RSSTower Types
Custom Manufactured Towers
Some of the Original Equipment and Aftermarket Manufacturers offer custom manufactured towers. Custom towers require exact mount location and exact dimensions are determined before the manufacturing process can begin.
The biggest advantage of a custom tower is that they are designed specifically for the boat without adjustments, and as a result, usually fit better and are usually more rigid. Custom towers often have multiple cross members to increase stiffness, an option that is not available on universal adjustable towers that must conform to fit many different boats. Larger diameter tubing is one option used by both custom and universal adjustable tower manufacturers to compensate for design limitations and to increase stiffness (see Tubing Diameter for more information).
Some of the companies that offer custom towers maintain an extensive list of templates (patterns) from their previous custom towers. Some even maintain jigs to speed up the custom manufacturing of the popular boat models. Others work entirely from boat measurements taken by the consumer. Titan is currently the only OEM company offering custom towers.
The average lead time for a custom tower is 2 – 4 weeks but can range from 1-5 weeks depending on the time of the year. If you want a custom tower, it makes sense to plan your purchase during the winter, when tower manufacturers are least busy. If you plan to install additional accessories beyond the tower itself, leave plenty of time to complete your project so that you can fully enjoy your boat during summer.
Universal Adjustable Towers
Adjustable towers were designed in order to reduce manufacturing costs through mass production and to enable towers to be kept in inventory at both the manufacturer location and the local dealer for immediate delivery or installation. One side benefit is smaller packaging which often allows for UPS shipment, which is cheaper and faster.
Universal adjustable towers usually have fewer options since they are mass produced. Often they are only available in black or white powder-coat or a brushed polished finish.
Skylon, Titan, and Xtreme Towers are currently the OEM companies offering universal adjustable wakeboard towers to the aftermarket. All of thesecompanies are now producing very high quality thick-tube (2 1/4″ – 2 3/8″ diameter) adjustable towers.
With such competition among the OEM companies to produce high quality universal adjustable towers, we’re sure there will be more innovative styles coming each year and we are starting to see prices drop as manufacturing volumes and economies of scale kick in.