wakeboard tower covers

[rexsteiner]

not all of us have the luxury of owning a place where we can keep our boats in the water. so we have to trailer our boats where ever we go. and any one who has trailered a boat with a tower on it knows that somthing that high in the air gets plasterd with bugs. and i realy sucks when you get to the lake with a bug coverd tower that your stuck with the whole day.

ive been having alot of trouble finding covers for my tower at a decent cost so i was thinking maybe i could design my own. but i dont realy now where to start.
last year i just used saran wrap if i was hauling it at dusk or dawn and it worked pretty well but seemed pretty wastefull and didnt look real well going down I-75 with 4 foot streamers from the parts that unraveled.
so i was thinking maybe id start with some type of vinyl or nylon. somthing close to the material they use to cover the pads on bicycles and dirt bike handlebars. and sew some velcro on them.
does anyone have any ideas or an easier way to do this? theres quite a few different sections so multiple pieces would be needed.
thanks in advance.

 

[Thunderkat13]

Not to sure how good you are with a needle and thread but you could sew some sleeves with zippers and button snaps to connect all four up top.... Im sure if you sweet talked a aunt,mom,old lady they could easily fasten a zipper on some nice black canvas you can buy from any fabric store....
I did this with my seats vinyl and saved mega money

Just my 2 cents... Do it yourself and save some doh!

 

[rexsteiner]

thought about that too. but if i use zzippers they would probably scratch the tower if they move any from the wind. i was thinking more like velcro.

the sewing thing is coverd. my mom and sister both own machines and lucky for me i dont no how to use either of them

 

[sporsterjoel]

On my mountian bikes i use lizardskins to protect the frame from the chain. You could use the same material (2mm Powertex neoprene and heavy duty velcro) but make them big enough to fit the tubes of your tower. http://lizardskins.com/products/?ty...ys&PHPSESSID=6bc6e539c4a668b7e210ae25474a7f1a

 

[rexsteiner]

On my mountian bikes i use lizardskins to protect the frame from the chain. You could use the same material but make them big enough to fit the tubes of your tower. http://lizardskins.com/products/?ty...ys&PHPSESSID=6bc6e539c4a668b7e210ae25474a7f1a

how do they fasten on the frame? is it a material that could be sewn through? it looks like some kind of plastic.

 

[sporsterjoel]

how do they fasten on the frame? is it a material that could be sewn through? it looks like some kind of plastic.

I edited my post its made from 2mm Powertex neoprene and heavy duty velcro

 

[sporsterjoel]

heres a link that show more about what im talking about you can see that its strechable so it will fit the tubes on the tower very snug and will look good going down the I 75. but youll need to sew. http://lizardskins.com/products/vie...=1&PHPSESSID=6bc6e539c4a668b7e210ae25474a7f1a

 

[rexsteiner]

appears that its basicly wetsuit material. that would work perfect if i can find it cheep. im all about low budget. it is 2009 ya no.

 

[sporsterjoel]

Yup same material only 2mm thick though. not sure where you would buy the material.

 

[rexsteiner]

checked the price of some wetsuit material from acouple differnt sites and almost fell out of my chair!! that stuff if extensive!! think im gona look towards some spandex material. i found it for about 8 bucks a yard.

 

[sporsterjoel]

How thick was the wetsuit material you priced out??? I think any material that will strech will work good

 

[rexsteiner]

The thinnest material I I could find was 1.2mm and it was between 60 and 80 bucks for about a 50x50 sheet

 

[rexsteiner]

check this out. found some nylon material like what flags are made of and borrowed my moms sewing machine (even though ive never sewed before in my life) and got a bunch of velcro and made some covers to keep the bugs off. probably cost me about $60 and about 8 hours. those sewing machines can be quite tricky. you upholstery guys sure have a talent.

what do you guys thinK?? i call it my Monster Condom!

 

[FloorStreet]

lol looks good, does it hold up on the road though?

 

[rexsteiner]

i will know in a week. but it should hold up just fine. ive got over 30 foot of velco into them so they should hold. the only ones im kinda concerned with is the covers for the wakeboard racks. i had to use snaps to hold them on put they were pretty simple to make if i have to do it again. ( their not on in the pics).

thanks for the compliment

 

[rexsteiner]

covers held up great! even at 80 mph on the highway. all of them still in tacked:hurray:
best part about it i dont have to scrub the bugs off before next weekend:hurray:

 

[scooper77515]

Buy some sunblock for those. The sun will eat them up within a year.

I use a block called 303 Aerospace Protectant once a month to keep my vinyl in good shape. Also use it monthly on the wife's convertible top.

 

[RFoster130]

I have heard of the 303 before. I was looking for something to keep my 10 year old seats in good shape. Where is the best place to find it?

 

[rexsteiner]

Buy some sunblock for those. The sun will eat them up within a year.

I use a block called 303 Aerospace Protectant once a month to keep my vinyl in good shape. Also use it monthly on the wife's convertible top.

I used nylon instead of vinyl. Kinda like wind breaker material. But it shouldn't fade much at all it only sees the sun while going down the road. I park it in my barn at home and when its in the water the covers arnt on.

 

[scooper77515]

The nylon is why I suggested it. Doesn't last a season...

But I didn't recognize you were parking in the barn. It will last forever that way.

I get the 303 off ebay. The small ones are only $5, and you can get up to a gallon for $60, but I have never even used but maybe 4 or 5 bottles of the small ones since I started using it maybe 5 years ago. It was originally recommended for my hot tub cover. Brown, in the sun, and has lasted 5 years without any noticeable decay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/303-...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories