Titan III Tower Folding

[bclaude]

Hello,

 

We recently bought a 2005 Malibu response Lxi with a Titan III tower.  I would like to store the boat in my garage for the winter but the tower must be folded.  I am not clear on how this is done.  I noticed that the tower has two fittings at the top that appear to connect the front hoop to the back hoop.  I gather those fittings must be disconnected so that both hoops can come down.  The fittings have a black round knob at the base, that knob appears to be folded around the head of a bolt.  I can turn those knobs about 1/4 turn but no more.  Perhaps this is the first time someone is attempting to fold this tower and the the bolts have ceased, I am not sure.  Before I apply more force, I would love to get suggestions from people who have experience with the towers.  Many thanks!

[roeboat]

On the top of the tower where the bolts are there are clips to prevent the bolts from backing out. If you stand on the motor box, you should be able to see it. Keep the bolts slack and while you hold the clips open, and the bolts should fully unthread. Then the front part of the tower lifts out of the back part of the tower. Make sure to have a second person with you so you don't drop the front on your windshield.

[bclaude]

Ha!  Makes perfect sense.  I saw the clips on top and wasn't sure what they were there for.

I will try that tomorrow.  Thank You!

[bclaude]

Thanks again for the suggestion, with a bit of WD-40 to release the clips, the bolts came off and ny tower is now folded.

 

[Steve B.]

Did it fold so the front hoop folded to the back of the boat, and the back loop fold to the front?

Steve B.

[uk_exile]

@bclaude Not sure if this is helpful to you however here's how I lower mine before moving it into storage garage. Didn't want it resting on windscreen as near impossible to replace the glass. 

Edited November 13, 2022 by uk_exile

[roeboat]

On 11/11/2022 at 11:13 PM, Steve B. said:

Did it fold so the front hoop folded to the back of the boat, and the back loop fold to the front?

Steve B.

I fold both of mine to the back of the boat.  I believe it's possible to fold the front hoop forward, but the rear has to go backwards because of the windshield.

This is how we fold ours to fit in the garage.

 

 

[Steve B.]

Thanks. Nice. With a swing away tongue you can fit that in a smaller space.

Steve B. 

[dalt1]

On my 06 VLX I had to also unbolt the front lower legs to lay it in the back seat on a 7 ft tall door. Did it every weekend.

[martinarcher]

Before we built our current garage I had a big eye bolt in the ceiling and would loop a ratchet strap around the front hoop to keep it off the windshield.  As it was already mentioned....the glass in old boats is precious stuff and hard to replace!  

[uk_exile]

The glass rarity is why I made pole & cable system rather than having it sit on glass while trailer is being moved into garage. I could have made a trestle to use while moving, tie tower to roof eye then fit cover but the pole & cable takes up very little garage space when not in use

[PaulH86]

I'm guessing during this generation the response boats with lower freeboard and the sv23 hulls (iride/vride/04- wakesetter) with lower freeboard fit through the 7' door fine with the titan 3, but the v25 with the higher freeboard had the issue like dalt1 states.  I've put my IRide folded like the photos show above since i've had it in a 7' door.   I've always laid mine on the glass but now I'm going to have to rig something up after reading this.

[roeboat]

To get mine in the 7ft door I have to push the door up with a piece of wood and drop the tongue down all the way to get enough clearance through the door.