My rear facing light bar is breaking my lines!

[dapicatti]

Our 07 XStar has rear facing lights on the zeroflex tower. On the light enclosure ends, there are indents in the housing that are threaded for bolts (I have no idea what the bolts are for) that have sharp corners. This weekend, I had two ropes break after they rubbed on the sharp corners and broke while pulling riders - there went $200. Anyone familiar with this light have similiar problems? Any ideas on how to fix this problem and/or know if I am missing any parts? I put some duct tape on it to keep the rope out of the corners to get by this weekend but removed it as soon as I trailered our boat home.

[zberger]

pics of the issue?

[dapicatti]

I will get some and add to the thread.

[dapicatti]

If this attachment works, it will show the corner screw indentations. The more I look at it, I am thinking they are perhaps other mounting locations that are unused. I may just need to fill it in with epoxy or caulk to keep them smooth and prevent the line from getting caught when I come around to pick up a rider.

[jrcarte78]

You might try one of these...

http://www.ptxsecure.com/mcpro/detail.aspx?ID=39

Not really the intended purpose but it'll keep your rope off the tower. I don't have a tower, but I use one with my extended pylon to keep the rope from hanging up on the boardracks when turning around to pick up a rider.

[Blair]

dapicatti

can you get a picture of the entire top section of the tower? you may have other options but i cant tell from that picture

[dapicatti]

I will post some more pics tonight.

[dapicatti]

The shock tube is a good idea. I originally thought about a piece of pvc tubing but thought that would be simply ugly. This tube may do the trick if it stays semi rigid when the rider is down. Thanks for the idea!

[SaltwaterMC]

The area of the light bar you are referring to is for little set screws that act as bump stops to touch either side of the tower. They have little rubber boots on them so they do not scratch the tower. They would also prevent a rope from getting behind the light bar thus preventing the problem you are having. I have pictures of my light bar that illustrate what I am talking about but don't know how to upload them on here.

[dapicatti]

Click go advanced on the reply and then the paper clip to attach a picture. Selct the file your picture is in, then click on upload. It takes a minute while it loads and then you click on the button on the bottom called close this window. You can check your handy work by clicking on preview post - I recommend to make sure your pictures are correct.

Here is a full picture of the entire set up

[SaltwaterMC]

I figured out how to post pictures so here they are.

[dapicatti]

Oh, I get it. There is suppposed to be something there.....That makes a huge difference. Thanks for uploading the pics.

[SaltwaterMC]

No problem.

[johkur]

Actually, it doesn't make a huge difference. I have the '08 lightbar that has those extra screws and rubber boots like saltwatermc posted above. The problem is that there is still room for the rope above those screws that are halfway up thelight bar. so what happens is that if we make a tight turn, the rope gets between the lightbar and tower, above the screw/boot. then when you straighten out, all of a sudden, pow, the line is released. It doesn't necessarily cut the rope but it blows off the rider and is a huge shock down the line as it popsout from being around the lightbar.

Any other solution ideas?

[johkur]

My dealer recommended just having a rope cover (ie. foam) near the tower, and that would avoid the rope being able to get stuck. Seems like a great solution, and should work with even the older rear lights. Many ropes even come with some sort of anti-springback or other cover, so I took one off a ski-toy rope, and just cut a short length with the cover on it and put loops on both ends to make it easy to use with any rope.

[DanC]

If you can't fill the gap between the light bar and the tower....
I used to use one of these rope tubes to keep my rope from hanging up on the racks when I had a wakeboard flyhigh pole.

[MorganMac]

SaltWater MC,
Sorry to take you off the topic at hand, but what kind of speaker covers are those?

[ORX-1]

They look like speakersox, check out speakersox.com

[capnkirk52]

I have your exact PWT boat and haven't had a problem yet. I am going to pay attention next time we go out and see if it catches on my rear lights...

Side note: You should call your dealer and have them set you up with a set of the tower braces. Should be under warranty. Took me about 90 minutes to install mine and the tower is a lot more rigid now. Just a thought since I don't see them on your tower.!

Good luck with the problem.

[kmillard92]

Just a quick thanks guys...I was our riding on a friends Centurion the other day (not half bad of a boat, actually :) ), and we almost busted off one of the tower speakers because the rope got caught around it and no one noticed it before we started to tow a boarder. I'll definitely recommend the rope tube to him.

[SaltwaterMC]

Yes, they are indeed Speakersox.

[dapicatti]

Nice choice- we love ours...do you have the rack covers as well? We tow quite a ways with ours, at least an hour to the water for us. They work great.

[dapicatti]

By the way, problem totally solved by your pics Saltwater MC. Really appreciate your help.

[dapicatti]

I have your exact PWT boat and haven't had a problem yet. I am going to pay attention next time we go out and see if it catches on my rear lights...

Side note: You should call your dealer and have them set you up with a set of the tower braces. Should be under warranty. Took me about 90 minutes to install mine and the tower is a lot more rigid now. Just a thought since I don't see them on your tower.!

Good luck with the problem.

We just got the boat back from the dealer Friday with the new tower braces. Wow what a difference. The only reason we had a problem is somehow the screws and covers got missed at the factory.....its a boat, things happen. It all works perfectly now.