Traveling long distance. Tower up or down?

[Neverenough]

We travel to the Lake Ouachita every summer or two for a family vacation and its probably 300 miles or so one way. We may go even further. We kinda like to just hit the road and see what happens. Either way for you guys that long haul do you ever lay down your towers or do you just leave them up? Might add that my tower has 50 lbs of crap hanging off of it that I'm sure has some impact on it. Noticed that when it done ill have to cushion the tower where it sits on the deck but that's not that big of a deal.

Thanks

[bblueg]

We travel to the Lake Ouachita every summer or two for a family vacation and its probably 300 miles or so one way. We may go even further. We kinda like to just hit the road and see what happens. Either way for you guys that long haul do you ever lay down your towers or do you just leave them up? Might add that my tower has 50 lbs of crap hanging off of it that I'm sure has some impact on it. Noticed that when it done ill have to cushion the tower where it sits on the deck but that's not that big of a deal.

Thanks

What boat?

just hauled our g23 to our summer home 200 miles one way. My concern was not wind resistance or stress on the tower.... It was bugs ! I did want to spend 1/2 the summer, scrubbing bug guts out of every orafice of the tower.

it handled it with no problem. No bouncing or damage. The G is designed so the tower does not rest on any upholstery or gelcoat surfaces.

[Surfsmith]

I do a 1200 mile round trip...
I leave the tower up, but I strip it bare - no bimini, no boards racks, etc. Sure hate cleaning the bugs off though. I leave the cover on, but also remove mirror and bracket.

regards

[scottb7]

Tower up, 2008 210

[HS]

On a 150 mile trip each way, tower up, and I remove the canvas from Z5 Bimini

[SkiTower]

50 lbs of stuff is going to make a difference. Had a buddy that swore he got 1 mph better with it down but I don't see a difference (don't have anything on my tower, though). As for bugs, heard somewhere to use Saran Wrap on the tower while travelling, but haven't tried it. Sounds like an idea, though.

[sodbuster88]

You can buy a wide roll of shrink wrap and wrap the heck out of it pretty quick....use a little duct tape to keep it from coming unravelled.

[robertsmcfarland]

when I went to lake Powell a few years ago from Va. went with tower up, but used a alot of painters blue tape. work great, for bugs, only took a few min to take off, dont forget to take roll with you for the trip back, even went though some rain storms, tape held up nicely .

[PilbaraNautique]

Travelled 1600kms with ours up, bimini on and tower speakers still there. No dramas, aslong as your happy to pay for the extra petrol.

[NautiqueJeff]

I ALWAYS tow the PN G23 with the tower down and the cover on. No more cleaning bugs off the tower! I love it!

[jonsquatch]

On a 150 mile trip each way, tower up, and I remove the canvas from Z5 Bimini

That would kill me, my typical weekly trip is ~360 miles. Nearly every week. Just got back from Powell, 953 miles round trip. Tower up with the Z5 and the racks spun in and the swivel speakers turned back to keep bug guts off the cone. If I keep a good coat of wax on the tower and the back of the swivel speakers they clean up with a little Boat Bling Hot Sauce every 3rd or 4th trip (I know, I know I should keep after it better) It does help I use a lifted Suburban to tow with and it does seem to catch most of the bugs itself. Been toying with the idea of getting covers for the racks and the swivel speakers, I have the roswell’s that are like ½ of the vamp spins and the 7.0 Airborne HLCDs on the tower. Those aren’t fun to clean. I know the fabric on the Z5 is going to wear prematurely but on and off with it every week, and up and down with the tower every week? I have an 11’ garage door so it goes in all up. I would be more worried about damage to them from the constant use rather than towing but only time will tell.

[SkiTundra]

I've got some 5' long pipe insulator foam that I throw on the tower for bugs. On & off in about 2 minutes.

[HS]

That would kill me, my typical weekly trip is ~360 miles. Nearly every week. Just got back from Powell, 953 miles round trip. Tower up with the Z5 and the racks spun in and the swivel speakers turned back to keep bug guts off the cone. If I keep a good coat of wax on the tower and the back of the swivel speakers they clean up with a little Boat Bling Hot Sauce every 3rd or 4th trip (I know, I know I should keep after it better) It does help I use a lifted Suburban to tow with and it does seem to catch most of the bugs itself. Been toying with the idea of getting covers for the racks and the swivel speakers, I have the roswell’s that are like ½ of the vamp spins and the 7.0 Airborne HLCDs on the tower. Those aren’t fun to clean. I know the fabric on the Z5 is going to wear prematurely but on and off with it every week, and up and down with the tower every week? I have an 11’ garage door so it goes in all up. I would be more worried about damage to them from the constant use rather than towing but only time will tell.

That's for a one week vacation, not an every week deal, BTW.