Boats with Automatic Hatch -- We've got Probelms

On older Nautique Supersports the rear hatch is a 1-piece sundeck that opens and closes from a hydrolic arm.... our arm has died.

Has anyone turned theirs into a manual one?

We pulled the pin on it and can open/close manually now but without that arm for support there is a ton of stress on the hinges now.

Anyone know if the little things that keep truck toppers/car hoods open will work to relieve pressure or is that not enough juice??

Also does anyone know if ^^ those little guys will keep it locked down more than just nothing?

Or if anyone has done it any other way I would love to hear about it.... I just feel now that it has died its time for a new way, the automatic way is just an un-needed thing

Thankls

Hey man, you can either put a new electric lift on it, just open it by hand, or find some heavy duty gas assist lifts. They have everything here... http://www.go2marine.com/category.do?no=14494&view=item

The gas assist lifts look like what we're looking for.... I want to just do it by hand but if you hold it open all the weight is on the hinges and I feel that won't last to long that way... but those assists should help take the load off.

Thanks man!

look up conversions on planetnautique there have been a few done. The one below is making a 1 door into a three door like the newer models.

http://www.planetnautique.com/index.php?name=PNphpBB2&file=viewtopic&t=14905&hig hlight=conversion

i've got the same problem and same boat. the challenge with the lifters is where do you mount them? for the deck mounts you would i guess glass the attachments right to the surface. that could get ugly. or else drill right through for the mount , but now you're into removing the skin.
the 'boat mount' is the trickier part. one option would be to make some super high engine bay dividers that would come a few inches from the underside of the deck. the only other location would be out to the sides. thats getting into a fancier L-bracket or something glassed under the lip. either way its not an easy job.
i cant imagine how much free time that guy had to convert the hatch to 3 piece.

(Message edited by mro on September 14, 2009)

^ depending the length of some of the gas assist ones I was thinking welding a plate to the metal supports for the back seat, then mounting the arm to that plate.... or just using where the old arm was

Are you sure the actuator is toast? We just had the same problem and the CC dealership said 98% of the time it is the relays. We replaced the relays and it works like a champ. If you can - just run the actuator wires straight to the battery ....if it spins its not the actuator

The mounting position of the arms can be difficult to nail down. If the arm doesn't fully compress when it's closed, you will lose pressure in the arm over time and it won't be able to support the door. You also want to make sure the door opens up enough to give full access to the vdrive storage/ballast areas. It's trial and error so just play around mocking it up in a couple different locations before you weld anything.

sounds like it's time for a whole new boat imo.

haha... i just paid it off... don't think so.

roomservice, you sound like my dealer.

I hated the power lift and converted my VLX several years ago. That being said, I am pretty sure I still have the electric ram off of my boat, and it should still work. I'll let it go cheap if anyone wants it.

You can see the gas springs and mounting points in this thread, and the latch in the pic below:

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=20493&st=0&p=307888&#entry3078 88

I basically just mounted the springs where it held the hatch open as far as I wanted it, and they work great. If the base mount is up close to the bottom of the hatch, the springs go overcenter and hold the hatch down on their own. I've forgotten to latch the latch a couple times and driven home down the freeway, and the springs held it down well enough to prevent me from having to learn a very expensive lesson.

I had the one piece hatch with the hydrolic lift and the first thing I did with the boat is replace it. I love it this way.




(Message edited by nick_in_ssp on September 14, 2009)

I ripped mine out as soon as I bought the boat... took up ballast space plus it was a pain in the butt. I actually just sold it a couple of months ago to a guy on planet nautique.

I just lift it by hand, it doesn't put anymore stress on the hinge than the actuator would. To hold it up I use an old telescoping aluminum pole, I think it was originally a thing that had a pad on the end of it for washing cars. I took the pad off and put a pin through it and through the old place the actuator hooked into. I only use that if I'm working on the engine, otherwise I just have it unhooked and tucked away.

How often do you really need to get in there anyway, unless you're manually pumping sacs.

You can get a factory style latch from www.nautiqueskins.com on the parts and accessories page.

^^Nick in the TC, you should flip your springs over so they're rod-down. It keeps the oil on the seals, and they will live a lot longer.