Home Made Rock Guard

[HJ Rosch]

After finding I could purchase the Roadmaster Tow Guardian mounting brackets separately for $65 I decided to make my own rock guard for my tow car. The photos show the basic construction including the hitch pins at the bottom of the mounting tubing and the piano hinge in the center back. The hitch pins prevent it from coming out of the brackets if the thumb screws come loose and the piano hinge lets me fold it in half for easier storage. The guard is made from 1/2" plywood that will be painted black. I am also installing a piece of carpet to hang in the open center area to keep debris from hitting the radiator. Total cost is less than $150 and should do everything the commercial units do for over $500. Test drive coming up in April prior to 2-1/2 months in Alaska this summer. I don't expect any problems other than 1/2" plywood being too thin and flexible in the wind. It will be easy to increase it to 3/4" if necessary.

[WinnieView]

Nice work.

[Lake Huron]

Nice. However, I'd install some thick carpet on the entire front of that plywood. This way the rocks wont bounce off the plywood and back on the rear of the tow vehicle. Been there, done that. Back on 06 my dad and I went with a group of guys on a caribou hunt. We had a 460 mi drive down a crushed river rock road. Driving brand new suburbans and towing trailers, it was my turn to drive and we were towing dads utility trailer. Even going 45mph, rocks were hitting the front of the trailer, decked and sided out of scaffold planks, and rebounding back at the suburban. It took a mere 5 miles and one came right thru the back window. Duct tape and a tarp fixed the window issue. I went into the woods and cut down some 6' hemlock trees and lashed them to the front of the trailer. Protected the front of the trailer and kept them from rebounding.

[HJ Rosch]

Thanks Huron, great idea. I will still give it a layer of paint to protect the wood but will carpet the entire front per your recommendations. While I don't intend to drive on any dirt or gravel back roads I did get into a construction zone last summer that could do exactly what you are talking about.