home made rear window saver
Submitted: Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 22:44
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Thomas QLD
g'day all has anyone made a rear window saver themselves? it cant be that difficult. i thought i would use 3mm polycarbonate with suction cups. has anyone tried this already? much obliged thomas qld
Reply By: Member - Ed C (QLD) - Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:25
Tuesday, Mar 02, 2010 at 23:25
Yep, I've done exactly what you are contemplating....
In a nutshell, I got sick o' the bl@@dy things & chucked 'em in the bin...
Got meself an appropriate sized piece of
Altrex Light Skinz material, cut it to size (2 pcs), stuck 'em on, sealed the edges w/- auto silicone, and that's it... permanent... no more dust between poly & glass, no more suction cups poppin' , no more having to fit window protectors every time I take a trailer off the tar (they're on there permanently;-))
Aaand, I can still see out the rear window ('till it gets covered in dust, then I just blow that off;-))
Last time I checked, Autobarn had the lightskinz material in 1.5m x 600mm.. If they don't have it in stock, they can order it in whatever length you require..
Not exactly cheap (can't remember actual cost), but still a whole lot cheaper than a new window;-)
Beats all other options hands down IMO (YMMV)
:)
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Follow Up By: Harrow - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 00:49
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 00:49
Done exactly the same with the Skinz
3M product
works a treat
Once on stays permanent
Just avoid using rear windscreen wiper
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Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 04:31
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 04:31
Guy's
Not a bad Idea that one..its brilliant !
Could cut silicone off at the end of your trip ..
Poly carbonate and suction cups drove me mad.. but it worked !
Gray Taped it on in the end, and used foam rubber bits in the middle, to stop the rubbing glass effect..
Still that started to after a few days, but hung on til we got back into
Alice Springs..
Cheers
Bucky
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676828
Follow Up By: Member - Ed C (QLD) - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 11:02
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 11:02
Bucky,
the Skinz is self-adhesive (peel & stick), so once it's on it stays there... (that's the biggest advantage of it, IMO)
The reason I use the silicone, is to stop dust/ moisture working it's way in underneath (at the top edge mainly) & causing loss of adhesion...
No need to cut nothin' off at the end of a trip, it stays in place ready for the next trip, and the one after that, and the next........
well, ya get my drift;-))
The wiper remains fully operational, but if ya use it while the window is covered w/- dust/ mud, then the Skinz WILL scratch!
:)
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Follow Up By: Member - Bucky - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 19:43
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 19:43
Ed
Even better mate
Cheers for that
Bucky
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Follow Up By: kev.h - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 19:51
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 19:51
I made headlight protectors out of the offcuts works a treat
Kev
FollowupID:
676985
Reply By: Member - Carl- Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:25
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:25
Hi Thomas,
Many great ideas and I am about to remake my stone guard. This is the one I have at the moment. A layer of clear PVC (Bunnings) 2 layers of
grey boat carpet (Bunnings) and a layer of
grey PVC (to match the car colour). Sew together with velcro on the back. The velcro on the glassis Velcro (brand only) "Sure Grip or True Grip". It will not come of with the outback heat where others will.
In this way you can just take it off and put it on, as many times as you want.
If you have a 200, the rear window is $2900 to replace. Yes.. toyota have caught with Mercedes and BMW at screwing (can I use that word) you for parts.
To prove it works, I showed my wife it, by throwing a
rock at the back window. I missed, and hit the car itself. That was not good.
Image Could Not Be Found
AnswerID:
407018
Reply By: Member - Oldbaz. NSW. - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:29
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 08:29
While the window type no doubt protect the glass, they do little to stop the
damage to surrounding paint, lights etc on the rear of your tug & do nothing to
protect the front of your trailer.
...I made a very cheap & effective stone guard from 40mm PVC
pipe & shadecloth, that mounts on top of the A frame of the C/t. Works
well...not
one mark on trailer or tug. Only downside is slightly decreased ease of access
into back of tug, but results outweigh that easily. Sorry no pics, but happy to supply details if requested...cheers....oldbaz.
AnswerID:
407019
Reply By: brushmarx - Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 10:17
Wednesday, Mar 03, 2010 at 10:17
We made a set from polycarbonate, drilled holes for bending etc as per moggs' detail, and even made a small set for the tail lights. They worked, but they kept popping some of the velcro's on the corrugations around
Birdsville. The poly didn't fall off, and the system worked, but after a bit of dust build up, the velcro dots were less efficient.
Last 2 trips, we ditched the poly protectors and built a stone guard for the CT from arc mesh and shade cloth, and had no problems.
Corflute and cardboard taped on would work, but I can view the road behind me over the top of the trailer, and don't want to lose that option.
If you have a higher trailer or van with no rear view, I guess the cheaper the better.
Cheers
AnswerID:
407038