Rod Holder's (sturdy mount?)

[Fishin_Magician]

Howdy guys,

I have some tite-lok rod holders that mount to 6" track plates. There is a "T" bar that slides into the plate to which the actual rod holders are mounted.

My problem is I want to mount the 6 inch track plates in areas of the boat I cannot get under to attach bolts. So the screws loosen over time. That is not the only problem either. If any amount of pressure gets exerted on the top of the "T" it has allot of leverage to rip the screws out. Like someone accidentally putting their weight on the "T" bar.

Has anyone had this problem? I am going to have to remount a couple of my 6" plates because they have become loose or pulled out. I don't really want to mount them in the same fashion because it was not long lasting.

I thought of trying some kind of "molly" that goes in small and then opens up to take the function of a nut. But all I could find for that was for materials like dry wall and for the amount of force you get from hanging a picture.

Nothing I can think of short of a seat base seems like it would be sturdy enough...

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

~Fishin Magician~

[Crappie Reaper]

Do you know anyone in the aircraft industry? ie maintenance/manufacturing? You could use what is called a nut plate, or floating nut plate. If you had enough of these in place, it should hold. They get riveted into position. You would have to use a blind rivet, or huckbolt if there is no access to the bottom area. With a nutplate, you can remove the bolts, and the nut plates stay in place. Shreveport has serveral aviation businesses. You might talk someone into scoring you some 1/4" nutplates, and have them help you install them.

There are many "Blind" type fasteners in the aircraft industry. I will look in the shop and see if I can find some that will work for you. Are you fastening into fiberglass? How many fasteners are needed? Some of these types of fasteners cannot be removed once installed other than drilling them out. Would that be a problem?

[Eager Beaver]

Howdy guys,

I have some tite-lok rod holders that mount to 6" track plates. There is a "T" bar that slides into the plate to which the actual rod holders are mounted.

My problem is I want to mount the 6 inch track plates in areas of the boat I cannot get under to attach bolts. So the screws loosen over time. That is not the only problem either. If any amount of pressure gets exerted on the top of the "T" it has allot of leverage to rip the screws out. Like someone accidentally putting their weight on the "T" bar.

Has anyone had this problem? I am going to have to remount a couple of my 6" plates because they have become loose or pulled out. I don't really want to mount them in the same fashion because it was not long lasting.

I thought of trying some kind of "molly" that goes in small and then opens up to take the function of a nut. But all I could find for that was for materials like dry wall and for the amount of force you get from hanging a picture.

Nothing I can think of short of a seat base seems like it would be sturdy enough...

Any help would be greatly appreciated,

~Fishin Magician~

You can use the molly-butterfly bolts that come in 1/4 in. and or 3/8th in. which should be strong enough to hold the plates. Any Hardware store should carry them.

[Deacon]

FM,
I have used the butterfly bolting system to secure things in an area where you cannot get behind to put a nut and washer. They really work great. It cost a little more but I get the Stainless Steel. They last forever. I think the butterfly will spread the load to a wider area which should help with the screw ripping out of the fiberglass.

[Barnacle Bill]

I put mine in with the biggest flat head SS screws I could find. I also coated the threads with a sealer. So far so good. Mine is going into plywood.

[Fishin_Magician]

Thanks for all the help guys. The material I am mounting to is straight to the deck of my aluminium boat. In the past I have just used screws straight into the deck after drilling pilot holes.

My next try was going to be the molly-butterfly bolts but I was "skeert" to drill that big of a hole in my deck. I need 3 holes/screws for each plate and I want to mount 4 plates so a total of 12 holes in the deck. And the molly-butterfly bolts I saw at Lowes looked like I would need to dril at least a quarter to half inch hole.

Crappie Reaper thanks for the tip on trying aviation businesses. I am going to have to call around and look into that.

~Fishin' Magician~

[RedBobber]

You might try a product called a well-nut. It is a rubber flanged bushing with a molded in nut. I used them to mount seats in a john boat years ago and they never failed. Do a Google search. I think you might find them in a good hardware store. They will stand up to a lot of abuse.

[SoBoMan]

Try 100 per cent Silicone caulking on screw
threads, give it cure time per instructions
from tube. this stuff is mighty good for a lot
of projects.
Another thought, can you add more screws?.

[PanMan_VA]

Riv nuts will hold well in thin materials like aluminum.

[Fishin_Magician]

Thanks for all the help guys, gave me alot of ideas. I going to try rivets. I got some stainless steel POP rivets and a tool to pull them into place. Seem to be holding well but big test will come when we take her to the lake this weekend.

Thanks again, really could not have figured this out with out yall's crappie(.com) assistance!

~Fishin' Magician~