Stoneguard or NO Stoneguard

[rocket327s]

Jayco Dove Outback..... Dragged my Dove to Cardwell and not impressed with fuel consumption.
I think i have 2 causes for bad fuel economy (apart from the tug ... Nissan Navara D40).
Does anyone agree that the stoneguard as well as the bed flies (which ride up during travel) are the main culprits?
All this apart from the stoppages for roadworks between Ingham & Cardwell which I realize contributed
Am considering removing the Stoneguard BUT i will be travelling from Townsville to Port Lincoln via Birdsville, which i believe is dirt road & I would expect stone chips.
My dilemma is to
1... remove or not to remove the stoneguard, and
2....find a way to tie down that troublesome bed fly.

Any suggestions?

[Kit_e_kat9]

Removal?  Guess that depends on how many stone chips you like ... on your back window as well as the Dove.

Bed Flies?  Can of mortein should fix those!   

Kit_e

[Bird]

I would expect stone chips.

**** loads. and as said, you run the risk of stones flying up against the window

Any suggestions?

Stone stomper

[Chris-Vi]

You would think your stoneguard would be in the slipstream of the ute and not affect fuel consumption too much. I found you still need rear window protection even with a stoneguard. We have the same dilemma at the moment with our van. Am thinking of getting the front sprayed with ute liner material to prevent stone chips and a stone stomper. 

[matt r]

hi
whats the difference in consumption is it really worth the effort and possible damage

[KingBilly]

Unless your stoneguard is super wide, I would agree with Chris and reckon it is in the slipstream of your ute.  Suggest the little extra fuel you would be using for the stoneguard (if any) is far better than the stone chips or a busted rear window.

KB

[Bird]

Jayco Dove Outback..... Dragged my Dove to Cardwell and not impressed with fuel consumption.

what were the figures?

[JCOJ]

Get a StoneStomper - better protection and no wind drag - a win all round!

[GeeTee]

A stone guard tucked in behind the vehicle will make very little difference... remove it and you drag the face of the caravan through the breeze instead..   

Do you have bar, tyres and roofracks? Towing or not, that trifecta is worth 3-5L per 100km depending on your cruising speed

[rocket327s]

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.

[Red1]

I would rather have the guard and maybe put a bit more fuel in the car, but I can't see that it would matter as others have said, it is in the slipstream of the car. After a trip down the Gibb river rd without a guard, only a rubber flap behind the Patrol, we had to get a new front put on the Hawk we had at the time.

Hope this helps

Cheers

[ehsc]

Hi Rocket327s

I also have a dove I agree with others the stone guard and bed fly's would not make a lot of difference . I feel it maybe that the jayco is probably about 150mm wider each  side than the d40 hence the extra drag out of slip stream .

I use to have a pathfinder and a hard floor trailer about same weight as jayco when I changed the camper to a jayco the fuel economy nearly doubled  compared to when hard floor was being towed .

When I sold pathfinder and bought a patrol I found the fuel economy with or with out camper on was not that big a difference to worry about it the only thing I put it down too was that the patrol is much closer to the same width as camper

Hope this makes sense  ehsc 

[mr_hilux10]

We have a  hawk with a "d flector" stone guard which is brilliant
It is the same width as the camper and tug (have a dual cab with tray) so it has no extra drag

[Chippy76]

What is the weight of your CT and tug fully loaded ? The increase in GVM, and ATM would no doubt be a significant contributing factor to your fuel consumption.

1.  I would leave the stone guard for the sake of the front of my CT
2. (assuming it is a soft floor CT) would a tight trailer net help to pull the fly down tight and reduce drag ?

Cheers Chippy

[rocket327s]

thanks for the replies/suggestions ... i guess i was hoping for a miracle cure but i DO see the sense in keeping it..it was a half hearted thought or maybe frustration.
I am prepared to see what happens on less arduous trip.

[rocket327s]

Chippy it's a Jayco Dove Outback, can't see a net fitting it. but thanks for the suggestion

[2003gxl]

I cut a ockey strap in half and put the screw holding the bag fly threw the cut end and hook in onto the grab handle on camper. Just have to remember to unhook before winding camper up. have done a few trips and it has not moved.

[Chippy76]

I  had to google the jayco dove. But would a coupple of pull tied downs like this http://www.usegrunt.com/products-tie-downs.html help to stop the wind resistance. Im not sure how the fly attaches or secures down. I hope this is of some help...

Cheers Chippy

[Swannie]

Just put the bed fly poles in the fly bag. The weight stops it from flapping.

Swannie

[Ynot]

I cut a ockey strap in half and put the screw holding the bag fly threw the cut end and hook in onto the grab handle on camper. Just have to remember to unhook before winding camper up. have done a few trips and it has not moved.

I did similiar when i had the Eagle.
I may have also forgot to unhook once or twice...

Sent from my Vox using Tapatalk 2

[BigJules]

Diesel or petrol? If petrol, you've nothing to complain about.

Drive slower and steadily, see what that does.

[rocket327s]

Diesel.
The poles are in the bag, doesn't hold it down

[Stone Stomper]

On our Eagle I put some velcro straps on to hold the fly down.

[BigJules]

That's terrible. I think you need to get the vehicle checked. That's 20% more than the worst I would expect. For eg I towed 3T tractor and trailer behind a D4D HiLux  at highway speed + from Sydney to Townsville and used about 18L/100km. The return with just 800kg trailer as quickly as I could yielded ~13 I think.

[huggy]

This is what Jayco Newcastle had to stop the bag flying up . So far they work just got to remember to unclip them before winding up