I have been experiencing multiple rock chips and even a broken aulixiary light on our Jeep after last years flat-towing. This year we decided to haul the Jeep in our enclosed trailer. I prefer towing the trailer as it allows the Jeep to stay clean, less wear on the tires/drivetrain, we can haul our Harley and I like having my workshop with us. That said, hauling the Jeep in an enclosed trailer can be a bit of a nuisance for quick trips or trips where we bounce from campground to campground a lot. Probably the biggest downside is finding a campground that can accomodate a 72' long rig (because I don't like dropping the trailer and unhooking). Booking well in advance helps because the larger sites go first but the spur of the moment trips mean flat-towing the Jeep. Plus the wife and I have noticed that we may be overlooking some very nice campgrounds merely because they don't have the super large sites.
That said, I have been giving the Tow Defender a serious look after a good friend of mine went on his Alaska trip a few years ago. He had experienced multiple rock chips and even many small pebbles being deposited onto the cowling/hood of his Explorer toad. This was fairly early on his trip and didn't want to have a shield/guard sent to him on his trip. He found a local ACE Hardware store and made a makeshift screen using PVC pipe and screen door screen. He said it worked great the remaining 8k plus miles of the trip although it was a pain to attach and detach when he wanted to unhook the toad.
I really don't know what the underlying issue is here as we have flat-towed two other Jeeps in the 20+ years of RVing and well over 100k miles combined yet this Jeep with only about 4k miles of being towed last year has more chips than the last two Jeeps combined. The first Jeep, a 1992 XJ, was bone stock and we towed it for approx. 20k miles in the four+ years we had it. The second Jeep, a 1996 ZJ, was lifted 2" with 31" tires and we towed it for about 15+ years and well over 80k miles with hardly a chip on it. Our current Jeep, 2011 Wrangler Unlimited, is lifted 4" and running 35" tires, sits well above where the other two did yet is more susceptible to chips/damage.
I decided to purchase the Tow Defender by Roadmaster but I had to do a little more research. Roadmaster makes two models. The model 4700 is there standard unit measuring 45" in length which fits the Roadmaster towbars with the Roadmaster brackets on the toad. The model 4750 is 39" in length and is more of a universal shield. It fits Blue Ox and Demco towbars or units that do not use Roadmaster toad brackets. Although I have the Standard Sterling towbar I do not use the Roadmaster brackets. I fabricated a towbar crossmember attachment that fits slightly below and behind my custom front winch bumper in which I also fabricated.
I chose to use the model 4750 for this reason as well as the fact that I wanted the crossbar to clear my roller fairlead for my winch. The fit was perfect. The initial installation took approx. 45-minutes to assemble and adjust. After that it is mere seconds more than just the towbar itself. Simply unhook two pins, roll it up against the coach, install four elastic straps to keep it rolled up and then detach the towbar from the Jeep.
After one trip so far I am overall very happy and impressed with the results. I will know more after our Moab trip next week as we will be making a quick trip and not taking the trailer.
Mike.
Here are a few pictures of the finished installation.
Here you can see how well it clears the roller fairlead as well as how it attaches to the towbar brackets.
That said, I have been giving the Tow Defender a serious look after a good friend of mine went on his Alaska trip a few years ago. He had experienced multiple rock chips and even many small pebbles being deposited onto the cowling/hood of his Explorer toad. This was fairly early on his trip and didn't want to have a shield/guard sent to him on his trip. He found a local ACE Hardware store and made a makeshift screen using PVC pipe and screen door screen. He said it worked great the remaining 8k plus miles of the trip although it was a pain to attach and detach when he wanted to unhook the toad.
I really don't know what the underlying issue is here as we have flat-towed two other Jeeps in the 20+ years of RVing and well over 100k miles combined yet this Jeep with only about 4k miles of being towed last year has more chips than the last two Jeeps combined. The first Jeep, a 1992 XJ, was bone stock and we towed it for approx. 20k miles in the four+ years we had it. The second Jeep, a 1996 ZJ, was lifted 2" with 31" tires and we towed it for about 15+ years and well over 80k miles with hardly a chip on it. Our current Jeep, 2011 Wrangler Unlimited, is lifted 4" and running 35" tires, sits well above where the other two did yet is more susceptible to chips/damage.
I decided to purchase the Tow Defender by Roadmaster but I had to do a little more research. Roadmaster makes two models. The model 4700 is there standard unit measuring 45" in length which fits the Roadmaster towbars with the Roadmaster brackets on the toad. The model 4750 is 39" in length and is more of a universal shield. It fits Blue Ox and Demco towbars or units that do not use Roadmaster toad brackets. Although I have the Standard Sterling towbar I do not use the Roadmaster brackets. I fabricated a towbar crossmember attachment that fits slightly below and behind my custom front winch bumper in which I also fabricated.
I chose to use the model 4750 for this reason as well as the fact that I wanted the crossbar to clear my roller fairlead for my winch. The fit was perfect. The initial installation took approx. 45-minutes to assemble and adjust. After that it is mere seconds more than just the towbar itself. Simply unhook two pins, roll it up against the coach, install four elastic straps to keep it rolled up and then detach the towbar from the Jeep.
After one trip so far I am overall very happy and impressed with the results. I will know more after our Moab trip next week as we will be making a quick trip and not taking the trailer.
Mike.
Here are a few pictures of the finished installation.
Here you can see how well it clears the roller fairlead as well as how it attaches to the towbar brackets.
