You can prevent damage to your caravan and undercarriage by using a Caravan Stone Guard when towing your caravan. They are an efficient and easy way to protect your caravan and undercarriage from small rocks being flicked up from the front of your tow vehicle. The caravan’s front panels and undercarriage will remain as good as the day you bought it by preventing damage.
How Does A Caravan Stone Guard Work?
Caravan stone guards, or stone guards as some people call them are metal framed mesh guards designed to stop and/or deflect rocks thrown up by your towing vehicle’s tyres. The stone guard is mounted to your draw bar and spans the width of your van’s front and is high enough to protect your van from rocks thrown by the back tyres. Rubber flaps also protect the undercarriage with this stone guard.
Coast To Coast Stoneguard
Why We Needed A Caravan Stone Guard
We were going to do about 1500+ ks on gravel roads the following month so I thought it would be a good idea to fit something to protect the front and underneath of the van from flying rocks as well as prevent rocks bouncing off and back on to the rear of the ute.
I looked at stone stompers and I like them a lot however due to the short length of our tow hitch I couldn’t see how they would easily fit. On our old camper trailer we had a camper trailer stoneguard across the front and it worked well so I figured I’d get one of those again. Due to the narrowness of the drawbar on the front of our old Supreme Getaway none of the readily available ones would fit. I could have ordered a custom made one but that would have taken time and cost a pile of money so I decided to get one of the coast to coast ones you assemble yourself and modify the mounts to suit. It turned out great with the added bonus that it takes about 30 seconds to remove by taking out a few pins. The mounting modification means if I decide I don’t want it anymore or if we get a different van I could return it to standard in about five minutes.
Modifying and Installing the Caravan Stoneguard
The mounting points being attached to the drawbar. There is a range of different sizes in the kit to suit different drawbar sizes.
Caravan Stone Guard Original Mounting Brackets
The two attachment plates. These bolt to the guard then get dropped in to the mounts and are secured with D pins.
Attachment Plates as Supplied in Kit
Next up is measuring out a bit of 75mm x 5mm flat bar to connect the wider mounting points of the stoneguard to the narrower placement of the mounting points.
Checking mounting of stoneguard. Once it’s cut in the middle and moved outwards it’ll be fine
“Wings” get cut to length and bolted to top mounting brackets. Originally I was going to weld these bits together but then I thought if I use bolts then the whole thing can go back to standard if I ever need it to.
Caravan StoneGuard Wings
Caravan Stoneguard Mounting Wings For Narrow Drawbar
The next thing to do is to clamp the stoneguard temporarily in place so you can mark where to drill the mounting holes in the the wings.
Caravan Stone Guard Measuring Mounting Holes
My wife and I work in transport. The mud flaps supplied with the stoneguard were too short due to the high clearance of our Supreme Getaway so we got some old truck mudflaps off a mate. The holes in the bottom are where they had attached a metal trim strip/weight. We covered them up with some white reflectors. The holes didn’t bother me however my wife always likes things to be neat and tidy. ***Update*** The reflectors got smashed to pieces on the outback gravel roads we travelled on first trip with the stoneguard fitted. Hadn’t thought of that!
Caravan Stoneguard Truck Mudflaps
The mudflaps are bolted through the frame. Originally as supplied the flaps are just tek screwed and I wasn’t convinced of how strong that would be. I have since replaced the galvanised bolts for high tensile steel ones.
Caravan Stone GuardMudflaps Are Bolted Through The Frame
Tidying up the brackets with a bit of paint. Will stop them rusting too.
Caravan Stone Guard Painting
This is how it looks when all put together and mounted on the van. I was a bit worried about having sufficient turning clearance to the back of the ute however I shouldn’t have been as it all worked out fine. Plenty of room.
Caravan Stone Guard
About The Coast To Coast Caravan Stoneguard We Installed
With three pre-drilled sections, the Coast To Coast caravan stone guard is flat packed and easy to install and remove.
A metal frame is fitted with tough ripstop mesh that resists rips and tears, and they bolt onto your caravan draw bar. With the included rubber mud flaps, you can also protect the undercarriage of your RV.
Features
- Easy assembly with pre-drilled holes
- Solid fixing – rip stop mesh is attached to the frame using screws not elastic
- Easily removable when not required by using two R-clips (brackets can be left bolted onto you’re A-frame)
- Pre drilled holes for easy assembly
Specifications
- Includes: fitting instructions, 2 x extra large mud flaps
- Suits: A-frames that are 50mm wide, 100,125 or 150mm high, and a width between both bars from 415-750mm at the point of attachment (see pictures above for more details)
- Mesh Finish: Rip Stop Mesh
- Frame Finish: 25mm Tube Steel
- Finish: Black
- Dimensions: 2310mm (W) x 500mm (H)
- Net Weight: 16kg
Tips And Things To Consider
- When checking you’re A-frame measurements to check fit, make sure to consider:
- Clearance required to use your jockey wheel
- Clearance for any gas bottles, and
- The effect of the shield on the turning circle of your vehicle
Update
We eventually installed a StoneStomper on this caravan. We liked it so much that we have installed a second one on our new van. The thing about a StoneStomper is it protects the front of your caravan AND the rear of your tow vehicle.
