$6 "hinge" for my cooler seat.

[zelone]

One of my biggest complaints about my 2010 Limited S, compared to the 2015+, was the lack of hinged seats. Getting in the cooler was a pain in the a$$, especially when you had a bunch of people onboard.

About 2 years ago, I built a sliding hinge system on this boat, but I was never really 100% happy with it. The seat didn't open all the way. The mechanism was bulky and ugly. If someone was unfamiliar with it, they could easily knock the wheels off the tracks.

I've spent hours staring at many different types on hinges and nothing "off the shelf" was going to work. Recently, I was working on a new roller wheel in a track, system and I came up with a way to simplify the whole thing. I really wanted to use stainless steel 2' wide conveyor belt material, but it is extremely expensive and hard to find in small quantity. I then looked into rubber conveyor belt and before I ordered anything, I decided to walk around Home Depot and see if anything would work.

I found a rubber stair tread and thought, for $6, I'll try it. Low and behold, not only does it work, it's the perfect size and will probably last 5+ years. Check it out and let me know what you think!

*my seat is previously trimmed by 1" at the rear, so it doesn't tuck under the engine hatch seats.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1kbCy_XdPisUTHGdrN1YElJUqLzHgNwiA/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sA3mcvbFVIcQ0tJbo-Qe5zNSvb222w0H/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zkfkoFY51T6_O6AlQDfUchNSuFGgQ9WS/view?usp=drivesdk

 

[Julian]

Very creative!

Off topic, but do those treads stick down? Our older dog has been sliding on the stairs on occasion, and our only options are to carpet the stairs or put something non slip on them....

 

[zelone]

Sorry for the delay.

They do not have any adhesive on them. I think they are meant to nail down, but you may be able to use weatherstrip adhesive to glue them in place, but that would be pretty permanent.

 

[TheGreekTitan]

Very creative!

Off topic, but do those treads stick down? Our older dog has been sliding on the stairs on occasion, and our only options are to carpet the stairs or put something non slip on them....

When my dog was having trouble going up and down steps I built him ramps off the deck and applied traction tape to them. Peel and stick would work perfectly on step treads too . Worked great for my little guy. RIP Onyx Bonyx.

Here a link to what I bought.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01M63K167?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title

 

[zelone]

Small update: the rubber treads dry rot after a couple seasons. I went with a silicone mat and cut to size, and it's been going strong for a bunch of seasons now.