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Protecting Boat During Trailering


Matt_Alger

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All,

I will be trailering my new boat 50 miles each way and I was wondering what if anything anyone uses to protect the boat from rock chips, dirt, etc...

In the past, I was fortunate enough to keep my boat on a lift at a lake so the trailer got about 10 miles on it per year (to and from storage).

Thanks!

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MalibuNation
All,

I will be trailering my new boat 50 miles each way and I was wondering what if anything anyone uses to protect the boat from rock chips, dirt, etc...

In the past, I was fortunate enough to keep my boat on a lift at a lake so the trailer got about 10 miles on it per year (to and from storage).

Thanks!

Boat bras and mud flaps.

I had just got my boat and turned down a road where they had put down that new tar material and slag / pea gravel ... boy was I mad.

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After I got my new boat I went and got some of those mud flaps that mount to the hitch so I can take them off when I'm not towing the boat. I towed my old boat well over 10,000 miles with a lifted truck and I think it has one or two rock chips. But with my brand new boat I didn't want to risk it.

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I ran across this thread on WW a week or so ago about this same subject. This made me wonder about my own setup. My truck is just a little Dodge Nitro with regular all season radials & the stock rock guards on the rear fenders. I wouldn't think it would really kick up much to damage the boat/trailer. But then I looked at the front of my ATV trailer & it's scarred up pretty good. So I looked thru the thread at the various types of rack guards. The "wings" on the trailer look stupid in my opinion. The bra on the boat would not protect the trailer at all. The wide mudflaps on the truck seem like it would work the best, but would look ridiculous on the Nitro. So I found a few removeable mudflaps, but they want like $250 - $300 for them.

So this weekend I had a guy here in town made a pair of mudflaps for me. We welded them right on the reciever. Cost was like $100. Last night I stripped the steel & painted everything. I'll probably get it all assembled & will get a couple of pics online. Should look pretty funky....... wide mudflaps from a semi trailer on a little Dodge SUV. But should protect the boat & trailer really well.

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So, I dont' get it Bill. Are they removable?

Would be interested to see pics...

I've towed quite a bit. It's at least 1/2 hour each way when I put in. And we've often towed for 6+ hours for long trips.

I've got one noticable (to me) rock chip in the gelcoat. Trailer is seeing normal wear.

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I know that Snowmobile trailers get more dirt, grime, etc... due to the conditions they are towed in. Most people usaully don't tow a boat in the rain or snow, both of which I have towed snomobile trailers in to get to the good snow.

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So, I dont' get it Bill. Are they removable?

Here it is so far. I need to get some bigger washers & weight them down to they don't fly up. But you get the idea. I think it'll protect the boat & trailer pretty well. I had it welded right to the equalizer so it will all pull out at once when I'm not towing the boat.

post-821-1204605645_thumb.jpg

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So, I dont' get it Bill. Are they removable?

Would be interested to see pics...

I've towed quite a bit. It's at least 1/2 hour each way when I put in. And we've often towed for 6+ hours for long trips.

I've got one noticable (to me) rock chip in the gelcoat. Trailer is seeing normal wear.

Andy,

The system I just got installs in about a minute. Take out the hitch from the reciever and put the mud flap system over the hitch and tighen down two bolts then put the receiver back in. It's a slick system that's easy to put together and removes quickly.

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So, I dont' get it Bill. Are they removable?

Here it is so far. I need to get some bigger washers & weight them down to they don't fly up. But you get the idea. I think it'll protect the boat & trailer pretty well. I had it welded right to the equalizer so it will all pull out at once when I'm not towing the boat.

just so you know, about 5 years ago, i built my own rock chip protector for the back of the motorhome. I used 1/2" thick used recycled tire material (no give to it, it hung in place and did not move). I had to travel a gravel road in sk to get to this fishing lake. well it turns out my design sucked, from the rv mirror i could see the rocks hit my rock guard and spin off it and around so they were hitting the boat. i slowed down to a crawl but the boat still needed to be re-gel coated. I found out that these flimsy rock guards are probably engineered that way to absorb some of the energy of the rock coming off the tire.

hope that doesn't happen with your design.

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Yea, these are mud flaps from a tractor trailer, and they give quite a bit. I bolted a piece of flat bar near the bottom of them to weight them down a bit so they would not fly up at speed. But they should slide up & over just about anything I happen to hit. I hope the rocks aren't spinning around it to get past it though. We'll see how it goes.

We had the choice to either make it slide on & off or weld it right on. But I really only plan to use it with the equalizer towing the boat. I have another stinger for when I tow the ATV trailer & don't see the point in using this thing.

I just read that Spokane county has no intentions to have our streets swept till mid summer. Their a friggin wreck right now. So this thing should come into use immediately.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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I was thinking of getting something like this to keep the mud flaps flat.

I see what you're saying about the rocks flying around the mud flaps but every time I'm leaving the lake I'll pick rocks out from the tires, and I figure this system has got to help reduce the potential for rock chips.

antisailbracket.jpg

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I take a trip every summer with a bunch of guys down 30+ miles of dirt roads in central Maine. One of the guys who goes made one of those mud flaps that bolts right onto the hitch and it works pretty well. He will also at times stretch an old boat cover across the "triangle" part of the front of the trailer in case any stones get throught the flaps. An extra six pack and 15 mph will go a long way for your boats protection down a dirt road. Good luck.

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I take a trip every summer with a bunch of guys down 30+ miles of dirt roads in central Maine. One of the guys who goes made one of those mud flaps that bolts right onto the hitch and it works pretty well. He will also at times stretch an old boat cover across the "triangle" part of the front of the trailer in case any stones get throught the flaps. An extra six pack and 15 mph will go a long way for your boats protection down a dirt road. Good luck.

The miles on the dirt road are only part ofthe problem. I don't have that long of a distance on the dirt road and I drive painfully slow to avoid dust and rocks. For me it's when I get to the paved roadways and I'm up to 65 mph and rocks start dislodging from the groves in the tire.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Last year I purchased a product called Enkay Rock Tamers, which are heavy duty mudflaps that bolt directly onto your hitch. I have been very happy with them. They are easy to put on and take off the vehicle, and are quite large so they provide a lot of protection.

http://www.mudflaps.com/

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