The Ultimate Guide to Towed Vehicle Protection: Mudflaps to Shields (2024)

Towing a car behind a motorhome leaves it open to damage from rocks, especially when you’re traveling on unpaved roads. Nobody wants to have to deal with chipped paint or, even worse, a cracked windshield. Fortunately, there are options for tow vehicle protection. We’ve used one of these options extensively ourselves, with good results. But is any towed vehicle rock protection 100% effective?

In this post, we’ll tell you the best ways to protect a towed vehicle from rocks as you travel down the road, and what you need to be aware of as you shop for that protection.

What Kind of Towed Vehicle Protection Is Best for Your RV?

There are several good options available to protect a towed vehicle as it rides down the road behind a motorhome. Which type of protection works best depends to some degree on the type of motorhome and tow vehicle you have, and it can also be influenced by the type of tow bar system you have.

Let’s take a look at the variety of different options available that can serve as an RV towed vehicle shield to protect your toad from damage as you travel.

Mudflaps

Adding a full-width mudflap (sometimes referred to as a rock guard) to the back of your motorhome can help prevent rocks and other road debris from being kicked up onto your towed car. We’ve used this style of protection for a couple of decades. We had an Ultra Guard on our first motorhome for two years, and then we had a factory-installed equivalent on our Newmar Mountain Aire diesel pusher for the next 18 years.

This level of protection worked quite well for us, though it’s not 100% effective for everyone, depending on where you travel. Based on our travel style, and considering our motorhome and tow car setup, we never needed to use any additional product for tow vehicle protection… and we never had a single chip or crack in our windshield due to towing the car.

However, our setup offered some extra protection because of the large, black plastic bumper our 2003 Honda CR-V had. It was nearly impervious to everything and extended fairly far up the front of the car, providing good protection from anything flung up by the RV. All of this combined with our style of travel (we never took our motorhome to Alaska and we drive slowly and carefully on unpaved roads) meant that the full-width mudflap was perfectly sufficient for our needs.

If you frequently travel on unimproved roads and/or have a tendency to catch yourself going a little too fast on them, this may not be sufficient protection for you. One year we were planning to travel to Alaska and decided to install a barrier like the Roadmaster Tow Defender/Protect-a-Tow (highlighted below). We chose this option because we’d read a lot of information indicating that it was the best choice for keeping the rocks and gravel on the beat-up sections of the Alcan Highway from being flung up onto the car.

As it turned out, we had to scrap our plans for that trip, so we never did need the Tow Defender. All of this is to say that under normal travel conditions, a high-quality full-width mudflap may well be all the protection you need.

We should note that some people feel like these rubber-style mudflaps can cause rocks and debris to be flung up from the road onto the towed vehicle. We never experienced that issue.

RV Full-Width Mudflap

Bras/Covers/Nose Masks

Adding a bra/cover/nose mask to your toad when it’s being pulled behind your motorhome can also offer good protection against rocks and debris. A bra can have the added advantage of protecting your toad even when it’s not attached to your motorhome. The downside of bras is that they can sometimes result in paint/finish damage, particularly if you don’t regularly clean under them.

Covers can provide even more complete protection, making sure the windshield is covered to prevent chips and stars. The downside of a cover is that it has to be put in place each time you connect, which may be something you’d prefer not to deal with.

Tow Defender / Protect-a-Tow

These are mesh/fabric devices that extend between the RV and the towed vehicle, creating a barrier to anything that’s thrown up by the RV. This piece of gear keeps road debris from being able to reach the hood or windshield of your towed car. The debris simply continues underneath the car and out the back.

Like the Tow Car Shield cover above, however, this type of tow vehicle protection requires more setup when connecting. However, these are very effective and are popular among travelers planning trips to Alaska in particular because the construction and unpaved sections of the Alcan Highway are notorious for rock damage to towed vehicles.

We should note that if you have a diesel pusher, it’s possible that hot exhaust from the engine can damage the vinyl fabric of these devices. This occurs because diesel pusher exhaust pipes come out at the rear bumper. So unless they’re angled to direct the exhaust out the side of the RV, they direct their heat backward toward the toad.

To address this issue, Roadmaster offers an accessory called the “Heat Shield”, which is an add-on to the Tow Defender. It puts a heat-protective layer on the passenger-side front corner of the Tow Defender, preventing the hot exhaust from damaging the vinyl mesh fabric.

Roadmaster Tow Defender Model 4750

This model of the Roadmaster Tow Defender is for Blue Ox, Demco, and Roadmaster tow bars with “direct connect” baseplates.

Roadmaster Tow Defender Model 4700

This model is for Roadmaster tow bars with “crossbar style” baseplates.

Roadmaster Heat Shield

This is the piece noted above that attaches to the Tow Defender to protect it from the heat of the exhaust on diesel pushers. The Roadmaster Head Shield can be purchased through eTrailer.

Protect-a-Tow

The Protect-a-Tow has a universal fit for regular 8′ and wide-body 8.5′ width motorhomes. This product isn’t recommended for diesel pushers with rear exiting exhaust pipes (see the Roadmaster Tow Defender and Heat Shield above for that application). Also, if you’re using a tall drop/rise hitch, or a hitch extender, with your tow bar setup… or if you tow using a dolly… you may need an extended-length Protect-a-Tow. In all of these situations, it’s best to contact Protect-a-Tow directly (1-888-264-5444) to inquire about compatibility.

Rock Shields

Rock shields are hard plastic barriers that mount to the front of the towed car, usually to the lugs that connect the tow bar to the base plate. They stick almost straight up, creating a wall against rocks and debris being flung up onto the car from the road.

Examples of rock shields/guards are shown below.

Please note: if you’re interested in a hard shield like this you’ll need to check your towed car’s owner’s manual before purchasing one. Some vehicles have transmission coolers and need good air flow when being towed. Blocking airflow to the radiator using one of these shields could lead to damage.

Roadmaster Guardian Rock Shield

This rock shield only works with Roadmaster tow bars that have the “crossbar style” baseplates.

Blue Ox KarGard

This type of rock shield attaches to Blue Ox baseplates at the triple-lug connections. Note that these fold in half for easier storage.

Demco Sentry

Demco offers two models. The first model shown below is for use on flat-towed vehicles. For much more information on flat-towing, please see our posts on what cars can be flat-towed behind an RV and what is the best tow bar for flat-towing.

The following Demco model can be used when dolly towing. For more information on this type of towing, see our post on how to choose and use an RV tow dolly.

We hope all of this information is helpful to you as you consider what might be the best tow vehicle protection for your particular use. If you use any type of towed vehicle rock protection that has performed well for you, drop us a comment below to let us know about your experience. Be sure to include some information about your motorhome and towed vehicle and the type of roads on which you typically drive.

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