Plastic Shield in front of RV

[Brian w. Hall]

hello everyone. I have a 96 Monaco Dynasty and it comes with a plastic shield covering the entire nose of the coach. At first I liked it but Im interested in giving my coach a new fresh look without the shield. Its also a pain when I need to get to the generator because I have to unscrew 15 bolts to get the shield free. Granted I only need to get to the generator once in a while. My question is do you think I will regret taking off the shield? Its obviously there to protect the front end of the coach from rocks, debri etc but am I better off without it?

Brian

[Tom]

Brian,

If you remove the shield you'll be left with either 15 holes to fill (or ignore) or 15 studs.

That shield sure is a nice feature to keep bugs and stones off the front of your coach, but I agree it would be a pain to remove.

We have the 3M film on the front of our coach, and it does a good job of taking the brunt of those flying stones which would otherwise chip the paint.

I haven't thought too much about this, but would it be possible to anchor the shield only to the front of the generator slide, so it doesn't need to be removed?

[Brian w. Hall]

thats an interesting thought althought the shield is too big to be able to only screw in from the generator holes. There may be an easier way to secure the shield without all the screws. Maybe more of a hook method. I'll look into it.  I just thought my coach might look slimmer and 'cooler' without the big bug shield. thanks

[ArdraF]

My question is do you think I will regret taking off the shield? Its obviously there to protect the front end of the coach from rocks, debri etc but am I better off without it?

Brian, you might regret it.  The thing about RVs is you never know where you're going to be and what might be kicked up onto the front of the motorhome.  Like Tom we got the 3M film on the front of our current motorhome and there are some small gouges in it that must have been made by stones.  They would have damaged the paint had the 3M film not been there.  I'd much rather have the film ruined than the beautiful paint job!  Also, it's much easier to clean.  On our previous coach we had one of those black bras and got awfully tired of looking at it, but I'm sure it protected the paint there too.  I emphasize with the hassle because the bra also was a pain when we needed to get to the front generator and it looked even worse than your plastic cover.  But, hey, look at it this way.  If that's the worst problem you have, you're pretty lucky! 

By the way when we got a new car we also had the 3M film put on the front of it.  People don't even realize it's there.

ArdraF

[Mike (ex-f-221)]

Brian, what's about cutting the plastic shield into pieces - one piece protecting the generator's front and the other piece for the rest of the front.

[Brian w. Hall]

You know what, that would work... I would just need to cut 3 sides off a rectangle to free up the generator. Its surprising they dont do that from the beginning but I guess they cant since its a 3rd party manufacturer and not all coaches have front generators. I'll look into cutting it.

I think I also considered painting the shield black to blend in more with my coach, im a little weary of painting plastic because the fading and chipping process could be more of a hassle then its worth.

Now I'm remembering why I didnt do anything about the shield in the first place. Too many factors and hassles for an effort of making my coach 'look cooler'

Thanks for the comments. I'll look into cutting it, not sure who would do that sort of thing, any ideas?

Brian

[ava]

well you could just go ahead and take it off, then if you don't like it that way, just
put it back on.

[Ron]

Fortunately I saw those plastic shields on coaches BEFORE we bought the Eagle and we elected to have a Bra instead.  Sure it is a bit of an inconveince to remove and install but IMHO it sure beats the plastic shield.  I think the 3M film is the best choice and some day we may go to that. 

[Tom]

I'll look into cutting it, not sure who would do that sort of thing, any ideas?

If you have a Tap Plastics nearby, they might cut it for you. OTOH you could take a saber saw and a fine, metal-cutting blade, and take your time.

BTW Tap Plastics use a table saw with a fine pitch blade.

[KodiakRV]

...I think I also considered painting the shield black to blend in more with my coach, im a little weary of painting plastic because the fading and chipping process could be more of a hassle then its worth...

Maybe I don't understand what the shield looks like, but if it is clear plastic, couldn't you paint the backside of it black?  Then the paint you see through the front side wouldn't be subject to chipping and would probably be much less subject to fading.

[Tom]

Frank,

That's way too logical for me 

[Brian w. Hall]

Yes, i would paint the back of the shield. I'll look into that, thanks.