Platform mount stripped loose on 21V

Just basically boo hooing because my platform bracket stripped out through the fiber glass and now the boat is in the shop. Has this ever happened to anybody else? Just curious about the cost and how long to fix. By they way, those platforms are freakin heavy. I had no idea until I pulled it off.

Here you go. There was a post on this about 3 days ago. I don't think anyone discussed cost though.

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/473024.html?1184082683

Thanks Tom. I wish mine would have broken loose that clean. Mine sort of cracked the paint and fiber glass when it pulled out. Oh the joy!

No problem.

My platform rattles in the bracket but the brackets aren't loose yet. I'm probably going to put some foam inserts in the bracket to keep the platform from rattling.

(Message edited by wakeprodigy on July 13, 2007)

I am hoping warranty will step up to the plate. Good luck with the foam inserts. By the way, nice boat.

I had this happen to me about 2 years ago. Come to find out, they didn't use self-locking nuts on the inside of the boat. it was covered under warranty

That gives me hope Steve. Thanks.

Well, just got the quote back on the boat. $1,500 DOLLARS not Pesos folks!!! Wow, I think I am getting bent over on this one. Is anyone out there who can shed some light on if this is ridiculous for fiber glass work?.............sorry I just passed out again. Input would be great. Thanks.

Can you say warranty? Nathan, what's up with the dealer? Have you taken it to them or just an independent glass shop?

They said it is not covered under warranty.

I was out last week wakesurfing on Andreas's X-30 when the fiberglass swim platform broke off the brackets and the swim platform almost sunk. We hauled it back home and repaierd it. It was a easy fix. On his MC fiberglass platform its all fiberglass with a sunken in peice of cutting board like material(plastic) thats fiberglassed into and over the platform its like a reinforcing strip thats what the aluminum brackets screw into. A thin layer of fiberglass and into a thick 3/4 inch plastic strip. No big deal.

All we did was drill new holes threw the aluminum brackets on the oppisate side of the orignal holes and into the fiberglass platform so we had fresh non striped out material to screw into. We also got larger screws to screw into where the orignal smaller screws has striped or been ripped out. So now his platform has twice as many screws holding on the platorm as orignal. Mabey if yours is like this you can fix it just the way we did.

Take some pictures and I can give you some more Ideas

Thanks "G". I am picking the boat up tonight and I will try to get some pics up so you guys can see what I am talking about.

For those who enjoy pics. I have since sent my complaint to the owner of the Dealership so I am hoping for good news. He seemed pretty nice and responsive. I will keep you all updated.

Nathan,

Call up Skiers Choice and request to talk to someone in their warranty and/or customer service department.

Skiers Choice is known for providing award winning C.S. so i'm sure they'll figure something out.

Nathan-

I just finished up my bracket repair this afternoon. After getting the runaround from the "new" Skier's Choice dealer I decided to fix it myself. Apparently the new dealer doesn't have a glass man and did not even want to see the boat. I was instructed to deal with SC directly and handle the warranty issue with them. No problem. Got through to SC customer service right away and they tell me to call the dealer. I wasn't even going to start down that road.

My brackets (plural) did the exact same thing you show in the picture but only cracked the gel coat.

My solution- pull back the carpet and cut out the floor of the locker. I can't say I was surprised to see that the core material was cracked into several large pieces (inch to two inch by 1/4" to 1/2") around the upper three screw holes. I am surprised that the brackets did not come loose sooner. The upper two screws on the stbd side had very little material holding them in place, while the middle upper screw hole was in the busted up core.

I cleaned out all the loose core and cut out some 18 gauge steel to make a plate for the top three bolts. I bed the bracket, then bolted through the plate, used fender washers and secured with locking nuts. I bit the bullet and used West System's epoxy and colloidal silica filler, awesome product. First I filled all the voids, cracks, gaps with a peanut butter consistency mix, then applied three layers of glass over three days to strengthen the area and waterproof the core. I just need to give it another day, spray some carpet adhesive and I'm back out on the water. Only about $100 for materials and satisfaction knowing it was fixed correctly.

Apologies for shoddy pictures, I only had my phone...







I'll get some pics of the completed repair before I put the carpet back down. Hope this helps.

I've also heard rumors that there should be an aluminum plate inside the stern that the self tapping screws seat in, but shift or drop during layup. Not starting a flame job by any means, just wondering if anyone else had heard the same thing...

Whoa, so the bolts were only being held by "threads" in the fiberglass? Are you saying the factory design aluminum plate that shifts during layup has threaded holes in it? I don't like aluminum threads for anything structural. Most platform brackets I've seen are through-bolted with locknuts behind a ~1/4" aluminum plate.

I'm also shocked this wasn't warrantied.

Trace-

I said no such thing. I had only 'heard' that this might be the case. The self tapping screws pushing through a plate would be as secure as any method I've heard of. (on edit) I'm confused by your suggestion that you wouldn't trust anything aluminum but then state that all brackets you've seen are backed by 1/4" alum plate?

My brackets are now mounted behind a steel plate with locknuts and surrounded with West System. I chose not to go down the warranty route because I am not going to wait around for warranty work to be approved at a third party glass shop. Plus I wanted it done right...

Nathan-

Back out the top two screws and check to see if they have been ground off. Mine were, as they punched through into the side lockers. I'm wondering if the holes created allowed water into the core and that weakened it enough to let the screws pull through.

It looks like in your case that water would have made into the core. Be sure to let it dry out COMPLETELY before making any repair. I can't emphasize this enough, wet core sealed up will only lead to more problems down the road. I'll post pics of the finished repair in the morning.

(Message edited by doug2 on July 20, 2007)

SupraSteve-the owner of the dealership is doing that for me and is sending my pics up. Hopefully I will have some success.

Doug-I am a little weary of doing things like that because I am afraid my work would not be as good as the real deal. But do update me on the finished product. If the dealer falls through I just might try it now that I have seen your comments.

Thanks for the help guys. I will keep you posted.

I don't trust aluminum threads - totally different situation than a 1/4" aluminum sandwich plate with stainless bolts & locknuts... similar to your solution.

Nathan, I have the same year/model boat as you and that is not a good feeling that what happened is not warrantied. That's hard to swallow for a poorly installed bracket. After reading this thread, I checked mine yesterday and so far so good. It will definitely be fixed before I loose the platform.

quote "I am a little weary of doing things like that because I am afraid my work would not be as good as the real deal."

Yeah you could. Your looking at the real deal in your hand. No doubt in my mind that you couldn't do a better job than that piece of shoddy workmanship.

Thanks for the confidence Randy. I am just hoping Skiers Choice will step up. I am not looking for a free hand out on this situation its just the boat is barely over a year. If it had been 3 years I would not even bother making a warranty claim. Its very frustrating.

Trace- My bad, that would make more sense...

Here are the pics. Note that the epoxy hadn't fully cured in the photos. What looks like bubbles are small bumps from the filler.

Port side


Starboard side


West System setup


After giving the epoxy another 24 hours we did go out on Saturday and put well over 500 lbs on the platform, in shallow water of course, and not so much as a creak or any flex in the transom. I'm stoked that it is fixed...

Very nice Doug. I wish mine was that clean of a pull out. The clear coat and fiber glass cracked on the outside of the hull on mine. The other bracket took on spider cracks from the pressure of being the only bracket really holding anything. So, I have no clue how to fix the spider cracks. Glad to hear you are on the water.