Wide Load

[Ed]

With the beam of a 23.5 being 8'4" it is a bit wide to be legally trailered in Illinois. Has anyone had experience with what permit might be needed to avoid lehgal hassles with trailering? I don't plan on trailering much but I'd hate to have the police ruin a good day of sailing or worse yet have the insurance nullified.

 

[Ricky Prevete]

Wideness

In MOST states, and I don't know if Illinois follows the norm, the legal limit on width is 8' 6". That is also the limit on interstates. You may have noticed these strange road signs that have a green square with the number 102 inside it, with four black rectangles below the green box. The green box and the black rectangles are supposed to represent the view of a truck from the back, and the 102 represents the maximum width of the vehicle. 102" is 8' 6".

 

[Spanky]

Insurance

I am certainly not an expert, but you may want to ask a lawyer. I don't think that your insurance will be nullified unless it is the actual over width of the vehicle that causes the accident. Furthermore, I don't consider myself an outlaw, but I would add that the upright guide bars on my trailer for my 235 are about 1.5 inches in diameter and they stand out from the boat a couple inches on each side. This puts my trailer several inches over the 8'6" limit and yet I have not been stopped in any state for any reason. The best advice I can give you is to drive safely and make certain your lights always work. I carry replacement parts, bulbs and tools to fix the lights on the highway incase they fail.