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Hummer · 08-16-2011, 04:56 AM

We are out on the road and I was reading another thread about using a sleeping bag foam pad to make a rock guard. I had a pad at home that is Army surplus and for length it fit absolutely perfect. Think I gave 2.00 for it.

I stopped in Millersburg, Ohio to get a camper cover put on GMC 2500 HD and I noticed they also made boat covers and I asked about the idea of them making a cover. We got in truck and drove over to camp ground and got measurements and pad and two hours later I had a beautiful window protector fabbed up with a blue cover that matches the AS blue perfectly.

I got it mounted after I got to Camp Perry, Ohio where we were coming for the National Rifle Matches and I drilled and tapped the front window rim and mounted it with 8X32 screws. Had to fab some more thicker pieces to mount it on body and they were attached with Devcon 2 ton epoxy and drilled and tapped as well.

Will try and post a pic as soon as I can. If anyone else is in the area the address of the place is Berlin Truck Caps & Tarps Ltd, 4560 State Route 39, Millersburg, Ohio 44654. They are right outside Berlin, Ohio. Nice folks to deal with.

I suspect if you made a tracing of the outside of your window frame they could make one and send it to you. There is room at their place to drive around back and make a one turn movement with a 31' Sovereign.

SilverHoot · 08-16-2011, 08:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hummer

We are out on the road and I was reading another thread about using a sleeping bag foam pad to make a rock guard. I had a pad at home that is Army surplus and for length it fit absolutely perfect. Think I gave 2.00 for it.

I stopped in Millersburg, Ohio to get a camper cover put on GMC 2500 HD and I noticed they also made boat covers and I asked about the idea of them making a cover. We got in truck and drove over to camp ground and got measurements and pad and two hours later I had a beautiful window protector fabbed up with a blue cover that matches the AS blue perfectly.

I got it mounted after I got to Camp Perry, Ohio where we were coming for the National Rifle Matches and I drilled and tapped the front window rim and mounted it with 8X32 screws. Had to fab some more thicker pieces to mount it on body and they were attached with Devcon 2 ton epoxy and drilled and tapped as well.

Will try and post a pic as soon as I can. If anyone else is in the area the address of the place is Berlin Truck Caps & Tarps Ltd, 4560 State Route 39, Millersburg, Ohio 44654. They are right outside Berlin, Ohio. Nice folks to deal with.

I suspect if you made a tracing of the outside of your window frame they could make one and send it to you. There is room at their place to drive around back and make a one turn movement with a 31' Sovereign.

Looking forward to the pics!

DanielB · 08-16-2011, 07:17 PM

Pics or it didn't happen..

Hummer · 08-18-2011, 05:21 AM

http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/DSC00405.jpg

http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/DSC00392.jpg

We are back here in Berlin, Ohio this morning and I will probably stop by their place and see about getting them to make me a cover for my Jeep trailer.

We were on the road yesterday for 125 miles and I kept looking at the cover and it never flapped or moved. This is going to be over a 2500 mile trip for us with lots of road construction and rocks on road and I was very concerned about losing a front window. This pad is 1/2" thick and it will take a good size rock to dent it enough but the little small ones that stick in truck treads I don't believe will have enough velocity to transfer the energy through the dense foam the GI sleeping bag pad is made from.

I will have to remove the screws and coat the threads with RIG or something to keep the steel screw threads from reacting with aluminum when we get home.

This has definitely been my third best upgrade to her after the 16" 10 ply LT tires and the Iota power converter.

Sav'h Steve · 08-18-2011, 06:24 AM

We made custom compounded curve covers with same matt and boat cover material. Came out nice .....

But snaps did not hold in the highway speed wind. We are thinking of using twist close SS latches in place of snaps. Could be snaps weren't substantial enough, they were from kit by West Marine. Used a hand squeeze installer.

So I'd appreciate a more detailed description of your attachment system. Also I did not think of SS screws reacting with aluminum window casing. Have you or others found a barrier necessary?

Overall this is an excellent lower cost and effective way to protect these costly windows (especially the wrap around corner ones).

Steve

Melody Ranch · 08-18-2011, 06:27 AM

Nice work, but not for me. It looks like you need to remove about 40 screws to remove the cover. On any normal trip that would be a pain to me. How about leaks? the window frame is as susceptible to leaking screw/rivet holes as anywhere else.

SmokelessJoe · 08-18-2011, 07:39 AM

Agree with Melody Ranch; much better alternate window protector ideas on this thread:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f469...ors-46690.html

**azflycaster** · 08-18-2011, 07:43 AM

The rock guards look great, but will they top a rock at high speed from breaking the glass behind it?

SmokelessJoe · 08-18-2011, 08:27 AM

So far as I know there hasn't been a report of a problem using Nick Crowhurst's padded protector idea

Inland RV Center, In · 08-18-2011, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hummer

http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/DSC00405.jpg

http://i617.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/DSC00392.jpg

We are back here in Berlin, Ohio this morning and I will probably stop by their place and see about getting them to make me a cover for my Jeep trailer.

We were on the road yesterday for 125 miles and I kept looking at the cover and it never flapped or moved. This is going to be over a 2500 mile trip for us with lots of road construction and rocks on road and I was very concerned about losing a front window. This pad is 1/2" thick and it will take a good size rock to dent it enough but the little small ones that stick in truck treads I don't believe will have enough velocity to transfer the energy through the dense foam the GI sleeping bag pad is made from.

I will have to remove the screws and coat the threads with RIG or something to keep the steel screw threads from reacting with aluminum when we get home.

This has definitely been my third best upgrade to her after the 16" 10 ply LT tires and the Iota power converter.

Why 10 ply tires?

The most that they will do, is cause damage to the trailer, because of the rough ride, and especially if the shocks are old, and the rubber rods in the axle tube is original.

Are your wheels rated high enough to handle those tires?

Andy

Hummer · 08-18-2011, 09:41 PM

Wheels are rated at 3040 lbs each
Modular

The ride is not rough. Most notable thing I can report is side movement from 18 wheelers passing me has just about all but ceased. The 6 ply tires that came on it would allow sway. I only run 60 on interstates so everything passes me. That was biggest gain I saw was side movement has all but ceased.

There are only about 10 screws holding the cover on. 3 on top, 3 on bottom and 3 on each side. He just thought he would put the grommets all over the place so I had a multitude of attachment possibilities.

Snaps are a problem to mount. There are snaps that are secured by I believe it is 10X24 machine screws but they are steel and thusly susceptible to galvanic action. THe other snaps are held on by screws threaded for wood.

Right after I put it on we had a rain storm and got 5 inches of rain in four hours. No leaks detected.

Any time dissimilar metals come in contact in presence of moisture you will get galvanic action unless there is something that protects it.

Yes I suspect a very large rock or brick thrown by a very large punk will possibly break glass. I guess a mud tire might pick up a large rock but most rocks I see stuck in truck tread are small.

Just wondering has any had experience with large rocks being thrown by truck tires?

One time on beltway in DC I saw a rock coming that appeared to be about 1" in diameter and it hit windshield of F250 I was driving. Only reason I figure it did not shatter glass was it was smooth surface. Gave it a big whack and bounced off.

I guess I should also make a disclosure that defeating armor piercing ammunition is not in the cards as well. I have had multiple cracked windshields on cars and pick ups and they were all from small pebble (pea) size gravel except for one time a shock absorber got thrown up and broke windshield on interstate. Then there was a bowed over small spindly oak tree loaded with ice that broke front windshield, roof glass and rear glass on Honda SWG when I hit it while driving at night in a ice storm.

I plan on leaving the cover on all the time on the road and while stored at home to protect from hail. So far we have not stayed in any place long enough to need to remove it and the wife keeps the blinds shut and the curtains closed all the time anyway.

At the camp ground here a guy has a stone guard on a airstream this is secured with phillips head screws that are rusted to hell holding on a four foot piece of aluminum angle. I was surprised it was still holding.

Hummer · 08-23-2011, 05:14 PM

We are still out on the road. 2285 miles so far and in Vermont now. Been through a fair amount of construction and gravel I hear pinging underbody. Don't know if anything has hit window cover or not but keeping my fingers crossed.