15+ AR240 tower fix?

[Minh Nguyen]

Has anyone came up with a fix or solution for our towers yet? I haven't been out for about two weeks but will probably go have a look at it to see.

 

[Neutron]

I havent seen anything posted as of yet.
I have been out quite a bit, some wakeboarding here and there and havent found any problems. Have lowered the tower and inspected the threads a few times. It hasnt been a real concern but if a quality safety mod comes out i will implement it.
I for one havent had much time to delve into it myself. Been enjoying my free time too much

 

[McMark]

I made a pair of longer knobs. I probably realistically only have a couple more boat days available this season. Will put them on over the winter. I still need to determine a final length, cross drill and insert a nylon slug, and cut a dog point on the end.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

I went out this morning (did a lil surfing) and looked really close at the hole and it doesn't look stripped but can see it is wearing down just a bit. Counted 6 full turns. Since Yamaha isn't owning up to it to prevent a possible accident I'll make it a winter project. Hope I can come up with something...anything to beef it up some.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

@McMark...please post up pics when you do yours.

 

[Speedling]

Interested because i would love to upgrade!
Was thinking of a pin and locking pin but it would require a precision drilling and some sort of bushing between aluminum tower and stainless pin.
Just donate a boat to me and we will get to work.

 

[McMark]

Here's the knobs so far. I bought blank knobs, drilled, tapped, and counterbored. Had to run a die up the socket head cap screws to thread fully. There was only about an inch of thread on them as purchased. Aluminum and 316 stainless doesn't necessarily play well together but I'll keep an eye on them.

I have a design worked up for a true locking knob but that will be a winter project for sure.

 

[Speedling]

Here's the knobs so far. I bought blank knobs, drilled, tapped, and counterbored. Had to run a die up the socket head cap screws to thread fully. There was only about an inch of thread on them as purchased. Aluminum and 316 stainless doesn't necessarily play well together but I'll keep an eye on them.

I have a design worked up for a true locking knob but that will be a winter project for sure.

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Looks sharp! Generous amount of removable (blue) locktite will help with corrosion. But will be a pain if you lower tower often as i would.

 

[robert843]

I think the current fix recommended by Yamaha is below.

 

[Minh Nguyen]

Curious to see what you will come up with this winter @McMark. Im sure if all the 240 guys put our heads together we should have a solid fix for this.

 

[swatski]

Here's the knobs so far. I bought blank knobs, drilled, tapped, and counterbored. Had to run a die up the socket head cap screws to thread fully. There was only about an inch of thread on them as purchased. Aluminum and 316 stainless doesn't necessarily play well together but I'll keep an eye on them.

I have a design worked up for a true locking knob but that will be a winter project for sure.

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@McMark This is fantastic! And thank you for sharing @McMark.

This should have been Yamaha's responsibility though.

I started looking into the tower safety mod but unfortunately needed to stop as I realized I can't even look at this piece of shit my Yamaha "boat" without getting seriously worked up. Can't have it. I will most likely be switching brands this Fall.

Very interested in your progress as I couldn't possibly sell the boat in good faith without addressing this issue.

In the meantime, however, I picked up a related project. As a result of which we might be able to elevate this debacle to a little class action thingy, so stay tuned. I don't want to say more at this point, but boy... the way they decided to handle this may turn out to not had been the smartest.

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[swatski]

Not nearly as pretty as @McMark solution, but here is my temporary fix (post #319 in that thread):

https://jetboaters.net/threads/warning-2015-18-yamaha-“ar”-boat-owners-with-forward-swept-wakeboard-towers.14828/page-16

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[Minh Nguyen]

Thanks @McMark and @swatski. Your mods are great. But I'm one of the the few that have to collapse the tower after each use for storage.

 

[Speedling]

Thanks @McMark and @swatski. Your mods are great. But I'm one of the the few that have to collapse the tower after each use for storage.

If I upgraded to the Ar240 I would be putting it down for garage storage every use. However, I am looking at putting in an 8'6" garage door, but it may not be possible. Even so, I like my boat in the garage when not in use!

 

[swatski]

Thanks @McMark and @swatski. Your mods are great. But I'm one of the the few that have to collapse the tower after each use for storage.

Within the existing mechanism, increasing the length of thread engagement seems to be the key to safety.

You can do this easily by (adopting @McMark's new bolts idea or) grinding/filing the factory bolt plastic stem (like I showed in the other thread/post #319) AND removing the spring/washer/nut from the factory bolt to enable it to thread in deeper. You can easily get almost an inch of engagement with the modified factory bolt. That would pretty much guarantee some much greater level of safety without any additional mods.

The only inconvenience really would be longer time for deployment (14+ turns vs 6-7) and the inconvenience of not having the spring to bounce it and the possibility of loosing the bolt (which would not be secured with the nut - internal, inside the leg).

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[Scottintexas]

@Minh Nguyen if you need any help or somebody to hold the tower (I'm better at being the person who runs and gets the tools) let me know,

 

[Speedling]

Within the existing mechanism, increasing the length of thread engagement seems to be the key to safety.

You can do this easily by (adopting @McMark's new bolts idea or) grinding/filing the factory bolt plastic stem (like I showed in the other thread/post #319) AND removing the spring/washer/nut from the factory bolt to enable it to thread in deeper. You can easily get almost an inch of engagement with the modified factory bolt. That would pretty much guarantee some much greater level of safety without any additional mods.

The only inconvenience really would be longer time for deployment (14+ turns vs 6-7) and the inconvenience of not having the spring to bounce it and the possibility of loosing the bolt (which would not be secured with the nut - internal, inside the leg).

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Spring to bounce it? What does this spring do?

 

[swatski]

Spring to bounce it? What does this spring do?

The handwheel bolt has a spring in it (sliding onto the shaft) that needs to be pushed in in order to start threading.
The other thread has some pics and video clips of the mechanism and the spring in action.

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[Speedling]

The handwheel bolt has a spring in it (sliding onto the shaft) that needs to be pushed in in order to start threading.
The other thread has some pics and video clips of the mechanism and the spring in action.

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But what's the point of it?

 

[McMark]

To keep the bolt retracted to not hit the tower base when you lift it up.