RV REVIEW
BEATEN MUD GUARDS
A few years ago , one of Goldstream ’ s owners , Shaun Noble , took one of his vans to Arnhem Land . But before he left , he had the idea to fit four mud guards in a line across the width of the van , just behind the A- frame . Mitch replicated this setup on his van and they looked pretty well beaten up . But as he said , better that these replaceable guards take the damage than the rest of the van . That ’ s the idea , after all . They worked , too – the underside of the van was still in excellent condition .
Side note : The 1760 RE CD has a nearside slide-out for a portable barbecue , which Mitch and his wife fitted with a Ziggy Nomad . They used this barbecue almost every day and highly recommend it .
Now , outback Australia can be brutal on your equipment . Nothing demonstrates this more than the fact much of the paint had been shot-peened from the A-frame . And that ’ s the reality of offroad travel in Australia : steer off the bitumen for an extended period , your van will take some amount of ( hopefully cosmetic ) damage .
Short of using a Stone Stomper style of shield , there ’ s not much that can be done about paint chipping off the A-frame . Perhaps a Raptor coating ? In fact , that ’ s Mitch ’ s plan to repair the paint damage : he will spray Raptor onto the A-frame and chassis members .
The van does have a traditional mesh guard on the A-frame , which Mitch found did a good job of protecting the gas cylinders as well as the finish of the composite aluminium cladding .
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