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moombadaze
10-01-2008, 10:19 AM
I have a 08 lsv and took long trip this last weeked and killed a ton of bugs with the tower being up. board racks are covered. Tower speakers are on order and i dont want to have to clean them for the next trip. My question is does anybody tow with there tower lowered down. I would strap it down so it does not bounce. And has anybody bought a towing cover and do you like it?

moombadaze
10-01-2008, 10:27 AM
Ed, not sure if you will be able to as your tower folds forward, mine folds back into the boat

moombadaze
10-01-2008, 10:54 AM
just that the tower on the 09 outback v looks like my old boats that folded forward.

jester
10-01-2008, 11:03 AM
I was told from my dealer to always drive with the tower up. That was the way it was designed to be towed.

Ed,

My OBV 08 folds forward and from the pic's it looks like the OBV 09 has the same tower. It is always fun trying to fold it down with the cover on. Also i recommend taking off the tower mirror before folding it down. It looks like it will rub and not allow the tower to sit on the bow because the mirror arm will be the low point and all the weight will rest on that single point.

moombadaze
10-01-2008, 12:18 PM
thats interesting in that the factory ships the boats with the towers on and folded forwards with some kind of support.

Mirror will get in the way of folding it forward.

jester
10-01-2008, 12:21 PM
I think the reason they ship the towers folded a differnt way is to save space. Having the tower up adds around 6 ish feet of height and if they are on a truck then the boat is another 6 feet off the ground. Would kind of suck losing a few boats and towers under a overpass.

kaneboats
10-01-2008, 01:06 PM
Well, mine is an aftermarket one, but I only towed with it up one time. It took forever to clean so I always tow with it down now. I believe yours sits up on the sides of the hull when it is down-- that's why you keep those cloths handy. I would think you could pad it properly, tie it down and it would be fine. I can't imagine you'd have a rigidity issue with the lower part just because it wasn't locked in the up position. They probably advise towing with the tower up just so owners don't damage the topsides of the boat with the tower bumping up and down. This would be a warranty claim without the warning, right?

Razzman
10-01-2008, 01:11 PM
Spray PAM cooking spray on a rag and wipe down the front of the tower and other front facing surfaces with it. When you get to your destination wipe it again real fast with a clean rag and viola, no bugs! Get speaker covers for your tower to eliminate bugs there. It's a lot faster than lowering and raising the tower for one, two it doesn't allow the tower to wobble at the mounts risking enlarging the holes, that wouldn't be good!

sandm
10-01-2008, 01:14 PM
I remember reading something about speaker sox for towers, and were relatively cheap.

davidl
10-01-2008, 01:15 PM
I had a cover made for the top of my tower, It covers the speakers and top of tower. Great investment.
Good luck!

Razzman
10-01-2008, 01:30 PM
Here's some links for covers, all work good.

Speakersox (http://www.speakersox.com)
Screaminsacs (http://www.screaminsacs.com)
TowerSock (http://www.buywake.com/catalog/boat/boatExtras/TowerSock)

I have the tower sox set for $60, works ok. The reason i got it is that it covers the whole top of the tower. Not sure how much abuse it will take though as it's a knit like material, held up ok so far.

04OUTBACK
10-01-2008, 01:56 PM
Daze,
for long trips, wrap tower in saran wrap..
I have speakersox on my speakers, but tower gets some bugs.. so does bimini cover..
I am sure pam works well too..
we go to a nearby lake some and usually are towing home in dark.. and this other lake is in Miss. Delta with cotton, corn and beans growing everywhere so BUGs are a plenty!
check www.newtproducts.com too for their tower sock..
I think Speakersox is gonna have something like that too..

Razzman
10-01-2008, 02:13 PM
I tried the saran wrap thing once, and just once as it was a royal pain you know where to wrap, unwrap, etc. :( Too much work for me! :p

wolfeman131
10-01-2008, 03:49 PM
I don't tow much as our boat stays at the lake house. However, when I left the dealership with the new boat, the salesperson suggested putting the tower down for long trips. He recommended going to Home Depot and getting some of the gray foam tubing that goes over pipes to wrap around the tower where it would rest on the. Sounded like a good idea, but I haven't tried it.

maxpower220
10-01-2008, 10:35 PM
Spray PAM cooking spray on a rag and wipe down the front of the tower and other front facing surfaces with it.

I used to do this for 'lovebugs', it works.