Project RIG update

Our recent journey from Melbourne to Port Stephens to fish the Trailer Boat Fishing Tournament was our first extended trip with the Explorer/Mustang project rig. Thus, we can finally bring you some facts regarding the towing ability of the Explorer and the general performance of the Mustang. There were some necessary alterations to the rig prior to embarking on the 2000-odd kilometre round trip to Nelson Bay.

When the Mustang was picked up in October 2000 we thought the boat looked a little bow-down on the trailer, as the carriage was right back under the transom. While having the carriage aft placed good weight on the towball (which translated to good towing), unfortunately we could never get the bow high enough to completely drain the underfloor hatches in the cockpit of the Mustang.

Having water constantly lying in the boat obviously wasn't an ideal situation, so it was decided to move the trailer carriage forward, which lifted the bow and made the Mustang sit level on the trailer. (I'll come back to the results of this change later.) While the trailer was at Dunbier we also had them fit a spare wheel - something the trailer should have had from day one, really.

IN CONTROL
The Explorer has a maximum towing capacity of 2500kg, so the Mustang is pretty much on the limit of the Explorer's legal towing ability. Because of the Mustang's size and weight, we fitted a Hayes Lemmerz electronic brake controller to the Explorer. The model we selected is an Energize III, which is suitable for trailers with two or four brakes. You see many people towing caravans with brake controllers installed to their cars, however, they are not as popular with boat-owners. Now I have used one, I would highly recommend them to anyone towing large boats.

The brake controller is wired up to your trailer brakes and works via a pendulum. As you brake the vehicle, the trailer brakes also come on. The harder you brake the car, the more the pendulum moves and braking transfers to the trailer. The brake controller has a gain adjustment for heavy or light braking plus a manual override, which allows you to apply brakes to the trailer without braking the vehicle. This feature is particularly useful when the trailer starts to sway.

Another couple of goodies we purchased from Steadfast Marine before the trip to Port Stephens were a Couple Mate and a Hitch Helmet. The Couple Mate enables me to single-handedly hitch up the boat first time every time, and the Hitch Helmet deters any would-be thieves from stealing the rig while disconnected from the vehicle.

SWAY AWAY
It wasn't long into our journey that we discovered the decision to move the trailer carriage forward wasn't a wise one. Every now and then, when a large truck passed us, the suction would start the trailer swaying. This was when it was discovered the brake controller was worth its weight in gold. Applying brakes to the trailer while accelerating the vehicle managed to keep us on the straight and narrow.

Apart from the occasional sway, the rest of our journey was quite enjoyable. I was very impressed with the Explorer's towing ability. The four-litre V-six provided excellent acceleration even with the Mustang on the back. The rig sat comfortably on 100-110kmh most of the time, with only the largest hills slowing us down to 80kmh.

Fuel consumption while towing the Mustang was around five kilometres per litre, which gave us a range of about 375km with the 75lt fueltank. Obviously the fuel economy improves dramatically without the boat on the back.

We are getting very good figures running around town.

With the rear seats folded down the Explorer has an impressive cargo capacity. We loaded all of our clothes, fishing gear, rods and reels, etc, for a week away and still managed to maintain vision out the back of the vehicle. The driver is spoilt with electronic seat adjustment to ensure comfort while at the wheel. The seat features precise adjustments in four directions, plus a lumbar support.

By far the most valuable towing feature on the Explorer, however, is the Automatic Ride Control (ARC) system. This electronic levelling device automatically adjusts to the weight on the towball, raising the rear suspension and keeping the trailer drawbar level.

One great thing about boating is you never stop learning, especially when you have a new boat. The Mustang is providing us with quite an education at the moment, as every time we take it out we learn something new.

Not only did moving the trailer carriage forward affect the towing integrity of the Mustang, but we think it may have also affected the fuel filling. When the bow was down on the trailer we didn't seem to have too much trouble filling the boat with fuel. Now it is level we seem to get a lot of blowback. This could be just coincidence, or perhaps we have a blocked breather.

THIRSTY WORK
Unfortunately, the fuel gauge on the Mustang hasn't worked from day one - a faulty sender unit is believed to be the problem. What all this leads to, is the fact we don't know how much fuel is in the tank. We thought it was full on arrival at Port Stephens, but it obviously wasn't.

We ran out of fuel at sea - very embarrassing but something that can happen if your fuel gauge doesn't work and you have a fueltank that won't fill.

We are having our fuel problems rectified as this issue goes to press, so we'll enlighten you on the cause and detail the remedies next issue. To make matters worse, fueltank access on the Mustang is difficult and perhaps something the company should look at in the future.

While on the subject of fuel, we noticed the MerCruiser doesn't have a primary fuel filter. Personally, I prefer a fuel filter with a water separator, sight glass and drain, just in case you get a bad batch of fuel. MerCruiser advised that the standard fuel filter fitted to the engine does have a water separator and performs its duties sufficiently without a primary fuel filter. However, they do have a filter with a water trap and a drain plug you can purchase (the model number is 35-809100). We purchased one of these filters for the Mustang but wouldn't you know it; it's too long and hits one of the bearers.

We also intend fitting a Navman fuel flow meter which hooks straight into our Navman 950 chartplotter. No more running out of fuel for us!

STAYING AFLOAT
Another little trap for young players we discovered while at Port Stephens was our main bilge pump didn't have a float switch.

The Mustang has two water traps which receive any water in the cockpit via drains in the cockpit floor. Both these water traps feature bilge pumps with float switches, which keep the cockpit floor dry. By rights, no water should enter the main bilge and is probably why Mustang haven't fitted a float switch. However, we were running our livebait tank all day which was overflowing through the lid and into the bilge through a gap adjacent to the engine box. Without a float switch, the bilge gradually filled with water throughout the day. Fortunately, the problem was located and the bilge pump was switched on. No problem - but it could have been! I don't see any reason why this bilge pump couldn't have a float switch with an override switch on the dash. (Yes, we are fitting one now.)

Also, I think we should increase the diameter of the livewell outlets to ensure the water flows overboard instead of into the boat.

It might sound like our trip was full of dramas, but in fact we had a great time. Between photographing the tournament, taking out the NBN film crew and selling Trailer Boat merchandise, we even managed to catch a couple of fish. After all, that's what project boats are all about - letting us discover the things that can take some of the fun out of boating and informing our readers so it doesn't happen to them.