Protecting the boat for the long trips

[NAstleford]

Curious what everyone does and/or recommends for protecting the boat and tower for the long road trips.
Have quite a few miles between Boise and Temple Bar and don't want any damage to the baby.
Have talked about wrap which works great one direction but not on the return trip so wondering what others do and are going to do for the long trips.

[sandm]

I knew some friends with a sanger that did multiple yearly trips to dworshak and northern idaho. they only used their cover and a set of heavy duty rocktamer mudflaps. boat looked pretty good.

if I was doing it regularly, I would have a canvas company modify the front of the tige cover to extend down to the trailer and back a few feet on each side. I have seen covers like this before in/around the boise area..
funny google search turned up a tige...

freeheel at prestige knows about the felt shrinkwrap covers from transshield. if you are careful with those, you can get several uses out of them. I used one to tow from boise to green bay and it became my yearly storage cover. it could have been strapped down again for a return trip with a little planning in the removal and some supplies to re-attach.

[sandm]

should note I also kept the original metal plates that fold the alpha z tower into the boat. I used those whenever I towed a long distance. best scrap pieces I managed to save. only takes 10 minutes to install them and it protected the seat pieces from being able to fly out.

[BoneCollectorX2]

Well I can tell you that you definitely want to protect the boat from any type of rock chips. I just purchased a new 2018 Tige R21 from Chad at Prestige in Boise. I had mud flaps on my truck along with a custom build rock tamer i had on the receiver hitch. Long story short even with this protection on the truck I ended up on a chip seal highway and it completed rock chipped the entire front of my boat and trailer which still is not fixed. The repairs are estimated at 10-12,000.00 in damage not including the trailer. SO MAKE SURE YOU AVOID GRAVEL ROAD OR ANY CHIP SEAL!!!!! After the damage I did exactly like you trying to figure out what more to do to prevent further and future damage. I ended up purchasing the Rockgard built in canada. I haven't towed with it yet but it looks okay. One down fall is its not custom to your boat or trailer so there are areas where I don't like the Rock Gard. I do like the concept and I think it will work just wish it had better fitment around the spare tire and jack.

[BoneCollectorX2]

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[bsreid]

Rock tamers definitely help keep the rocks off the boat along with the highway grime. If you have any sort of darker colour around your rub rail area. Go to Home Depot and buy palet wrap and wrap the entire area below and above where the cover rubs. It’s super easy to do and well worth not having to buff out for hours. Oh and not sure what bugs are like but if you wrap the tower in the palet wrap and then blue masking tape emery 10 inches or so, for it to stay tight. Also don’t use the cover straps that attach to the boat trailer.

[freeheel4life]

If you are wanting to tow cover on and need something to help with chafing I've got some stuff at the shop for you. Feel free to stop in and chat and I can show it to you and it won't break the bank if you want some.

[Rz22013]

For the tower just go to local hardware store and get the shrink/packing wrap that comes on a roller. Wrap everything tower, board racks, speakers and the folded up bimini. Keeps all the road grim and bugs off. It takes 10 minutes so do it on the way there and then do it again for the trip back. Keep a blade to remove quickly.

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[NAstleford]

Well I can tell you that you definitely want to protect the boat from any type of rock chips. I just purchased a new 2018 Tige R21 from Chad at Prestige in Boise. I had mud flaps on my truck along with a custom build rock tamer i had on the receiver hitch. Long story short even with this protection on the truck I ended up on a chip seal highway and it completed rock chipped the entire front of my boat and trailer which still is not fixed. The repairs are estimated at 10-12,000.00 in damage not including the trailer. SO MAKE SURE YOU AVOID GRAVEL ROAD OR ANY CHIP SEAL!!!!! After the damage I did exactly like you trying to figure out what more to do to prevent further and future damage. I ended up purchasing the Rockgard built in canada. I haven't towed with it yet but it looks okay. One down fall is its not custom to your boat or trailer so there are areas where I don't like the Rock Gard. I do like the concept and I think it will work just wish it had better fitment around the spare tire and jack.

checking out their website and it looks pretty cool. Looking at the pickle fork one is sweet too but looks like may have some areas not as covered if too high. will have to do some measurements. Good thing (well maybe since haven't talked to them on the phone yet) is there is a local dealer of it here so hopefully if pricing is good and go that route won't have to deal with customs stuff coming from .

figured the tower best bet was some kind of wrap and maybe the neoprene covers for the speakers. could use those for bugs half the time just going to the lake on a Sunday. Will definitely stop in and check out the stuff you have Freeheel4life!

[BoneCollectorX2]

The gentleman was extremely friendly and knowledgeable at RockGard. Mine cost roughly $800

[MikeB313]

Hardware or Home Improvement store, get a roll of shrink wrap and wrap front of boat, trailer, trailer fenders and you're good to go.