212X Tower Shaking

[Geiger41]

So I noticed when I drove the boat for the first time today that the tower was shaking a little.. Is this normal or should it not shake at all ? I will check the bolts and tighten them up tomorrow if need be, but was just wondering because I never untightened them in the first place. Only lowered in the winter and raised a month or so ago.

 

[jcyamaharider]

That is normal. Mine shakes and it is not able to fold which would be more rigid then yours.

 

[jetboater4life]

Yep mine shakes when I run across the wakes of others or get pretty rough with the spinouts. I checked the bolts once last summer and they seemed tight.

 

[surfer212]

The rougher the water the more the tower shakes. It is designed to be very strong in the FWD / AFT direction in order to pull skiers, tubes, and wakeboarders but it is not very rigid at all in the starboard / port direction. I do not know if the 212X design is worse than others in this respect? My tower shakes mostly side to side when hitting waves - is that the case for everyone else? I check the tightness of the mounting bolts a couple times per Summer and they have never been loosened as far as I can tell. To be honest I am a little disappointed in the lack of lateral rigidity of the 212X tower design. When we have several miles of chop to cover to get to a destination I sometimes get concerned enough with the amount of shaking that I grab on to the tower myself to try to limit the lateral movement. I think if I was in a situation where I had no choice but to drive a significant distance through heavy chop I will drop the tower for the duration of the trip (we put two 8.5" fenders between the tower and the tops of the rear seats). I wonder if in the long term the lateral shaking is doing some damage - whether to the tower structure, fasteners, gunwale attachment points, etc.

BK

 

[jcyamaharider]

I am sure it is because when I pulled my tower off for the winter I had two bolts that were bent. The only way to limit the shake would be to add a cross bar, which isn't feasible.

 

[CDENsomnia]

I have an AR240 and the tower shakes pretty good. I had the new gaskets installed as the originals were deteriorating so hopefully that will minimize the shake. My old SX230 had a monster tower...it didn't shake one bit!

 

[Geiger41]

I took the boat out today and noticed this shaking again. I thought thatit cant shake this much !! So when I got home I looked at the bolts that are on the hinge area. BOTH were really loose. I tightened them up about 3 full turns each. Im sure this will eliminate some of the shaking. For all of you with towers, check these bolts just in case. Would bea total shit show on the water if one popped out !!

This is how far the bolt was out !!! It should actually be a bit inside the bar when tightened !!!

 

[surfer212]

The hinge points look to be a very good application for the correct type of Loctite. A quick search on the website yielded Loctite Blue (pasted from website):

Loctite® Blue Threadlocker 243™ (Automotive Aftermarket Only) is designed for the locking and sealing of threaded fasteners between 1/4" and 3/4" (6 to 20 mm), which require normal disassembly with standard hand tools. The product cures when confined in the absence of air between close fitting metal surfaces and prevents loosening and leakage from shock and vibration. The thixotropic nature of Loctite 243 reduces the migration of liquid product after application to the substrate. Loctite 243 provides robust curing performance. It not only works on active metals (e.g. brass, copper) but also on passive substrates such as stainless steel and plated surfaces. The product offers high temperature performance and oil tolerance. It tolerates minor surface contaminations from various oils, such as cutting, lubrication, anti-corrosion and protection fluids.

I'm thinking I will bring a tube with me when I go up Memorial Day weekend to prep and launch the boat. I also need to find the right kind of thread lube for the tower knob screws. Steel screw in aluminum threads - that requires lifelong lube or the aluminum threads will be destroyed.

 

[jcyamaharider]

@surfer212 anti-seize is what you want.

 

[ar240owner]

I will add this also , the more stuff ( 4 speakers , racks full of boards , ext ) the more it shakes !!!!!! That's a lot of weight up there !!!

 

[surfer212]

I agree 100% with the preceding two comments.

jcyamaharyder - anti-seize is exactly what is required, you just need to make sure you are using the best formula for the application since there are numerous products out there optimized for different combinations of materials (plastic thread & fasteners, stainless on stainless, steel & aluminum, etc.)

sx210owner - I have speakers (always) and gear in the racks (almost always) on my tower. That definitely contributes to greater shaking.

 

[CDENsomnia]

I wish yamaha had made these towers a little beefier. I had my monster loaded up on my old SX230 and it didn't move a bit...and it collapsed below the windshield!