towing with tower

[moombadaze]

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]

Ed, not sure if you will be able to as your tower folds forward, mine folds back into the boat

[moombadaze]

just that the tower on the 09 outback v looks like my old boats that folded forward.

[jester]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

I remember reading something about speaker sox for towers, and were relatively cheap.

[davidl]

I had a cover made for the top of my tower, It covers the speakers and top of tower. Great investment.
Good luck!