protected underneath. Your not going to stop all the stones hitting your trailer no matter what you do or how you drive. We are however able to minimise as much as possible with things like a stone stomper,mud flaps and guards.
As far as the OP goes, how far can you expect manufacturers to go, compared to how much you want to pay for there product.
 

[Bird]

At 30kph, I can hear stones striking the drawbar 

KB

Slow down to 5 then try that...

[Barry G]

At 30kph, I can hear stones striking the drawbar 

KB

Something like this http://www.myswag.org/index.php?topic=10896.0 (post#16) on the rear of the tug + Stone stomper + additional flaps at the front of the trailer tub (should) = minimum stone damage.

[GGV8Cruza]

Duragal chassis, a can of touch up paint each trip and a heap of memories of where you have just been. I have a set of rubber at the front edge of the trailer but it only slows the bigger ones.

Will be adding a stone stomper before the next trip to protect the back of the cruiser

GG

[Diesel Power]

I had a similar discussion with a mates oldman, he haas a painted drawbar with bad gravel rash. I suggested that he gets the trailer re sprayed ( where damaged) and then get some stainless steel folded to profile of steel on drawbar. Then Sikaflex the stainless panels on.
Regards
Angus.