RSSTower Installation
Factory Installed
All wakeboard boat manufacturers offer wakeboard towers that are installed at the factory and are included in the boat’s purchase price. However, most of the boat manufacturers offer limited finishes, options, and wakeboard tower accessories.
Boat Dealership Installed
Boat buyers spending $25,000 to $80,000 on a new wakeboard boat may not be satisfied with the standard wakeboard towers and tower accessories offered by the factory. For this reason boat dealerships may order some of their boats without wakeboard towers and deal directly with the OEM tower manufacturer in order to offer more finishes, options, and accessories. Some boat dealerships even offer several brands of towers in all of their various iterations in order to please the boat buyer. Financing in a custom wakeboard tower with all of the accessories along with a complete professional boat audio system is very common these days.
Independently Installed
In every region of the country there are small independent specialty boat accessory installers. These companies can offer a range of services including wakeboard tower installation, professional boat audio systems, boat repair and maintenance, boat detailing, and winterization.
The reasons that a boat owner might choose an independent installer rather than their boat dealership could include the following:
“¢ Lower hourly labor rate (dealerships may charge up to $750 to install a tower)
“¢ Availability of service during the busy season
“¢ Quality of service (not all dealerships offer quality)
“¢ Relationship with mechanic/installer
“¢ Greater product options
“¢ Hours and days of operation
“¢ Convenience
Most tower installations from professional installer takes between 1 to 3 hours to complete and can range from $100 – $500 in total cost.
Wakeside is in the process of developing a national installer network to help customers to find quality wakeboard tower installation services. The first major installation center is in Northern California and was opened in 2006. This installation center also provides high-end boat audio installations.
DIY (do it yourself)
Many households have at least one “handyman” that can figure out just about anything. Installing a wakeboard tower is not rocket science, so taking the installation project on yourself can save you considerable money and sometimes even improves on the installation. With very basic tools, the average handyman can install a wakeboard tower in about 2 to 5 hours. Wakeboard tower manufacturers include specific installation instructions along with the tower.
Check out individual towers at Wakeside.com for installation instructions that can be printed out in advance to see if you want to tackle the wakeboard tower install.