Does anybody else have the same problem as me with their Townie.
Although my 1990 Townie Royal Lounge is perfect in every respect, the one thing that annoys the life out of me is after spending many hours washing and waxing my pride and joy, the rear window and tailgate are covered in crud again after the first drive out.This is so infuriating as the rest of the bus stays clean long after I can't see anything out of the back window.
Has anybody else had the same problem and come up with a good remedy ????
P.S - I have the 4WD rear mudgaurds fitted but they don't seem to stop much. - (#1916) Peter Bennett, 20 Jan 02

Peter,
Nothing you can do about it old chap, it's all to do with vortices, because the Townie is almost flat at the back, the tunnel that you carve through the air by moving forward means that you create a partial vacuum behind the vehicle, this then creates vortices that 'suck' all the dirt & crap onto the tailgate, where it accumulates until you wash it again. Perhaps the only solution would be to fit side & roof mounted 'spoilers', but then you would probably need a wind tunnel to set them up correctly. I agree, it is annoying that you get filthy hands every time you open the tailgate, but I keep a tub of 'wet ones' or similar to clean my hands with. Sorry I can't give you a solution, but at least I've given you a reason. HTH. Regards, Rob. - (#1917) Rob Drinkwater, 20 Jan 02

Peter,
Yes, I suppose all of us who have "square ended" type vehicles with diesel engines, suffer from the same problem. I assume that it is the air suction feature, common to the design of this type of vehicle, combined with the soot emitted from the diesel. Perhaps some sort of exhaust deflector might help a bit? - (#1918) John Davis, 20 Jan 02

peter. snap on the townie, rob has it right.
its not only townies that suffer, look at a fiat punto. i have seen a van with a large mudflap stretching across the rear of the vehicle, basically it was made out of old plastic floor tiles screwed to a long metal bar, cheap and may be effective
john - (#1964) john collier, 26 Jan 02