Protection For The Front Of A Trailmanor

[SCBillandJane]

In planning a trip to Alaska the books recommend protection for the front of anything towed as well as headlight protecters while traveling on gravel roads. Does anyone have suggestions for protecting the front of the Trailmanor or headlights?

I too am planning a trip to Alaska for next summer hopefully. I'm also trying to figure out something. I think I will get mud flaps for sure on my truck so I don't kick up any rocks myself. However when the camper is folded down the front seems to be protected by my truck. I am going to see what I can figure out for my truck.

[Bill]

Ho ho! You guys are reading my mind. I have gotten real tired of cleaning bugs and tar off the front of the TM after each long trip, and I've been looking for something.

My thought process was this. Quite often, you see a big car carrier running on down the highway, carrying a dozen shiny new cars to a dealer. Many times, the new cars have a sheet of white shiny plasticy film across the front, to protect their finish. What is that stuff, and where can I get some?

I did some casual research, and came up with the following.

SurfaceShields.com - Transit shield - No prices given
AutoBodyToolMart.com - 4225 Self-adhering collision wrap - 3' x 100' = $60
Ameripakfilm.com/auto.html - no prices, but confusing description (outside use, or not)
RBLproducts.com - Collision wrap film - 4' x 100' or 2' x 50' - no prices
Domsprotectivefilms.com - free shipping, 1 roll minimum
autowrap white - 4' x 300' x 4 mil - $305
autowrap white - 4' x 300' x 2 mil - $244
clear, medium adhesion, 2 mil - 4' x 600' - $200
clear, medium adhesion, 3 mil - 3' x 300' - $153

It is a bit expensive in small quantities, so I've been considering buying the big roll, and then selling it by the sheet (TM front size) somehow. I haven't figured out how to avoid "hawking my wares" on TMO, something which I don't care to do. But perhaps if a club or a TrailBlazers group wanted to do it, they could find a way.

What do you think? Is this the stuff that would do the job?

Bill

Interesting idea Bill. What is your vision for how to use this stuff? Cut a piece to size and then apply it to the front of the TM? And then what? Leave it on there? How long do you think it would last before it was no longer effective or until it looked worse than not having it? One long trip? 5000 miles? One season? So far, I can convince myself that any of these might be true (smile).

What are your thoughts?

As for "hawking your wares" on the TMO forum... when something comes up that is of obvious benefit to many many TM owners, a pass has been granted (screen doors for example). I didn't get the idea that you saw this as an early retirement strategy, but more along the lines of "spreading out cost by leveraging economies of scale". I realize that this could be a slippery slope, but it seems like it can be managed reasonably. IMHO.

Another thought along this line is shrink wrap. I've seen big rolls of the stuff used for shipping - wrapping a complete pallet for instance. They even use something like this at the airports for wrapping weird shaped items like car seats. You could apply it to the front of the TM and then remove it when your trip is done, and apply more on the next trip. You can also get a clear plastic material that is used on the front hoods of cars to protect from flying gravel. This could be applied permanently. either of these might be cheaper in small quantities and more readily available. Just a thought.
Al

Probably the very best protection you could put on the front of the TM (and still have it look decent) is Scotchgard Paint protection. It is a clear 8 mm film that is put on a vehicle and it will stop and I do mean stop all rock chips etc. I have this stuff on both my truck and our Honda CRV and where this film is there is absolutely no rock chips on the paint. The Honda is 5 years old and the front looks as if we just took it out of the showroom. This stuff is guaranteed for 5 years so you know it will last and although the warranty is over for the Honda, none of the stuff is peeling or causing any problems. Also I have found it easier to remove bugs and things off of this plastic film than even when I had a very good wax job on my vehicles.

It probably should be done by a professional (which I had done), but it could be applied by anyone. Now this stuff ain't cheap. I found a website that sells this stuff (probably many others) in bulk and its 18.25 a foot in a 36 inch width. In case you are interested here is the site:
www.empireclearshield.com

Until this topic came up I hadn't given this any thought for the TM. Now I think I will contact our local folks (in Sparks Nv.) and see what they would charge to install...

ps. They make this stuff primarily for autos and have precut kits for the front of your vehicle. Which includes the headlights...I noticed that they even have precut kits for motorhomes, so that should tell you how practical this stuff is.

Mike Anderson

[Bill]

Jon -

Yes, my thought was to cut it to fit the front of the TM. A width of 3 feet seems to be common, so a couple pieces, one above the window and one below, would seem to be indicated. It would have to be cut to fit around the stone shield over the window. I would bet that there can't be any gapped areas under the film, as the wind would grab those areas and peel the film off.

As to how long it would last, I don't know the answer. But if they apply it to cars built in Europe, import them into NJ, and then truck those cars to Chicago or California, it would seem to be fairly durable. And in my experience, it is those cross-country trips that really pile on the tar, oil, and bugs. It would be so nice to reach my destination and simply peel the film off. The rest of the TM is easy to clean, but that area requires some serious elbow work and some serious chemicals.

Al -

While I was researching this, I also looked at shrink wrap. It is a lot cheaper! But the writeups seemed to indicate that it sticks only to itself (that's why the stuff you see is always wrapped with multiple overlapping layers), and doesn't adhere particularly well to anything else. If you (or anyone) can get access to some, it would be a great experiment.

Just for grins, I tried a layer of Glad Cling Wrap out of the kitchen. It went on fine, but blew off in less than a mile.

Bill

Good point. The Scotchgard material Jon mentions sound like a good solution, but it is a bit pricey. I bet you can find similar material in most auto parts stores for a do it yourself application. I may just have to look into that.
Al

I have far too much experience with shrinkwrap from my younger days working in a food warehouse. Bill is right, it will only stick to itself. It is even less "sticky" than saran wrap. This is not the answer for the TM's. (Incidently, it is a fantastic solution for moving or putting things into storage. You can mummify your belongs with no chance of damaging them, and protecting them from everything but absolutely reckless treatment by your moving crew.)

As for the scotchguard Al, that was Mike's solution. He gets the credit, not me. (smile)

[WildWG]

This is kinda' related to this thread. I made the mistake of putting a fabric cover over our closed but not garaged TM last summer for about 6 weeks while we were back East. The Albuquerque sun did a number on the TM; the front shell roof vent/lamp unit got fried and the front stone shield warped all out of shape.

I've been thinking of removing the stone shield from its frame, soaking it with water to make it pliable and then letting it dry in the sun with a lot of weight on it. It appears to be Masonite and not that sturdy. I have also thought about replacing the Masonite with a sheet of aluminum, perhaps with a coat of this super coating y'all are talking about.

Garsh, I was afeered I wouldn't have enough to do when I retired. Thank goodness we got a travel trailer. I'll be fixin' until I'm gone!

Any feedback will most likely be appreciated.

Bill