Stoneguard or NO Stoneguard

[Bird]

Any photos of your setup?

[GeeTee]

figures are 4.5 k/l
22L/100km

as i said this is over Cardwell Range & countless stoppages due to roadworks.

Maybe the biggest problem is the drag caused by the bed flys, haven't found a way to keep them DOWN during travel....... or maybe even the tug.

That figure is not nice, but in those conditions, is not surprising. It is moving the mass up and down hills and from standstill to cruise that is using the fuel, not the stone shield.

If you want to to investigate your fuel use further, do a full-to-full taken freeway economy run over at least 200km. You will more than likely (hopefully!!) see the figure drop to the mid teens.

Maybe fix the flappy bits first!

[rocket327s]

OK, have just checked past logs on travel between Townsville & Gladstone without towing.
Results are vastly different with readings of

13 L/100k  &
8 k / L

A previous trip to Cairns without trailer
13.8L/100k &
7.25 k/L

A previous Cairns run with the trailer was
20.41 L/100k &
4.86 k/L

I think a LOT of the problem can be with the present roadworks particularly over the Cardwell Range & between Ingham & Cardwell (at the moment 9 stoppages). So continuous stop start contributing to poor performace. The tug only as 35000k on the clock.
I guess the D40 being a 4 cylinder diesel doesn't help either?

[sunji06]

i would keep the stone guard.

haven't had my camper long but been driving trucks for a long time and seen the damage done on viechle's with no protection.

cheers

[BigJules]

To answer your original question, I also strongly advocate keeping your stone guard.

On fuel consumption, check out this fuel consumption thread.

[albany_nomads]

Heres an image of how i use to secure the front fly bag on the old hawk

As for fuel consumption my Rodeo 3.5V6 consumes 18  litres per 100/km..(towing the Hawk)..BUT that is LPG

[rocket327s]

Thanks Big Jules, I feel a lot better after reading some of the figures in that thread.

As far as securing the bed fly, I like the Huggy idea & will investigate that.
Thanks all for your posts & ideas

[rocket327s]

In regards to keeping the fly bags down, I followed suit to Huggy & purchased a couple of similar brackets which I will fit .  Thanks everyone for your suggestions

[huggy]

Just make sure they sit out far enough so you can get the straps through easy

[rocket327s]

yeah, I measured the gap required for the buckle to pass thru  when i purchased  them, but on trying them they are a fraction too low...... looks like I need a spacer