The Breakdown :

In the spring of 2006, we headed for the great state of Texas, moving our house and home of nearly 3 years to the South.  Part of this move involved us towing our boat the near 980+ miles to reach our destination.  This trip, while filled with adventures, was also filled with several good lessons.  A few pertaining towing are listed below to assist you in reducing the risk of accident along your travels.

Traveling Tips:
Pre-towing Check up
Before you embark on your journey, you should conduct a pre-towing check up prior to departure.  This entails:

• Checking your lights to ensure they are operational; validate brake lights, emergency lights, and turn signals.
• Check your tow ball and coupler and ensure all bolts and washers are tightly secured.
• Ensure that the trailer is loaded evenly from bow to stern and side to side.  Any unbalanced load can cause stress both on the trailer and the structure of the boat.
• Check your brakes by going to a parking lot to determine proper braking distances.  This will help you gauge the amount of space cushion you need during your travels, as well as any issues with your brakes.
• Check your tire pressure, wheels and lug nuts.
• Be sure you have all necessary tie-downs secured and in place prior to your departure.

Rules of the Road
There was much in our move that I was unaware of when towing a vehicle and traveling the highways where you share much of the road with Highwaymen.  There are a few key things to be aware of when traveling whether day or night:

• Passing motorists:  Give your self plenty of room; at minimum with a trailer you should ensure 2 – 3 car lengths when moving into the passing lane.  In some instances the motorist you are passing, may signal when it is safe for you to move in front of them; while with others you will need to utilize your mirrors for judgment.
• Windy conditions:  Wind can cause your boat to pitch depending on the wind direction.  In these situations where you have a significant pitch to either right or left; gently move your car in the opposite direction.  The biggest lesson to learn is to SLOW down when you are in windy conditions.  This should reduce the amount of effort it takes for you to correct the pitch and reduces the amount of pitch that will occur.
• Severe Weather conditions: 
• Ice and Snow: 
• When traveling over bridges and overpasses, it is important to use caution.  A sudden stop can cause great danger even without a trailer in tow.  Be sure to slow down and use caution in order to react to sudden changes in speed or direction.
• Maintain your speed during your travel as when in heavy snowy conditions sudden increase or decrease in speed can cause sudden extreme movements in your trailer.
• Brake cautiously and brake so that those traveling behind you are aware of your intentions.  Be sure to utilize your brakes both as a signal to speed decrease and stopping.
• Rain:
• The biggest mitigation here is to slow down as the road conditions are more slippery than they appear. 
• Be sure that your lights are viewable both on vehicle and trailer.
• Fog:
• Stay to the right of the road and utilize a steady speed.
• Turn on your headlights utilizing a low beam and maintain your course.

Protective Coverings:
For Longer Travels
Talk with your dealer and/or service center:   Inform your dealer and service center of your trip.  They many have a recommendation for your travels that will fit the specific type of venture.  For our purpose, which was a long distance drive, the Service Center used special transporting methods to tie down securely a shipping cover to our boat.  This secure tie down ensured that there were minimal vibration scratches to the gel coat when we reached our destination.  It also served as a protected covering lower on the boat reducing the amount of kick up from the road debris.

For Shorter Distances / More Frequent Use
There are many standard protectant covers and custom packages available for your use when towing your boat.  Options:

• Standard Towing cover:  These covers are not highly recommended as they do not perform as optimally as a custom cover would.  The risk for damage to your gel coat from vibrations of the road is far too great.  While this is an option the only protection this provides is from potential rain and debris flying into your boat.
• Custom Towing cover and bra:  These can be developed by local shops that special in boat covers and custom packages.  Using a similar material to automotive bras, these covers/bras are tightly affixed to your boat while in tow.  Some cover the bow of the boat, which is the area that is at greatest risk when towing.  Others offer a more complete coverage going from bow to stern.  This is the most recommended preference for towing and has the greatest potential for reducing the amount of nicks and rubs your boat can experience while in tow.
• Trailer Shields:  For use in both long and short distance drives; these shields are connected to the front of the trailer via a mounting bracket.  The shields are angled to protect debris from kicking up and directly hitting the boat.  There are a number of distributors out there “Bow Buddy Trailer Rock Guard” being one of them.  If we ever do another long move, this will be an investment opportunity for us.

Equipment Safety:
Tires
Everyone can recall their favorite “blow-out” story when towing longer distances or in terrain that may have increased potential for tire damage.  While you can not avoid the later; the best way to mitigate a self-induced blow out is thru monitoring the pressure of your tires.  For us it became a routine, stop for gas, check the tire pressure.  This was especially critical, since we were traveling in climates where the temperatures went from cold to hot extremes. 

Running with a low pressure tire can cause it to catch fire.  If you have a multiple axle trailer or tandem wheels it can sometimes be hard to see a flat tire.   With each stop for gas, when checking your pressure, be sure to check around the trailer in general.  Tires that may be running low will be hotter than the rest.

Wheels and Lug Nuts
When on your travels it is important to have a road repair kit and one that has a torque wrench.  Along with tire pressure it is important to ensure that you check the wheel and ensure the lug nuts are tightened along your trip.  Because of the load and pressure on trailers, this causes the wheels and lug nuts to twist and loosen during your drive.  A safe gauge is to check these first prior to your travel and monitor through-out your journey with each gas stop.

Submitted by Wakechick