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AZ_Calling
04-20-2006, 12:49 PM
Any advice for a towing the boat a long distance? I have only towed my boat about 10 miles to the lake and back, but now I am going from Arizona to Montana (~1200 miles). Any towing tips that the fellow board can give me would be great.

Also, has anyone used the "Speedo Plug" when towing the boat long distances? The previous owner gave me this, but I am not sure how it works.

JoeTechie
04-20-2006, 12:58 PM
Make sure your tires and bearings are up to the job. Lubricate before and possibly at half way point and you should be good. Check brake pads as well.

Speedo plugs and paddlewheel plugs keep the speedometers from going over the reccomended range. Boats run at 45mph - cars at 75mph. The paddlewheel bearings can burn up running that fast for long perioods of time, so simply plug it or use a piece of duct tape over it. I run 18 miles every weekend and do this everytime.

Hope this helps,

Joe

AZ_Calling
04-20-2006, 01:13 PM
Thanks for the post.

You will have to forgive me as I am Mechanically Challenged, but can you tell me a little more about the paddlewheel. I looked under the boat and could not figure out where the "plug" would go or where I can place the duct tape. Detail descriptions (or pictures) would be helpful.

smokedog2
04-20-2006, 02:31 PM
There is a little thing under your boat for the speedometer and or perfectpass (usually two different wheels) that is mounted on a spindle and looks like a gear. It spins. The plug is to pull that gear and plug it (I think). The duct tape goes over the wheel and is better IMHO since if you botch the reinstall, you can have a substantial leak. Tape it up and pull the tape – probably by diving since you will forget on the boat landing.

SD2

BensonWdby
04-20-2006, 05:45 PM
I am not sure every boat uses a paddle wheel.
My 99 Mobius still uses Pitot tubes. In this case some duct tape over the pitot tubes may help. However, I have historically pulle dmy boat for over an hour at time without this and have never had problems ...
Dave

zabooda
04-20-2006, 11:32 PM
More than likely you will encounter road construction and will be cleaning tar off the trailer and boat. You may also encounter areas of tar and rock where they are seal coating also. I had a lot of chips on my trailer cross members and fenders once from running ten miles on a gravel road. I've repainted the parts and I added mud flaps to the motor home and I haven't had any tar or rock chips since. This part of the country (Pacific NW) is dominated by 4X4's and aluminum jet boats and they don't care what they are driving over. Also, the best boating and skiing are areas that are hard to get to (no people) so you may want to rock proof your rig for future use.

Smrtz
04-21-2006, 12:19 PM
I Pull my boat all over the place most times only about 10 miles to the river.. but sometimes 150+ miles to the cottage. Im trying tofigure out what you guys are putting duct tape on here .. Can you elaborate.. sorry Im probably gonna feel really stupid when I figure it out but, know I'd feel stupider if I didnt ask and something goes wrong!

Thanks
J

JoeTechie
04-21-2006, 03:28 PM
My 06 has the paddlewheel on the port side about even with the trailer axle, and about 1/2 way to the centerline. Black plastic housing. Should be obvious.

Cover it with a piece of tape that runs from front to back.

I think they only put paddlewheels in previous to '05 models if they had perfet pass - otherwise they had tubes.

-J

lowdrag
04-23-2006, 01:37 AM
Nope, the paddlewheels were standard even w/o PP. My '03 had the paddlewheel and no PP and I believe they started doing that at least a year or two before '03.

JoeTechie
04-23-2006, 02:40 PM
I can tell you that it is easier and nicer to pull the tape off when the boat is in the water, then it is crawling under a trailered, wet, dripping boat on the hot asphalt to put it on before the ride home!

-J