Ultimate camper stone guard
Submitted: Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 20:38
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Anthonyp0808
I have ordered my Ultimate camper for pick-up next February from the factory. By way of background, the camper has a large, curved boot upfront so there is no traditional draw-bar area.
One of the concerns is that boot can kick stones forward with consequent rear window damage!
I have been doing some research into appropriate stone guards but most seem to relay on something over the A-frame draw bar.
Any suggestions from Ultimate owners?
Reply By: Life Member Dick B - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:01
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:01
Hi Anthony
I have an Ultimate (#519) and tow it behind my Troopy.
The Ultimate sits up quiet high and most of the stones go underneath it. If they rise high enough to hit the nose, they are deflected out the side. I do have Orbie's rear window protector installed but I don't think it is really necessary.
Ask Ultimate to give you access to the Ultimate Owners
Forum, there is a lot of good info on there and you can ask questions to many owners.
Dick
AnswerID:
466804
Follow Up By: ljsroslyn - Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:11
Tuesday, Oct 04, 2011 at 21:11
We also have an Ultimate and yes they do throw stones up, albeit probably not as much as other campers. Friends of ours just broke the rear window of their Prado whilst on a trip. They had taken the rear window protection off and hadn't put it back on and the next day the window was smashed.
We too cover our back window and have even at times covered the back tailgate to prevent stone damage. Once you get your Ultimate you will have access to the Ultimate
forum and there has been discussion about this issue on there.
Hope this helps.
FollowupID:
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Follow Up By: Mark - Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 at 10:50
Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 at 10:50
When we picked our Ultimate up around 12 months ago they did mention there were problems with the Prado's specifically throwing stones due to the short mud flaps. We have no rear window protection on the Disco currently but will probably do something when we start going on gravel roads.
FollowupID:
741172
Reply By: Sand Man (SA) - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 07:16
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 07:16
Anthony,
I believe the
Stonestomper product would best suit your needs.
Not only will it stop stones from bouncing back into your rear window, but will also stop the "boot" of the camper and rear of the vehicle from stone chipping.
When I looked at stone guards, I chose
the Rock Tamers and are happy enough with them. I didn't want to "block" access to the rear of the vehicle.
One problem I do have is that access to the underslung spare tyre is nigh impossible and I have chosen to carry it on top of the camper.
I can see stones being ejected out the side and I am careful to slow down when passing oncoming vehicles to limit a stray missile frompossibly hitting them.
I guess any stone guard will be a compromise of some sort, but the Stone Stomper looks to be a very good product that stops any stone from lifting above the underside of the A frame.
Maybe one concern is how they would cope with mud.
AnswerID:
466825
Reply By: RobAck - Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 19:02
Wednesday, Oct 05, 2011 at 19:02
We tow our Ultimate XTrak behind a 150 Prado and take tours across most of Australia. Never had a problem at all. Yes we get a few stone chips on the bulldog coating but so far (20,000km off bitumen) all we see are the slight nicks in the coating. Oh and a couple of chips on the level indicator. We took several Ultimates and a TVan across the Simpson, up the
Hay River and along the Plenty Hwy to Alice than back to
Adelaide and all except us used some form of
Rock Tamer type flaps and no-one had a problem.
This issue has had plenty of discussion on the Ultimate
forum and in my view and experience the vehicles that seem to have problems have the tow hitch set lower than level, that is the Ultimate has a distinct nose down attitude. Our setup is level and one of my team also has one and we towed over the same tracks with the same tow vehicles and his had stone damage on the nose cone (had a nose down setup) and we didn't
I suggest you consider your tow setup and keep it as level as possible then keep and eye on things before you consider some
Rock Tamers or similiar. But if you are concerned then they are pretty easy to make up
Regards
RobA
AnswerID:
466857
Reply By: Anthonyp0808 - Thursday, Oct 06, 2011 at 23:35
Thursday, Oct 06, 2011 at 23:35
Many thanks all for the great advice, and for the great Pics.
I can't wait to get access to Ultimate
Forum - I have requested this from Ultimate but no joy until I collect my new toy!
So great information until I get there.
Elsewhere in this
forum there is mention of Obie's Outback back window saver - looks like a simple solution but does noting for the trailer. See
http://www.obiesoutback.com.au/
AnswerID:
466970
Follow Up By: Mark - Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 at 11:00
Saturday, Oct 08, 2011 at 11:00
Hi Anthony,
I can send you a snapshot of a stone guard thread in the meantime. Just send me a PM to mdw000%gmail.com (replace % with @)
Cheers
Mark
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