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Pulling a 247 6 Hours away


2008-247-RX

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Friends,

Any advice for towing a 247 (or any boat) for a 6-hour road trip? We're moving, and I'm driving 300+ miles with my WS247 for it's 1st road trip.

?) would you put on the cover? would that negatively effect the gel coat? should I leave it off?

Variable - I'm in Texas, and we're still feeling the impact of Hurricane Alex, so I'm expecting rain, on & off.

Any advice is truly appreciated. Hope everyone had an amazing (and safe) 4th of July celebration, and are having an incredible Summer on the H20!

Thank you,

DD

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As long as it’s a towable cover yes I would put it on. You can then put “stuff” in the boat and not worry about it blowing out. You also won’t have to worry about some jerk flicking a cigarette into your boat…I have heard of it happening.

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Whenever we go on road trips I always pull the paddle wheel out for the speedo. That way the wind is not blowing the wheel while your going down the road. It's suppose to extend the life of your speedo. I'm not sure if it makes a difference but we've not had a speedo problem and our boat is 6 years old.

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MalibuNation

Do a complete check of your boat when you stop ... checking your tires, lights, and hubs for heat.

If you don't have a towable cover and you tow w/o one make sure you put in your wind block ... helps keep the cushions and other stuff in the boat from flying way.

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Even if you have a towable cover I would still run some 3" masking tape above the rub rail. My cover rubbed a little and the masking tape stopped it. It is a 10 minute fix and you can tow with no worries and it also keeps the prying eyes out of the inside. The other advice from above is also very important.

Have a great trip!

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You might consider a couple of trips around the boat with plastic wrap. That should protect the gel coat from any scuffing from the cover.

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Make sure you have a spare tire that's inflated, ***A SUITABLE BOTTLE JACK*** and a socket that fits wheel lugs.

Have fun!

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***A SUITABLE BOTTLE JACK*** and a socket that fits wheel lugs.

Great point -

I got a single deep well socket and breaker bar at Sears, much easier than carrying a regular lug wrench.

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Great point -

I got a single deep well socket and breaker bar at Sears, much easier than carrying a regular lug wrench.

Me too!

Ive seen too many people on the side of he road missing one of the 3 components to changing a tire on their trailer...

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Make sure you have a spare tire that's inflated, ***A SUITABLE BOTTLE JACK*** and a socket that fits wheel lugs.

Have fun!

I know that this sounds like a stupid question but why do you need to have a seperate jack? shouldnt the one from the truck be enough to lift the trailer? (knock on wood, as i am getting ready for a 5 hr drive with the boat this week....)

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You can take your chances...

The jack from my truck is too tall to get under my trailer axle. When measuring remember the axle will be much lower than it sits with air in the tire.

Also most jacks for vehicles are based on threads, not hydraulics.. My grandfather had a thread jack break and he got hurt a long time ago. IMHO a vehicle jack is rated for 1/4 vehicle weight. You could be lifting 1/2 of the boat weight.

I bought a small bottle jack, a breaker bar, a short extension and the right socket for the wheel lugs and keep them in the boat. I had to change a trailer flat on the approach to the SF/Oakland Bay Bridge once and I was lucky I had not taken my work tools out of the truck.

YMMV

Patrick

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I know that this sounds like a stupid question but why do you need to have a seperate jack? shouldnt the one from the truck be enough to lift the trailer? (knock on wood, as i am getting ready for a 5 hr drive with the boat this week....)

I don't want to have to dig my jack out of the truck if I am standing by the side of the road in who knows where. With all these tools together, at the back of the truck, i can get the job done and get off the side of the road.

Mine is also based on history - I had a semi trailer hit my other boat / trailer going around a sharp turn. The low bars on the back of the semi shredded my tire and fender. All i had was my van tools, and I had to unload a weekends worth of stuff to get to the jack and lug wrench. It was about 100F outside to make it even more fun. Luckily this was in a small town and I was able to get into a parking lot and was not along the side of the highway. Having what i will need easiy accessible is worth a few $$ for these three tools.

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If you don't have a jack and you get a flat, or if your too lazy to get it out, find a rock drive good tire up on rock, 2x4, etc and change bad tire. I have done this before, granted this only works if you have a tandem trailor.

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I tow my boat anywhere from 3-6 hours several times a year. No cover at all and I have never had even a single pebble in my boat.

I Never tow any trailer without my 2 ton jack and a star wrench. I dont want to be sitting on the side of any road for long while changing a flat.

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