Towing an R5 Arch Down

[NautiGirl]

Long time no talk Cobalt Chat friends.

Have a question.....for a friend.....I understand the R series Arch will lock in the folded down position.

Is it ok to tow the boat with the arch locked down?

Anyone do it for short distances?

I'll hang up and listen.

[AsLan7]

Good t hear from ya’ J&K. How’s life in BBQ country?

[jhnmdahl]

What do the aerodynamics look like locked down, and is the locking mechanism secure? I would think it would be no worse than locked in the up position, and likely even better if the locking mechanism is secure. And if wind tends to force the arch downward or neutral instead of up, I would think you'd come out ahead.

Edit - nevermind, it looks like the locking mechanism isn't as secure in the down position as with the arch up.

[stifflkd]

I would not trust the locking mechanism that keeps the arch down. It is only locked on one side and it is springed wanting to go in the up position. I can only imagine if you hit a bump hard enough it might bounce out of the lock. Much more secure with tower up. Why not tow with tower up? Is there a clearance issue?

[mdadgar]

Samson, who make the arches for Cobalt, told me that they do not recommend towing with the arch down. YMMV.

[NautiGirl]

Samson, who make the arches for Cobalt, told me that they do not recommend towing with the arch down. YMMV.

Exactly what I needed, thank you.

I would not trust the locking mechanism that keeps the arch down. It is only locked on one side and it is springed wanting to go in the up position. I can only imagine if you hit a bump hard enough it might bounce out of the lock. Much more secure with tower up. Why not tow with tower up? Is there a clearance issue?

No clearance issue, its an I'm lazy issue. We need to fold it to get it in our storage unit. I was thinking I could fold it at the ramp when we pull the boat out and avoid having to get back into the boat at our storage unit.

It's fine, I will stop being lazy lol.

[NautiGirl]

Good t hear from ya’ J&K. How’s life in BBQ country?

Doing well A7. Hope all is well with you also.

Looking at a bit of an upgrade from the 222 so may be around some, we shall see how everything pencils as Matt says.

[NautiWeasel]

A couple things to add, although they are not directly answering the question asked about IF you can tow with the arch down.
When I picked up our 242 in Austin (drove 12+ hours home to Topeka) I started with the arch down. First stop for gas, I noticed it was up again, so it slammed up during the drive. Hopefully it was early on, going slow. From there, I locked the tower in the up position with the provided bolts. Then I covered with shipping tape for the remainder of the trip, to prevent a lot of bugs getting on my tower.
I tried again at a later date, shorter drive (approx 1 hour on highway) and I put the tower down, and secured it down with a rubberized wire tie. The tower stayed down, no problems then. What I did find was that my change in fuel mileage was not noticeable, whether the tower was up or down. I continue to tow up now, and just put the shipping tape on it every trip. It takes time, but I think while traveling, the tower wants to be up.

Your results may vary.