Limb Riser/Brush Wires

[CDACamper]

I am debating the merits of adding limb risers/brush wires to our van for our trip to AK this summer. We are planning to camp off the beaten path as much as possible and will likely be on tight overgrown trails. Here are my questions:
-Does anyone on the forum have experience with limb risers, and if so, are they actually useful? What are the benefits?
-If you have used limb risers, where/how did you attach them?
-Will limb risers help with pin striping? I know pin striping is unavoidable unless I protect the sides with a wrap, but it would be nice if I can avoid major paint damage if possible.
-Can I expect overgrown trails in AK that limb risers will actually be of benefit? I am not expecting to drive extreme stuff, but I’m expecting to push the limits of the van a bit.
-My current thinking is that they are more trouble than they are worth but would love feedback from anyone with experience using them. I do have a hard-mounted ham radio antenna that folds on the driver side and a flexible car stereo antenna on the passenger side. The van is a 2001 with standard side mirrors. I have attached a pic so you can see my setup.

[doublevan2]

I'm jealous ! Be sure to try Denali HWY - plenty of great camping without any brush - open tundra - beautiful mountain views - try around mile 53 from Cantwell side - cross the Little Susitna river and try the single path trails - and if you do the Dalton HWY - no brush and trees at all - but watch out for pipeline trucks - and you have to do "the Beaverslide" -- in low gear down the "slide" with no one coming "up" the slide - famous on "Ice Road Truckers " have fun !

[Twoxentrix]

The extent of damage is proportionate to the amount of brush you run through. Even if you have limb risers installed, you'll still acquire forest rash on the paint.
The cables will help keep the larger limbs from digging into paint, and minimize potential damage to some of the protruding accessories if placed to protect them, but all the smaller offshoot's on the branch (and shorter branches) still glide across the body. What you have on your roof should be evaluated also - The box on the top could catch easily.
I installed them on our 4-runner for the same reason's you're concerned with, but found they didn't actually accomplish much.
You really just need to assess how much of the rash you're willing to accept - After the first scenario I encountered, I realized I wasn't prepared to continue further down the path. Sadly I could only back out, and lost the rear window air deflector in the process.

[The_Vermonster]

I had limb risers on my Defender, but have since removed them. Their main purpose is to push stuff away from the windshield so it doesn't obscure your view. They also help prevent things from getting caught under a roof rack or light bar. You want them to attach to the bumper hoop by the turn signals and go up as high as possible. But you don't really have anything to attach them to up top. They need to be under a lot of tension to work properly so you would need something like a Thule bar, or fixed LED light bar to attach them to.


The only place I've taken my van that may have benefitted from limb risers was a place that I would never go back to again. It was a trail made for side-by-sides through a young birch forest. None of the trees were more than 4in in diameter which meant most of the limbs were less than 12ft off the ground. But it was either power through 100ft of that or try and back down a mountain with a sketchy turn halfway down. So in my experience, "needing" limb risers is a warning that you probably should be where you're trying to go.

[BrianW]

In multiple trips to Alaska, including some sketchy “roads”/trails in my old Isuzu Trooper, I don’t recall ever running across brush that did any damage to my sides. I did have a front brush guard. The worst damage I did to my truck was down in the Outer Banks with scrub oak [emoji35]

Big thing to be careful about, at least in the interior, is muskeg/tundra. It looks drivable at first glance, but if you break through (and you likely will unless you have very high float tires or tracks) you’re pretty screwed as you get into squishy stuff (been there, done that).

[arctictraveller]

I designed and built these inch and a half bars to allow limbs to slide up the windshield and over the top. The solar panel mounts are designed the same way, everything causes limbs to slide over the top rather than getting caught. When I am in heavy brush I fold my antennas down or simply remove them. As for pinstripes, fortunately they don’t show much at all on a white van, but darker colors seem to show more. When are you planning on being in Alaska? I’m thinking I may head that way in July.

[CDACamper]

Thanks for the replies. I think based on feedback I will check limb risers off the to do list. Arctic, we are heading north from coeur d'Alene Idaho June 26 and plan to be back July 27th. Would love to hear about any must do camp spots, routes, side excursions. Would be fun to meet up too if you're up there.

[lchukar]

I love the look of Arctictraveller’s custom full body brush guards! Made for serious brush busting. But even if you don’t want to make a little guard for your side awning at least be very cognizant of it around tree limbs. They love to get hung up in the front of the awning.

[CDACamper]

Good point about the awning @Ichukar.