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Extending Tower Retention Cables--2018 212X--Thanks Haknslash

JDRacing

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So, inspired by Haknslash's pioneering work and excellent thread concerning lowering the folded tower height on his 2016 AR 192 (https://jetboaters.net/threads/how-to-get-your-2016-ar192-or-ar195-in-a-garage-less-than-7.10369/#post-177662), my wife and I just completed a similar modification to our 2018 212X. I specifically mention my wife here, because this is a two person job on this boat.

Haknslash, I want you to know that your efforts resulted in a sale Yamaha would not have gotten (at least not for a new boat) without your work and post. So thank you. You should get a commission from Yamaha.

We had been looking at a used 2014 212X, which, with the older style tower, would have easily fit in our 93 1/2 inch clearance garage. But the folded tower height on the new versions was like 103 inches, without doing things like putting the tongue virtually on the ground or letting the air out of the tires--and even so, we weren't going to be making up 11 inches. But after reading what Haknslash did, I was pretty sure that I could make it fit, so we bought the new boat instead of the 2014. And it worked, although, as we discovered, we had to go about it a bit differently because, well, it's a different boat.

The first thing that is different is the ballast tanks are in the way in both storage lockers. I'm 5' 8" and about 175 lbs, and there was no way I was going to fit in there with those ballast tanks. Also, I'm pretty sure the deck where the tower mounts is substantially higher off the floor of the storage compartments on my boat. I could crawl in there enough to crane my head to see the cable end and washer/rubber/nut assembly dangling way the f&%$ above me and substantially aft. Absent gorilla-length arms, no way I was going to be able to reach it to attach a coupler/bolt extension like Haknslash did. Also, in order to get the tower to its optimal/lowest height when lowered, I needed a lot more than the 2-3 inch extension it looked like Haknslash obtained with his setup--which created a whole new set of issues.

So, I explored whether I could drop the cable (Yamaha refers to it as the "Tower Lanyard" on its parts list) through the base of the tower and into the compartment so I could pull it out and modify it on the bench.

With the tower lowered, I measured the distance between a chosen/marked point on the tower behind the pivot point to another chosen/marked point at the base of the tower, parallel to the tower lanyard/cable. I figured that once I released the lanyards/cables and lowered the tower to the new height I wanted, I could measure the distance at the same two points and it would tell me how much I needed to lengthen the tower lanyards to have the stop where I wanted.

Before removing the cable from either side, I used Haknslash's ingenious application of car ramps to support the tower. But I needed a support structure of some sort to set the ramps on to get them high enough to take the tension off the stock-length cables. And there's already a car ramp support in the boat disguised as a cooler. Setting the ramps on the cooler, I was able to raise the support ramps and the tower just high enough to put some slack in the cables.

This is what the underside of the tower looks like where the lanyard/cable attaches to the tower. There is an aluminum block (which others have discussed) with a slotted boss to retain the fitting on the end of the cable, and a socket head bolt (Lockited in, but not terrible tight) holding the aluminum block against a flange milled into the bottom of the tower. For orientation, the bottom of the picture is towards the rear of the underside of the tower.

Underside of Tower.jpg


After setting the ramps on the cooler/ramp support, I removed this bolt and block (wrapped towels around the base and the surrounding gel coat in case I dropped anything). 5/16" allen socket is the size. Here's a close up of the block, bolt and cable after I loosened it, showing the slot and the captured cable end. In this picture, the rear of the underside of the tower is towards the top of the picture.

Closeup of Lanyard Mounting Block.jpg


After I removed the block, I found that one cable end easily slipped through the hole in the base of the tower and dropped into the storage compartment. The other one (starboard side) dropped into the hole and stuck there. The end of the cable is a barrel shaped piece of stainless, with the cable press-rolled into the center. It's 3/8" in diameter (that dimension is important later on), and about 1/2" high. The hole in the tower base on the starboard side on my boat had some fiberglass overhang in it, and it wasn't opened all the way up for the barrel to slip through. Using a small drift pin punch, I was able to tap it through (gently--didn't take much force at all) and that cable fell through as well.

These are the stock Tower Lanyards on the bench. I taped the 1/4-20 threads to mark where the top of the upper nut which held the washer/disk assembly was located.

Stock Tower Cables on Bench.jpg

Next we removed the cooler, so the car ramps were on the cockpit deck, and set the tower on it. It was down about a foot lower than it was with the cables attached.

Tower Supported by  Car Ramps.jpg


Because the 212X cockpit is larger than the AR 192, the front of the tower didn't come anywhere near the steering wheel, or the windshield, except perhaps at the rear of the wrap around windshield if you were to really let the tower all the way down. Although it might hit the seats first. I measured at the highest point (not including the wakeboard racks, which will have to be removed or turned 90 degrees when stored in the garage, since they are several inches higher). I found that the rear bimini attachment point and the rear of the tower (behind the pivot point) were the highest points. If I went too low with the front of the tower, the rear of the tower would be the highest point. Too high with the front of the tower, and bimini attachment point was the highest. So I evened them out, and found it was about 1 inch below where the tower rested on the ramps (with cooler removed, of course). That gave me 92" clearance at both the rear of the tower and the bimini attachment point, with the trailer frame parallel to the floor, and will get me through the 93.5" garage door.

This also worked out great because when I measured back at the original points behind the pivot to see how much I needed to lengthen the cables, I simply added about 3/4" or so inches to the cable length calculation to drop the tower about the same amount below where it was resting on the ramps--which meant that when the tower was resting on the ramps I had some slack in the soon-to-be lengthened cables--which helps a lot for reinstallation.

As far as extending the cables, this created another challenge. I needed to add 6 inches of length to get the tower to the desired height. I was going to use Allthread and simply couple it to the existing 1/4-20 threaded end of the cable in the picture above. But with that much length, it meant that the coupler, and the locking nuts to lock the coupler to the two pieces (which I would have wanted to use), would come up not only through the opening in the fiberglass below the tower base, but would need to come up all the way through the hole in the base of the tower when the tower was down. And that hole isn't big enough to take a standard 1/4-20 nut, which is 7/16" wrench size. Above I mentioned that the barrel end is 3/8", and it just barely fits through, particularly with fiberglass overhang into the hole. A 7/16" nut would never make it. One alternative was use small (like 5/16) locking type 12 point 1/4-20 nuts, and I actually have some of those. But I also wasn't sure I wanted that 1/4-20 coupler, which is also 3/8" diameter, coming up and down through the tower base each time. And it would have required that entire lanyard to have a long straight segment sticking out through the hole before it turned into bendable cable. So the needed 6" extension meant a different approach than a simple hardware store run.

I had two choices: Either get a rigger to extend my cables, or get new cables made up that were exactly 6" longer. The standard cables are 20" in length, exactly, from the end of the barrel to the end of the 1/4-20 threads. From the measurements above, I needed it to be exactly 26" to get the desired tower height.

I got referred to a great local rigger in West Sacramento (P.M. me if you're local and want contact info). This shop didn't have a roll press, so they couldn't make up new cables to order with the proper fittings on each end--although their Southern California shop could do so, if extending the existing cables didn't work out. Since extending the existing cables was easier, cheaper and immediate (he did it while I waited and watched), we thought we'd try that first.

So we needed to splice a new piece of cable into the existing cable, and keep the swedges necessary to do so as small, round and aligned as possible. Took this guy about 20 minutes to do both of these, and by working it and carefully rotating the cable in the swedge tool, he was able to essential recreate a roll press effect. And the largest diameter for all four of the swedges was 0.34", still smaller than the 3/8" (0.375") barrel. I figured if it still got caught unacceptably trying to get through the hole either way, I could just get new cables made up.

When I got the extended cables home, I chamfered the edges on my bench grinder to try to lessen their tendency to catch the fiberglass (on the underside) or the hole in the bottom of tower base. I will keep an eye on them for weathering, since they are not stainless. Here's the extended cable:Extended Tower Lanyard.jpg

and a close up of a swedge with chamfered edges:


Swedge Closeup.jpg

Each cable turned out to be exactly 26". I put the disks back to where they were originally, and reinstalled the cables using the fish method. Before doing so, I took a 90 degree drill with a 25/64 (or a 13/32) drill bit to clean up the fiberglass protruding into the hole on the starboard side where the barrel had stuck when I removed the cable.

Fishing it from the top was actually very easy. Some 14 gauge insulated wire and electrical tape, and it pretty much pulled right through:

Fishing Lanyard Back Through Tower Base.jpg


Pulled it through while wife fed it through from the storage locker:

Pulled it Through--Removing Tape.jpg


Then reinstall the barrel end of the cable in the block and into the base of the tower. I used blue Locktite. The slot and the cable go toward the BACK of tower. On the threaded end, I put the disk/nut/washer assembly back in exactly the same position it came off from, where I had marked it with blue tape.

Here's starboard extended tower lanyard/cable setup with the tower lowered:

Stbd Extended Lanyard Installed.jpg

And the port side:

Extended Tower Lanyard Installed.jpg

So, did it work? Does it catch so badly when I lowered the tower that I felt like it was a total waste of time?
It does catch slightly when lowering the tower--pretty darned slightly in fact. Simply move the top of the tower up and down a bit, and the swedges pull right through. Dropping or raising the tower on these things is a two person job anyway, and it still is. If it really got stuck (which it hasn't in trying it a half dozen times), all the other person would need to do is gently center the cable and it will slip right through.

Here's a demonstration--just do it slowly, which you would anyway:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Ik2h0fbJKftSUa6sU_8YpUtC9DwozmM0/view?usp=sharing

Interestingly, the biggest catch comes at the end, and it's obviously not from the swedges, which are well clear. Rather, the catch is from the original 1/4-20 nut (7/16" wrench size) hanging up in the fiberglass in the hole in the underside, below where the tower base attaches. In other words, the nut hangs up and then releases just before the disk seats itself under the deck. It only does it on the side shown in the video, and probably did it before I ever started this project.

Both cables were properly adjusted without changing anything. By making sure that each cable was extended exactly the same amount to exactly the same length (26" overall), and putting the washers/disk/nuts assemblies back in the same place, the tension in the cables with the tower lowered felt pretty darn even.

If I ever decide that I can't live with the swedge's minor catching, it's apparently not terribly difficult to get new cables made up with the correct fitting on each end and cable in whatever length you want.

Jeff
 
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Dthorpe

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Good write up. I was going to do something similar but the car ramps are just so easy to use I thought no I’ll stick with them.
 
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Dthorpe

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...and it is very useful to know that a 6" extension is what you need.
 

haknslash

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Just now seeing this thread lol. Great job! :winkingthumbsup":winkingthumbsup"
 

JDRacing

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Thanks for doing it first and pointing the rest of us in the right direction.

Jeff
 

sixthgear

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Would this work the same on a 2018 ar210? I need to lower the tower about 2" for it to fit in my garage.
 

JDRacing

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If the 2018 AR210 uses the same cable/threaded rod/disk system to retain the tower when folded, I'd think it would work. If you only need 2" more extension, then you could probably use the threaded coupler process that @haknslash describes in the thread linked in my first paragraph above.
 
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Jameson Clark

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So the 92" is with the wakeboard racks removed?
 

JDRacing

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Yes, including removing the clamps, or at least loosening and rotating the clamps out of the way.
 

ithinkifloat

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I absolutely need a set of these for my ‘17 212x, but I can’t seem to find the hardware to recreate the Yamaha harness. Has anyone sourced an extended set of tower retention cables, or know where to source the cable termination end that slots into the aluminum block?
 

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Based on what I went through to extend mine, I don't think they can simply be sourced in the length you need. The end which goes into the block and the end with the threaded connector need to be roll pressed onto the correct length wire rope/cable. This is the business of commercial rigging companies, which can make you custom pieces in whatever length you want. Or the other choice is to extend your OEM cables by splicing a piece in the middle with swedges, which a local rigging company I found online (which didn't have a roll press) did in my case.

Jeff
 

kgower

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Will see if this is an option on the 195s.
 

wishnyouwerehere

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Maybe this is a silly question, but would the larger boats possibly have longer cables that could be installed?
 

JDRacing

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Not sure what you are asking--like using a cable from say a 212X on a 195? Interesting idea. As noted in my original post, the 2018 212X stock cable is exactly 20 inches long from tip of the barrel to tip of the thread. If that length is what is needed on a 192 or 195 to get to the desired tower height when lowered, then they could simply buy a pair of 212X cables.

Jeff
 
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wishnyouwerehere

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Yes, that was what I was asking. Curious what the length on the 19' boat cables are vs 21 foot boats vs 25 foot boats. Would be a pretty simple solution to install cables from a larger boat to get the tower a little lower! I just put a down payment on a 2022 212xe that I will hopefully see by next summer. I have an 8' garage door and trying to do as much research as possible before I bring it home.
 

JDRacing

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Good luck and congratulations on the order! My guess is that with 96 inches of clearance and a little engineering on the tower retention system, you will be able to make it work. Although no one (other than Yamaha) knows what the tower retention will look like yet.

Jeff
 

wishnyouwerehere

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Right! I pre ordered the boat and they have not even released any info on them yet. My guess is same as a 2021 with Bold New Graphics and a 5-10% price increase.
 

orionone

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Do you think this would work on a 212s with 93 inch clearance?
 

JDRacing

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My guess is yes, but I haven't personally seen the 212S retention system. It will be easier without the ballast tanks.
 
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