Front Towing Covers

We have a Specialist cover, used it for thousands of miles over last 2.5 years, easy to fit and wouldn't be without it.  Ours is bottom of the range and more than adequate.  I would recommend and would certainly get another when the time comes.

Less than 2 minutes to put on even when done by myself.

We have a Protec tailored one, to fit the front profile of a 2014 Lunar.  Works well at keeping mud and grime off the front, especially around our local 'farming' area!  Ours is getting on for 4 years old and we would always use one now, except if we know the weather will be dry and the roads are clean.  Can't see the need for an armoured one as the Protec has done an excellent job so far.  Always ensure the front is clean and grit free before putting on, especially the windows, as the cover will move around a bit whilst driving.  Access to the gas locker when cover is fitted just means unclipping the lower half and removing the three bungee cords, but that takes only a minute.  Can't see the need to leave the front cover on underneath a full winter cover, and anyway it could make fitting the larger cover difficult.  When you see how filthy the front cover can get at times, you appreciate the benefit of having one.

Hi Gateway, I can agree with what hedd lo has written. When you ask are they worth the money, I think they are having suffered a damaged front window and the hassle and cost to replace.

They are not designed to be left in place they will mark your van if wet and collecting dirt that washes down from above.

I have used both makes and personally prefer specialist covers for both quality and fit.

You must keep the front of the van clean before fitting as it will mark your paintwork if not.

They are easy to put on and the cleaning part in my opinion is worth the extra time to prevent marking and possibly more important, protecting the windows.

I got a club discount from Specialist Covers.

Ken

Hi, we were like you considering the purchase of a front cover to protect the van. The main reason was that we keep the van in storage on a farm site and the access roads can be extremely bad for mud etc, especially over the winter months and we use our van all year round.

After speaking to people with covers and considering how we would use one we decided against getting one for a couple of reasons.

We were told that the van would need to be clean before fitting which could be problematic, as it is in storage, but even more of an issue was that, due to the access road, it would very often be not only wet but mud splattered on arrival at the destination and the thought of trying to store a cover in that state was the deciding factor.

We have not had any window or panel damage which was a factor in our decision.

I have never considered buying one as I can't see they could better what system I use at the minute. I clean the van before I leave home and if it is mud splattered when I get on site I swill it done again, that takes of all 5 mins just to spruce it up to be acceptable.

The same in reverse when we get home. 

I can't think of one occassion when I haven't managed to make the van presentable.

Thanks for all that have contributed so far! great reading so many different views, We will be having the new van coated with "Tourershine" before picking up so this would aid cleaning!As for damage to front windows jury still out on that one not sure if cover would help protect or not?

To date last season with our older van like Harryb we also cleaned van before departing and cleaned van on arrival back wasn't to bad kind of got in the flow of things! However Alan&Jean's argument about were do you put a dirty cover is a good one! and even washing down before placing away will require drying time on site?So not sure how quick these covers dry off after rinsing with water hose?

Looking forward to further points of view on this subject

Ansley & Jane

Before we had the Protec cover, we just washed down the front on arrival at site or storage.  However, during a drive on a mucky day there can be so much road dirt on the front windows and paintwork, that the mere act of cleaning runs the risk of scratching, especially the windows.  That's why we bought the cover and find that it gives peace of mind that the cleaning of the cover can be done away from the windows.  In our experience the Protec cover dries very quickly as water pretty much runs off the front face, and the soft white rear is quick-drying too.  Even if we can't clean it straight away, it gets folded up in its bag (quite small) and put in the front locker until we have time to deal with it.

We have Baileys own cover for our Rimini and wouldn’t be without it. As for cleaning it, it only tales a couple of mins to swill off any dirt and dries very quickly. If ours is wet/dirty when we return our van to storage we just fold it up and take it home to sort.

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Hi gatewaya89,

Apart from the problems discovered with early " Alu-Tech " Baileys, I personally can't see the cost outweighing the use of. I like to travel with my 'van nice and clean, upon arriving on site I will more than like spend ten minutes going round the windows and probably clean the front.

The " what to do " with a dirty, wet cover when arriving on site or home I can't get my head round, it certainly would not suit me to roll up and put in bed locker, boot of car or indeed sling over a fence to spoil the view for others. Whilst away at Winchcombe the other weekend a guy was cleaning the front of his 'van on Sunday morning, when asked how long he was staying, he said he was leaving today but had to clean the front of his 'van before fitting the cover !! So logic tells me if one has to clean 'van before going and again before returning, we may as well clean it when arriving. Also if as in some cases the cleaning of 'vans is not allowed on sites do we leave without the front being covered.

Happy caravanning.