DarkHorseRacing
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- Jun 14, 2014
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Hey all, I know we don't have a Wakeboard channel in here yet, but I had some questions for anyone with an Airboom tower on their boat.
First off, do you have an Airboom 4D or 3D tower? If you have a 4D, does the tower move around alot when the boat is in motion (ie swaying side to side when hitting swells/waves/chop, etc)? Have you broken any of the allen bolts in the tower (ie on the side billet plate or on the cross bar atop the tower)? Have you swapped the allen bolts from stainless to something a little more pliable (ie Grade 8 bolts or ?)?
I ask because I have an Airboom 4D tower, its original to the boat and the first owner before I got the boat (making the tower 7 years old). I boat on a very rough lake (Arrowhead) and I break about 4-5 stainless bolts a year in the tower itself from the tower's motion when I encounter chop, rollers, boat wakes etc. Plus the tower seems to be very jiggly all the time, the slightest bump and the tower goes back and forth (side to side, never front to back). I have to hold the tower while I'm driving to dampen the swaying. On top of that, the bimini is attached to the tower and the swaying of the tower breaks the stainless allen bolts holding the bimini to the tower adapter rings. I break about 4-5 bimini allen bolts a year as well. I keep a good supply of spares, and zip ties to do quick repairs, but this is getting old.
I've called Airboom and I want to bring the boat by like in October to have them service the tower (change all the bolts, replace swivel parts, replace parts where the bolt is broken and unremovable, etc). I also want to see if they can adapt some gas shocks to the tower to dampen the swaying and get it down to being more stable. I understand the tower should not be completely rigid to the hull or it will transfer all the forces to the hull and cause cracking at the mount points, but this tower swaying is beyond ridiculous. Not to mention the noise (squeaking) when it moves. Is tower sway all in the mounting points to the boat itself? Would changing the mounting feet orientation or direction help with the sway?
Airboom told me to go through the tower and make sure all the bolts were tight, but other than that, was little help. Tightening the bolts did not solve the issue. They also didn't seem all that enthusiastic about me bringing the boat to them, they were more into mailing me parts to fix it myself. Except I have no idea how to do that without a forklift or something to hold the tower while I'm taking bolts out to replace them, etc. I had a bolt break already and it took like 4 people to muscle the tower back into position at a dock just so I could get the allen bolt back into place. Not a good thing when its just me doing this.
I also want to see if maybe we can swap to through-bolting the tower together rather than using these allen bolts. When the allen bolts break half is invariably stuck in the threads and can't be removed without drilling it out and cleaning up the threads. I'd rather smooth bore the holes and run smooth bolt hardware through the holes and use nylocks on the nut end. That way if the bolt breaks I can remove both pieces easily and just slide a new bolt, washers and nylock nut on and tighten it back up.
I'm also considering swapping the 4D tower to the 3D tower to see if the other tower option is just less prone to all this motion. I've also considered taking the tower off completely, but right now my bimini is attached to the tower so if I take the tower off, I'd have to redo the bimini to now connect it to the boat which basically means starting over with it. Plus the bimini is rated to 75mph attached to the tower (stainless tubing) where I doubt I could do over 40 if it was just hooked to the boat. So I'd rather not lose the tower at the moment.
Any thoughts on this?
First off, do you have an Airboom 4D or 3D tower? If you have a 4D, does the tower move around alot when the boat is in motion (ie swaying side to side when hitting swells/waves/chop, etc)? Have you broken any of the allen bolts in the tower (ie on the side billet plate or on the cross bar atop the tower)? Have you swapped the allen bolts from stainless to something a little more pliable (ie Grade 8 bolts or ?)?
I ask because I have an Airboom 4D tower, its original to the boat and the first owner before I got the boat (making the tower 7 years old). I boat on a very rough lake (Arrowhead) and I break about 4-5 stainless bolts a year in the tower itself from the tower's motion when I encounter chop, rollers, boat wakes etc. Plus the tower seems to be very jiggly all the time, the slightest bump and the tower goes back and forth (side to side, never front to back). I have to hold the tower while I'm driving to dampen the swaying. On top of that, the bimini is attached to the tower and the swaying of the tower breaks the stainless allen bolts holding the bimini to the tower adapter rings. I break about 4-5 bimini allen bolts a year as well. I keep a good supply of spares, and zip ties to do quick repairs, but this is getting old.
I've called Airboom and I want to bring the boat by like in October to have them service the tower (change all the bolts, replace swivel parts, replace parts where the bolt is broken and unremovable, etc). I also want to see if they can adapt some gas shocks to the tower to dampen the swaying and get it down to being more stable. I understand the tower should not be completely rigid to the hull or it will transfer all the forces to the hull and cause cracking at the mount points, but this tower swaying is beyond ridiculous. Not to mention the noise (squeaking) when it moves. Is tower sway all in the mounting points to the boat itself? Would changing the mounting feet orientation or direction help with the sway?
Airboom told me to go through the tower and make sure all the bolts were tight, but other than that, was little help. Tightening the bolts did not solve the issue. They also didn't seem all that enthusiastic about me bringing the boat to them, they were more into mailing me parts to fix it myself. Except I have no idea how to do that without a forklift or something to hold the tower while I'm taking bolts out to replace them, etc. I had a bolt break already and it took like 4 people to muscle the tower back into position at a dock just so I could get the allen bolt back into place. Not a good thing when its just me doing this.
I also want to see if maybe we can swap to through-bolting the tower together rather than using these allen bolts. When the allen bolts break half is invariably stuck in the threads and can't be removed without drilling it out and cleaning up the threads. I'd rather smooth bore the holes and run smooth bolt hardware through the holes and use nylocks on the nut end. That way if the bolt breaks I can remove both pieces easily and just slide a new bolt, washers and nylock nut on and tighten it back up.
I'm also considering swapping the 4D tower to the 3D tower to see if the other tower option is just less prone to all this motion. I've also considered taking the tower off completely, but right now my bimini is attached to the tower so if I take the tower off, I'd have to redo the bimini to now connect it to the boat which basically means starting over with it. Plus the bimini is rated to 75mph attached to the tower (stainless tubing) where I doubt I could do over 40 if it was just hooked to the boat. So I'd rather not lose the tower at the moment.
Any thoughts on this?
