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Towing an 05 V-Ride Behind a Houseboat


Feeze

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We are going houseboating in a coupe weeks and was wondering if anyone has any expierence or suggestions.

Thanks in advance! :thumbup:

Center the wheel, tow off about 50' of rope attached to the bow eye, works for Me.

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We are going houseboating in a coupe weeks and was wondering if anyone has any expierence or suggestions.

Thanks in advance! :thumbup:

Do you have the dripless shaft seal? According to Malibu, my 1 year old dripless shaft seal failed due to towing behind a houseboat. My dealer had another bu in with the same exact problem that was also being towed behind a houseboat. They say that you need to keep the prop shaft from spinning while towing. I towed it last year without a problem, but this year it decided to fuse itself to the prop shaft on the first day of my lake powell trip and ruined the trip.

Terry

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rather than towing our boat, we'd send the kids out tubing when the hose boat was moving. saving having to tow, and gets the tubing out of the way when you have to be paying attention to the house boat. doesn't work if towing is your only option, but an alternative idea.

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Thx everyone for your reply's :thumbup:

I do not have a dripless shaft seal, and was quite concerned about making sure the prop "free wheels" while we tow.

For the most part we will try to tow as little as we have to. Plus we will probably be using more as a "escape" mechanism from the other 17 people on the houseboat! :crazy:

Has anyone had any issues with the steering wheel turning on it's own. I was thinking of putting a wheel lock on it so it doesn't move.

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Thx everyone for your reply's :thumbup:

I do not have a dripless shaft seal, and was quite concerned about making sure the prop "free wheels" while we tow.

For the most part we will try to tow as little as we have to. Plus we will probably be using more as a "escape" mechanism from the other 17 people on the houseboat! :crazy:

Has anyone had any issues with the steering wheel turning on it's own. I was thinking of putting a wheel lock on it so it doesn't move.

No need to lock the sterring wheel. Many time if it's turned some it will center on it's own.

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Do you have the dripless shaft seal? According to Malibu, my 1 year old dripless shaft seal failed due to towing behind a houseboat. My dealer had another bu in with the same exact problem that was also being towed behind a houseboat. They say that you need to keep the prop shaft from spinning while towing. I towed it last year without a problem, but this year it decided to fuse itself to the prop shaft on the first day of my lake powell trip and ruined the trip.

Terry

What are you supposed to do to keep the prop shaft from spinning while towing? I hit up Lake Powell at least yearly and would HATE if that happened.

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What are you supposed to do to keep the prop shaft from spinning while towing? I hit up Lake Powell at least yearly and would HATE if that happened.

I had to put a wrench on one of the shaft coupler nuts as a temporary solution to keep it from spinning when it failed. My winter project will be to figure out some other way to lock the shaft.

Terry

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I'm interested in possible solutions as well. Also curious as to how fast the houseboat was going. Does anyone know if malibu recommends anything on this?

Our houseboat with two boats behind it only goes around 7 - 9 mph.

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why does it matter if the prop spins while towing?

because some dripless shaft seals depend on a flow of water through them via the boat's water circ system. If the prop spins while boat isn't running, no water flows, and seal isn't lubricated.

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Don't mean to hijack but i never knew this. How do I know which kind I have? 08 23lsv

I guess just turning off the boat in gear wouldn't work? as opposed to having it in neutral.

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Don't mean to hijack but i never knew this. How do I know which kind I have? 08 23lsv

I guess just turning off the boat in gear wouldn't work? as opposed to having it in neutral.

I think you could see whether you have a hose running to the area around your packing nut.

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If your trans. cooler has this barb attached to it and you follow that line down to the the shaft packing area, you have a water cooled shaft packing.

shaftcooling.jpg

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If your trans. cooler has this barb attached to it and you follow that line down to the the shaft packing area, you have a water cooled shaft packing.

So if you have this water cooled shaft packing it means you can't tow without securing the prop?

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Apparently so. I would think that leaving the boat in gear would arrest the shaft but, maybe not.

It's a real pickle of a problem, pretty difficult to get under most modern V-drives and actually get access to the shaft and then to find a way to bind it up? Oh man, glad I don't have dripless packing.

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We are going houseboating in a coupe weeks and was wondering if anyone has any expierence or suggestions.

Thanks in advance! :thumbup:

When you're thinking about stopping the HB, make sure there is someone on the back to pull in the rope that is attached to the ski boat. Do not let the ski boat drift right over the slack line. You also need this person to "catch" the ski boat because it will continue on it's path right into the back of the HB.

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I would also think that if you don't secure the prop shaft while towing, it would make the transmission/v-drive assembly turn. Without the motor running it wouldn't be cooled or have the proper lubrication. My father has a 40' cruiser with twin engines. I can remember a time one of the engines broke down and we had to limp back with only one. The first thing he did was secure the prop shaft to broken down engine from turning. This stopped the transmission from turning and stopped the stuffing box from getting damaged as well. I would think the same applied to our Malibu's when being towed, and even more so if you have the water cooled dripless packing gland.

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