# How To Avoid Scratches In Fiberglass ??



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

When I go out to the desert for the monthly stargazing parties (if I can go), I have to drive through a lot of twisty-turny dirt road that's lined with cactus and other nasty growth. The County maintains some, but not all of the road and recently graded part of it to get rid of the "washboards". My problem is that some parts are really narrow and these desert trees, or whatever they're called scrape whatever's passing by. I've only taken the Outback there once, but I got some pretty good scratches in the fiberglass.

Short of just not taking the trailer out there, or taking a tree pruner, does anybody have any ideas how to protect the fiberglass? What I've come up with so far are:

1) Covering the sides with big tarps and bungee cords or an actual trailer cover just before I hit the rough area. But, would one of those Tyvek or other covers hold up?

2) Parking the trailer before the rough spot and driving into the area where everyone sets up. Not much fun with this option. I'd have to pack up and drive back to the trailer at 2 or 3 in the morning to sleep. You don't want to use any white light around hard-core astronomers. It's not pretty....

3) Keep our 16 year-old trailer instead of selling it. Just use it for the star parties. Heck, it's already scratched up! This would cost an extra $108 per month for storage in addition to what we pay to store the Outback.


----------



## HootBob (Apr 26, 2004)

unless you cut back the brush or branches I don't see any way to avoid getting scratches
A tarp will not hold that well and stil may get scratches

Don


----------



## Thor (Apr 7, 2004)

Can you buff out the scratches?

Thor


----------



## NobleEagle (Jul 8, 2006)

How high are these scratches? Only the bottom few inches? Maybe the axle flip will give you the added 6" clearance needed. How about some sort of brush guards? Plexi-glass maybe? Just brain storming here.


----------



## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Tough problem. Keeping 2 trailers is too expensive. If you wanted to attempt a tarp which might work depending on what you are brushing against. The branches might tear the tarp. You know exactly what you are rubbing against so you can answer that. If you could find one , an older stye (heavy) canvas tarp would work better. I would assume by the route you descibe, speed is very slow so it will not blow off and would only need to protect.


----------



## GlenninTexas (Aug 11, 2004)

You mentioned "through the rough part" How far is the rough part? Perhaps you could get all your star-gazing buddies to go out in the daylight (remember thats a star too ) and trim the sides of the roadway. That would benefit everyone.

If the brush is the normal desert type stuff with thorns and stuff, I'd expect any type of cloth cover would get torn to shreds, unless you could get one of these canvas covers the truckers user.

Good Luck, Glenn


----------



## Scrib (Jun 28, 2005)

You're doing what you love - don't worry about the scratches


----------



## Dreamtimers (Mar 7, 2005)

Ask if any of your freinds have a place you could leave the old TT, (wouldn't need to be much of a space). I have a neighbor who lets a friend keep his on a side corner of her yard. If it's one of your astro. friends, you could offer them a place to sleep in exchange for parking rights.









Dreamtimers


----------



## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

GlenninTexas said:


> You mentioned "through the rough part" How far is the rough part? Perhaps you could get all your star-gazing buddies to go out in the daylight (remember thats a star too ) and trim the sides of the roadway. That would benefit everyone.
> 
> If the brush is the normal desert type stuff with thorns and stuff, I'd expect any type of cloth cover would get torn to shreds, unless you could get one of these canvas covers the truckers user.
> 
> Good Luck, Glenn


This was my suggestion. Have a "brush cutting" party. Cut it just enough for your TT to get through.
A scratch or two is one thing...but...if you got a really deep one that would not be good!
Maybe a little time with some pruners would be worth the headache.

Just my .02
MaeJae


----------



## PDX_Doug (Nov 16, 2004)

Insomniack,

That's a tough one! I don't think there are really any practical solutions to avoiding the scratches short of not exposing the trailer to the source. Anything that is scratching the trailer will shred a tarp. Not knowing how extreme they are, I would say that I would either live with them, or drop the trailer before you get to that area.

On reflection though, there is one mod you could do...









Just a thought.









Happy Trails,
Doug


----------



## mountainlady56 (Feb 13, 2006)

PDX_Doug said:


> Insomniack,
> 
> That's a tough one! I don't think there are really any practical solutions to avoiding the scratches short of not exposing the trailer to the source. Anything that is scratching the trailer will shred a tarp. Not knowing how extreme they are, I would say that I would either live with them, or drop the trailer before you get to that area.
> 
> ...


Uh, Doug,
I think you need to change the "type" of TV you're using there, bud!!








Darlene


----------



## tdvffjohn (Mar 10, 2005)

Good way for some of our friends in the military to still use the Outback.

We can use the S.O.B. 's as bombs


----------



## Doxie-Doglover (Apr 19, 2006)




----------



## Scrib (Jun 28, 2005)

75RQS Sydney?


----------



## gone campin (Jan 29, 2006)

Doug,

I really think you have to much time on your hands.......

Go Camping!!!

Linda


----------



## huntr70 (Jul 8, 2005)

If you are serious about not wanting scratches, you could get the sides Line-X'd....or at least the parts that seem to scratch.

That stuff won't scratch, and they can color match pretty nicely.

Steve


----------



## MaeJae (May 12, 2005)

gone campin said:


> Doug,
> 
> I really think you have to much time on your hands.......
> 
> ...


Ditto!


----------



## Insomniak (Jul 7, 2006)

huntr70 said:


> If you are serious about not wanting scratches, you could get the sides Line-X'd....or at least the parts that seem to scratch.
> 
> That stuff won't scratch, and they can color match pretty nicely.
> 
> Steve


Not familiar with Line-X. What is it?

The "rough" part of the road is at least a couple of miles long. The plants and brush get pretty tall, so some of the scatches are within 12-18 inches of the roofline. I don't know if they could be buffed out or not but they don't seem too bad. Given time and enough trips out there, I'm sure I could get some good ones.

Thanks for the suggestions. I kinda like the last one!!


----------



## huntr70 (Jul 8, 2005)

Insomniak said:


> If you are serious about not wanting scratches, you could get the sides Line-X'd....or at least the parts that seem to scratch.
> 
> That stuff won't scratch, and they can color match pretty nicely.
> 
> Steve


Not familiar with Line-X. What is it?

The "rough" part of the road is at least a couple of miles long. The plants and brush get pretty tall, so some of the scatches are within 12-18 inches of the roofline. I don't know if they could be buffed out or not but they don't seem too bad. Given time and enough trips out there, I'm sure I could get some good ones.

Thanks for the suggestions. I kinda like the last one!!
[/quote]
Line-X was created as truck bed liner.....it is a co-polymer that is mixed then sprayed onto the surface.

There are several different versions, Herculiner makes a black, do-it-yourself version, Rhino Liner is another.

There has got to be a local shop around you that does the spray in liners. They are franchised all over the place.

Steve


----------

