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Towing Cover

A

Anonymous

Guest
Towing the boat on the interstate has really made me think about a cover to go over the boat in the hopes of making it more aerodynamic.

It is almost impossible to go over about 60 in overdrive, and if I hold it in 3rd, I'm turning almost 3000 RPM. I'd like to be able to get between 65 and 70 and I'm also hoping my fuel mileage will pick up a mile or so to the gallon

Any thoughts on whether it will really help?
 
I hate to say it but there is not much that will help. I put a few miles on my trailer and all i found that really helped was getting a turbo diesel. There are lots of little things you can do but they don't help a lot. If you have a chevy with an OD tranny you will burn your tranny up if you leave it in OD and the converter stays locked, that is why if you read the owners man. it will tell you to use 3rd gear.
 
Yeah, I know about the 4th gear clutch pack. I'll be taking care of that in the near future.
 
Wing nuts on your high seat ! Take it off ! Will gain 15 mile a hour ! Just try it you will belive ! :shock:
 
Last year when I was coming back from Fort Lauderdale pulling my 20 ft shamrock pilot house at 65 mph in third gear, I was passed by a 13 ft Stossel with a 0540. When I stopped to get gas the airboat was gassing up also. The guy had a fatboy seat in front and a double in the rear. What was kind of neat is that he had taken plexiglass and made a aerodynamic air foil and seat cover. He said it took the load off his truck and he could run down I95 at 70 mph.

He had just heated up the plexiglass and had about 4 inch lip over the top of the back and under the front seat edge. Then he had a couple of bungees cords ran behind the seat. He was the only guy that I have ever seen with something like that. I think his Last name was Vasalinda or something like that.

He also said it worked great from keeping the skeeters and love bugs off his seat covers.
 
Red,
Fatboy is right. Put wingnuts on the seat bolts and remove the seats when traveling. Also turn your prop up and down will help. Good talking with you after the wedding.

Bob
 
Plexiglass that is a good idea. I have sold trucks becaus ethey couldn't pull my boat 70mph on the interstate. I have pulled my latest boats ove r80 with my diesel. My camper and airboat gets the same milage as my airboat alone when being towed. It isn't good. The duramax can stretch it out though.
 
I can't believe how much drag my airboat has. My mileage drops more with the airboat than with a seven ton flatbed. I have a diesel with a camper shell. Check out this link---they have an air deflector that mounts on the rear of a camper shell---I wonder how that would work. Might be too far in front of the boat to help?


http://www.wind-tunnel-designs.com/deflectors.htm
 
Maybe part of my problem is that I put a real long tongue on the trailer, so the boat is not "shielded" as much by the truck.

My next one will be a foot or more shorter I think, cause it's hard to lift the tongue anyways with the boat on there, and it actually makes it harder to back a lot of times because I can't cut the boat as sharp around obstacles.
 
Red heres a thought for the toung weight issue. Not the length.

You likely already do this, so I'm just thinking out loud here. On the trailers I have built I put the spring shackles and slider guide on a piece of 4" angle iron on each side. Then set it by eye for toung weight. Be sure to center it the same on both sides. I drill and through bolt this to the channel trailer frame. This allows me to change the toung weight as needed or between boats etc. If ya just need a small change, move over an inch and redrill the holes and bolt er back up. I only like about 50 pounds toung weight but some prefer 75 or so etc. Whatever the weight ya like it makes it easily adjustable. On one I even cut polymer strips out and glued to channel trailer frame. It slid well and really easily but the glue didn't hold. Maybe a better adhesive would work. or just grease the rails before bolting it all up.

Anyway just thinking out loud here.

Scotty
 
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