Stone Guard Update..

Hi Baz! Can't comment on the Tamer guard but had an Adventure Camper wiith the original Stomper type guard that ran from towbar and right back under the drawbar. Absolutely brilliant!! Travelled over 10000km on dirt roads of varying quality and had minimal chipping on the camper and not a mark on the vehicle. Access is a small issue - just push with ankles and shockcord stretches or if not enough, simply undo 1 or 2 carbiner clips - takes all of 15 secs max. Highly recommended!!! Will be fitting one to my new camper as soon as it arrives in April.
Cheers
TG

Hi Oldbaz, I have rock tamers and find them great, as they are easy to fit and remove when not required. They can be adjusted to any angle froward or back and fit around the tow bar. Can't comment on the stone stopper.
Andy

G/Day oldbaz

I have seen a lot of vans outback with Vanbras fitted.

They do two things, they protect the front panels on the van from stones ect from the tow vehicle plus any stones thrown from passing vehicles like Road Trains ect.

The material is thick padded vinyl that has press studs so it is easily fitted to the van.

We are getting one made shortly before the next outback trip.

Last trip we had a stone thrown up from a passing Road Train and the dent looked like a bullet hole.

I had it fixed but was inconvenient.

Cheers

Hi Oldbaz,
Have used the rock tamer on a 100 series for a lot of gravel roads and am quite happy with it. But, 1) i did have to modify the tailpipe 2) still collect a lot of stones on van drawbar 3) would recommend using a rear screen protector as extra insurance
regards, Robert

Image Could Not Be FoundImage Could Not Be FoundHi Oldbaz,

This is what I have done to the front of my caravan. I have a top and a bottom stone guard. The bottom is vinyl like the manufacturer but the top is PVC. The distance A to B is 2300mm on a standard caravan. The distance C to D is between 2150 and 2260mm on almost every caravan. So the top stone guard can act as a front waterproof / sun proof verandah when camped. Saves carrying one more thing and certainly stops stone chips. Top of the top guard slides into a 6mm rope track that is Sikaflex ed to the caravan. It velcros at the bottom to the van. When travelling the wind pressure holds it against the caravan.

The

oldbaz, we have a stone stomper and its aweasome. we travelled over 5000 km s of dirt last year and not a dint on the van or any broken windows on the vehicle. i did damage it but you just send it back to christain at stone stomper and he fixes with little cost. have to make sure if you go with tamers and the like that they dont restrict the airflow over yr auto otherwise you might run hot. quincy

After having a vinyl protector on the front of my previous caravan, rock tamer style mudflaps on both my old cruiser and GU, I now have a Stone Stomper on my Quantum. I can say from experience that the Stone Stomper is miles in front of the others.

While the vinyl protector stops the smaller stones marking the van, the front of the drawbar is peppered with rocks and they bounce back onto the vehicle. The drawbar carries many stone scars and the large rocks still dent the front of the van.

A full length rear mudflap was added and while this helped, on the tracks with high centres, the mudflap would drag and flick up even more rocks. Was lucky not to break a rear window. Raising the mudflap to clear the high crown allowed rocks to come underneath, sorta defeated the purpose.

My Camprite had a full width stone deflector and while this protected the camper, the drawbar was peppered even with the full length mudflap, the rear of the vehicle had the odd mark from a rebounding rock.

With my Quantum, I went the Stone Stomper and it has been close to perfect. The drawbar looks like brand new while the stone stomper canvas flap is showing the signs of hard use, the canvas corner with steel bar underneath takes the full brunt of stones from the rear wheels and this is showing signs of wear on the corners. Below is a pic when it was new.



Pic on Great Central Road enroute to Uluru


Cheers

Captain

I use a cheap home made version of the stone stomper (trampoline) principle - my view is that the undersides of the car and the van have to withstand stones - that can't be helped - a trampoline simply bridges the gap between the two. The issue with flaps and guards etc. is that while they are much easier to live with, they allow stones to rise up into the damage zone, and then car and trailer protection issues have to be addressed - I have no rear window or duco protection on the car - none on the van either... has worked for me so far, after 1000's km's on stony gravel roads. As for stones being thrown up by inconsiderate passing motorists - often, there is very little that can practically be done about that :-o).

Oldbaz,
I have a stone stomper and am happy with it..

The guy who sells them is very approachable and helpful.

With respet to access, i have no troubles getting in to the back of the van, if i had tondetach the stomper it is a 1 minute job any way but never have so far.

Richard