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05-08-2006, 02:22 PM
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#1
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30' 1999 Excella
Kingwood
, Texas
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 295
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Bug Deflectors... do they work?
I see these on the front of some vehicles. Do they work? Any pros/cons? Recommended brands? Easily installed/removed for when not towing?
We just got a new F-250 and are heading out on a long long trip. Wondering if it would be worthwhile.
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05-08-2006, 04:25 PM
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#2
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Rivet Master
2005 19' Safari
1968 24' Tradewind
Rural
, Delaware
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,476
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I used one on a truck quite a while ago and it worked, to some extent, by deflecting the wind and bugs over the windshield. I didn't like it because I used the Rain-X treatment, which needs wind to work. Now that I am towing an Airstream, I wonder where those bugs would end up as they fly over the windshield.
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05-08-2006, 04:36 PM
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#3
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Rivet Master
2004 30' Classic
Field and Stream
, PA & MT
Join Date: Nov 2002
Posts: 819
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I've always had one installed on my F250, and although I can't say whether or not it deflects any bugs off my window, it does protect a small section across the front edge of the hood and for that reason alone it's worth it to me.
I drive across the country every summer, and although I do get plenty of bugs on my truck's windshield, they've never seemed to be really bad, and I'm careful to get them off whenever we stop for gas, and at any overnight stopovers.
I keep my Airsteam WELL waxed, especially the front, and the bugs that we do get wash off very easily.
I've also been toying with the idea of getting a nice stainless steel Turbowing air deflector that I'd mount toward the back of my truck bed, above my truck cap. I have a removable aluminum ladder rack that goes over the truck cap, and I could bolt the Turbowing onto the crossbars of the ladder rack. That would really keep the bugs off the trailer! Only thing is, they cost about $1,000. And that's a lot of bugs!
John
__________________
Flyfisher
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05-08-2006, 04:48 PM
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#4
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4 Rivet Member
1964 17' Bambi II
Santa Cruz
, California
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 319
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I used one on my last truck,a Dodge Dakota. Sometimes, if you watched closely you could see the bugs following the air flow up and over the windshield. I'd say that it reduced the amount of bugs on the windshield,but at 60 mph + it would buffet my rear view mirrors. Very annoying to me.
Mark
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05-08-2006, 06:09 PM
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#5
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Rivet Master
Currently Looking...
Pittsfield
, Maine
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,108
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Bug deflectors and ice.
I took the bug deflector off of my '95 Chevy PU because ice from the hood would get between the deflector and the hood and chip the paint off the hood. Probably a good idea to simply remove the deflector in the winter (---no bug) season.
__________________
Cracker
2003 GMC 3500 D/A, CC, LB, 4x4 and 2000 Airstream Excella 30. WBCCI 7074
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05-08-2006, 09:12 PM
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#6
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30' 1999 Excella
Kingwood
, Texas
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 295
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doesn't seem like a 'must have'...
thanks for the answers. The sense I get is vaguely negative. I think I'll save the $100+.
As usual, this forum is a fountain of wisdom!
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05-08-2006, 09:23 PM
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#7
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Rivet Master
Commercial Member
Vintage Kin Owner
Naples
, Florida
Join Date: Dec 2005
Posts: 7,508
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kjmorle
thanks for the answers. The sense I get is vaguely negative. I think I'll save the $100+.
As usual, this forum is a fountain of wisdom!
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A good choice. Spend your money on some Rejex instead. That stuff REALLY works. I use it on the front of the A/S and all of the surfaces of the van with a double coating on the forward facing surfaces...including the windows. I found it when I had a 40' diesel MoHo, and you know what bug magnets they are!!
www.corrosionx.com
__________________
lewster
Solar Tech Energy Systems, Inc.
Victron Solar Components and Inverters, Zamp Solar Panels, LiFeBlue and Battle Born Lithium Batteries, Lifeline AGM Batteries
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05-08-2006, 09:47 PM
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#8
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3 Rivet Member
2005 28' International CCD
Las Cruces
, New Mexico
Join Date: Jan 2005
Posts: 176
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In these days of steep gas prices, it can't help to have what amounts to a large, inefficient spoiler across the front of your vehicle. The way those things work is by detaching the laminar airflow over the front of your vehicle, and inducing turbulence. Thus the noise and buffeting some of the other posters noted. I don't know what the numbers might be, but that has to burn up a whole bunch of extra gas.
On the other hand, If you were towing a 34' Limited at max weight, with a 1-ton pickup at 70mph, you'd be burning so much gas anyway that it might not make much of a difference. Not sure what kind of Airstream you have, but the best I do with a 3/4 ton truck and a 28' CCD at 55mph is around 13mpg, which is not exactly what you'd call miserly.
Which gets me to wondering what would happen if someone designed a vehicle specifically to tow a travel trailer. Considering that most of us get no better mileage towing our Airstreams than the average 18 wheeler does, it makes you think.
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05-16-2006, 06:42 PM
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#9
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2 Rivet Member
Join Date: Jan 2004
Posts: 52
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I removed one from my class B van because it trapped leaves and other debris. Before removing it I also informally surveyed vehicles with them and noticed that the volume of bug hits was about the same with and without.
__________________
AS: 2015 27" Flying Cloud
TV: 2013 Lincoln Navigator
WBCCI# 2720
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05-16-2006, 10:56 PM
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#10
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Rivet Master
1965 17' Caravel
1968 28' Ambassador
Butte
, Montana
Join Date: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,201
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I have a rock guard/bug deflector on my 95 Ford and while it does a great job at keep the rock chips off the hood, it does a mediocre job of deflecting bugs from the windshield. At the best, they don't hit the entire windshield just the top half. I'll be leaving it on just for the rock chip protection. Last week I drove a tractor trailer back from Dallas, TX. that had a bug deflector on it. Same results, bugs on the top half of the windshield. Check my blog, you can see how good it works.
Chris
__________________
AIR # 7276, WBCCI # 7276
Project 2k5
Life is a journey, not a destination
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05-17-2006, 06:15 AM
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#11
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Rivet Master
2006 25' Safari FB SE
Currently Looking...
Durango
, Colorado
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,112
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Before the smoked plexiglass molded deflectors came on the market, there were universal deflectors that stood straight up and were attatched with 5 "L" brackets screwed to the underside of the hood lip. These deflectors worked and cost $29.95 at Pep Boys! You can still see something similar on big rigs.
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