Trailering Windshield or Bow Covers

I'm seeing pitting on the upper hull below the the rub rail from what appears to be road grit. It starts from the rear support leg of the bow rail and extends aft about 2'. Not sure if it is being caused by being behind my tires, or other dynamics. My mud flaps on the 02 dodge came with the truck and are not very big.

Not sure if bigger flaps or hull cover or both are necessary to stop this progression.

Tom
 
Some times mud flaps can pick up gravel etc. as well as decreasing material thrown. See my post on using a skirt between the boat and the back of the truck. The shade cloth you can get at Home depot and PVC pipe plus shock cord would make a good skirt, and keep any solid debris of any size off the boat.
 
I purchased a set of "Rock Tamer" mud flaps from Cabelas for use on our Dodge dually pickup when towing our boat. We drove about 9,000 miles last year towing the boat and so far, they have done the job. No chips or scratches from road debris yet.

The Rock Tamers are easy to mount and dismount when not towing.
 
Tom,
My post was on the window covering thread which is related to this series of posts. Basically using a skirt between the truck and the trailer which is the width of the truck body or bumper, and a piece of pipe (PVC works) on the trailer to prevent road debris from hitting both the hull and the window of the boat. The material is a mesh, which appears to be a dacron thread covered with a plastic covering.
 
I cut some vinyl cling film (got it at a sign shop) and stuck it to the forward hull sections (just a couple so far, as an experiment). I think I'll also cut some outside window covers of the same material. Perhaps a fitted/padded cover would be better, but I think the film will be superior to nothing and pretty easy to fit.

I'll post back after I've had a chance to try it on the windows.

Sunbeam
 
This is the window & bow protection I have used for several trips to Skagway Alaska from Wyoming. The window protections is cut from soft foam mats normally used for standing on & bought at Home Depot. White duct tape secures them to the windows.

The bow protection I bought in Billings, Montana, nine years ago. It has held up well & this is the 2nd trailer I've used it with. It cost then approximately $400 & has worked well for the price. The downside it uses snap rivets on the hull to attach to the boat. I've seen other set ups that attached only to the trailer, similar to what Bob described, but much more expensive then mine unless done yourself as Bob suggest.

In my experience the road condition that will do the most boat damage is not gravel roads though they will do damage at speed, but not even close to the hard sharp edged chip seal rocks laid over fresh oil. In 2010 we ran into hundreds of miles of this going south from Fort Nelson, BC.

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primative":2xxg0mlf said:
Bob
I must not be using search tool properly, I am not coming up with your post.

Tom
Click to expand...

Here's the post:

thataway":2xxg0mlf said:
Unfortunately I have had several windshields damaged badly (even broken once) by various rocks.--some have been in trucks and RV's, so rocks can get up high--and then come down. --of course there is often both the speed of your vehicle--lets say 60 mpg, and some spin from the rock as thrown up--and can be on either side of the road--which could put the velocity over 100 mph...

When towing our Yukon behind the RV, we have a skirt of fabric which is between the RV and the truck. There is PVC pipe in the middle, with shock cord around the periphery of the skirt. The RV has 4 SS attatchment points on the rear bumper, and the RV has several. For the boat we can use the same skirt with a piece of PVC pipe to support the fabric on the front of the trailer. This skirt goes under the hitch, thus protects the electrical cables (which I have also had destroyed by highway debris several times--usually "Road Gators"--old tread.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks everybody,
It surprised me to see the range of options. Ingenious Brats.

Bob, do you have a picture of your rig? I would love to see it, how it attaches to the hitch and such.

Tom
 
I recently purchased a BowGuard 360 for the front of my 16 angler, they also make a larger 460 model. Here in Saskatchewan road grit is a major problem and I see many of this type of rock guard being used. Here is the web site for this product, but I'm sure there will be many similar in the US.

www.bowguard.ca
 
Jay, I like what you have done. It looks like it would do the job. Maybe a bit of modification would bypass the snaps.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
Wrote to the bowguard company, just out of curiosity, and got this reply:

Hi Colby

Thanks for your interest in our products. Unfortunately we no longer ship into the US. We have found that dealing with US Customs and Homeland Security is to big a hassle.

Once again, thanks for your interest in our products.

Rocky
 
I checked their web site a couple days ago, no direct info. of price, or statement of no U.S. shipping. I spent a good deal of time researching and reviews, too bad. Actually not, because of learning more about conditions that cause rock chipping in the process. There is slow, the fast, and the ugly, depending where you tow.

Glad to see all the options folks have posted.
 
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