Unless any of you are 7 foot and want to come spend an hour in Oklahoma...
Has anyone ever had the supplied screws pull out of an aluminum boat? I bought bolts, washers, and lock nots to use to install, but my arms just aren't long enough to get them installed this way. Didn't drill any holes yet, but I just don't think I'll ever reach them.
So my question is, has anyone ever had the screws strip out. Would be a lot easier install.
I am putting them on the very front and outside edge of the boat which would put them out there to hit docks and such, but I don't have any intentions of running them into stuff.
Appreciate it.
I don't have Hi-Teks, but will in the future. I have a Black Widow set up where I experienced similar problems. I mounted mine on the bow deck of a War Eagle 548. There is no access to the underneath. I initially used screws with no success...flimsy and stripped. I did not want to cut a hole in the deck to bolt them. So, I replaced the screws with stainless steel rivets which, so far, seem to be holding well.
In the meantime, I was not convinced the rivets would be a good long-term solution, so I bought a marine storage box to mount on the vertical face of the bow deck. This is a stepdown to the platform that holds the seat pedestal. So, I cut a hole in the vertical face and mounted the storage box so that I would not have just a hole or a patch. Now I have a convenient place to store all the BG baby shad baits, and future access if I need to replace the rivets with bolts.
This was my solution for an aluminum boat. I am certainly interested to hear how others have resolved this challenge.
Mounted my Hi-Teks with screws in my Lund and never had a problem.
Proud member of TEAM GEEZER
Never had any problems with sheet metal screws in either aluminum or fiberglass.
Since you're offline, I'll add this in case you're interested. It "seems" like you'd rather use bolts, if that's the case, go to the local Home Improvement Center any buy a cheap RivNut gun. I think I paid $15 for mine, and it came with assorted-size RivNuts.
Make an aluminum plate a little larger than your holder base, and transfer the hole pattern to it, drill the proper-size holes for the appropriate-sized RivNuts, and install them into the plate. Tape the plate to the end of a stick, piece of pipe, whatever, and slide it under the deck while someone starts the bolts into the rivnuts (so 2 people and flashlight required, remember to properly compensate helper with an appropriate refreshment). Tighten the bolts, give the stick a yank, and go fishin.
If you choose the screw-method, don't just drill a hole in the hull for the screws. Drill a small hole, then take an awl and tap it down into the undersized drilled hole. That will "flare" the hull material into a "V" and give your screw more material to bite-into as opposed to just the deck material thickness. Just go slow and don't oversize it (as you'd do with drilling).
Apple Pie ProStaff
Just to add to what Neon said,if you dont want to buy a rivet nut gun, just tack weld some nuts to the bottom of the plate. Im sure you know a welder near by.
MEMBER CRAPPIE MAFIA
i have two sets of hi-tec on my excel ihave been all over ar. and ms. the past 3years and not a one has came loose !!!! i used the screws that come with them !!!!!
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