New boat/trailer questions

[MGoMike]

I picked up my new 2019 212x earlier in April and have been making some mods while waiting for the weather to warm up here in Michigan. Today, I was planning to install boat buckles and ran into two issues that I wanted to get the forum's wisdom on:

1. We got the deluxe premium mooring cover when we purchased the boat. It had rained a bit overnight. When I took the cover off today, I found that it was damp inside the boat. Is that normal? The carpeting in the front under seat storage spots were pretty damp.

2. When I went to install the boat buckles, I discovered that the Shoreland'r trailer transom tie-down tabs were both bent backwards at different angles. The tab next to the license plate is bent at a relatively shallow angle, but the tab on the other side is bent enough that it isn't possible to install the boat buckles. This wasn't something I thought to check when taking delivery of the boat. I can't imagine anything that we could have done in trailering the boat to our storage spot that would have bent those tabs. I'm planning to contact my dealer, but before I did I wanted to check to see if this is an issue that others have had and any ideas on a potential resolution. Seems like simply bending the tabs back would significantly weaken the metal. I attached a couple pictures though it's kinda hard to see the angles in the photos.

Thanks for the help on this.

 

[haknslash]

1. The cup holders don't have drains there. They will simply dump water in your storage areas. Stupid, I know. Plug them up with tape, silicone, plugs, etc anything to keep them from draining into your storage soaking your carpet which will just introduce mold and mildew.
2. Should have a slight bend to them. I would just take a pry bar or rubber mallet to it and try to get the angle where you can fit the bolt through. That's what your dealer will likely do anyways as I doubt they will send you a new trailer or anything like that.

 

[Dixie Highway]

I don’t have a pic, but my buckles aren’t attached to the tab. The dealer bolted them right to the side of the trailer frame. If you enlarge my signature pic you can kind of see it.

 

[MGoMike]

1. The cup holders don't have drains there. They will simply dump water in your storage areas. Stupid, I know. Plug them up with tape, silicone, plugs, etc anything to keep them from draining into your storage soaking your carpet which will just introduce mold and mildew.
2. Should have a slight bend to them. I would just take a pry bar or rubber mallet to it and try to get the angle where you can fit the bolt through. That's what your dealer will likely do anyways as I doubt they will send you a new trailer or anything like that.

Good to know. That’s crazy about the cup holders. Thanks!

 

[Levi Weatherford]

I originally had my buckles bolted to the tabs on the trailer but the angle at which they were mounted was not good at all. I removed them from the tabs and bolted them to the outside of the trailer frame. It was a bit more time consuming but they work a whole lot better now.

 

[Liveto99]

Bad design by the license plate mine completely ripped that bracket off while trailering 100 miles I drilled a hole in the back of the aluminum I beam and on the bottom of the beam and put the tie down through there that way it will never pull the license plate and the light off again. Also on my surelander the triple light in the center of the trailer fell off check all those nuts and make sure there is some Loctite on them or they are nyloc’s my lights on the back fell off I assumed it was just one crappy guy doing the install.
I did a thread Trailer issues. that explained it.

 

[Redneck_4Play]

I originally had my buckles bolted to the tabs on the trailer but the angle at which they were mounted was not good at all. I removed them from the tabs and bolted them to the outside of the trailer frame. It was a bit more time consuming but they work a whole lot better now.

I did the same. The tabs are about worthless and bend and twist with the slightest tension. I drilled through the outside frame rails and mounted my bolt buckles there. Very happy with the results.

 

[SCP1]

Can someone post a picture showing how you mounted on the side of the trailer, thanks.

 

[Redneck_4Play]

Can someone post a picture showing how you mounted on the side of the trailer, thanks.

Hope this helps. Drilled through other sides of frame rail and mounted on outside.

 

[brownjjst]

Attached mine using a bolt and washer and lock nut using existing holes in the trailer guides.

 

[Liveto99]

I have the aluminum trailer I just drilled a half inch hole in the bottom of the I-beam. I would take a picture but it’s at the dealer getting the hundred hour service.

 

[MGoMike]

We've had a bunch of rain here this week. Before having a chance to do anything with the cup holders, I got some DampRid last weekend and that seemed to work fairly well. I saw another thread where someone got some tubing and snaked a pipe from the cupholders so that it ran into the bilge. I poked around a little and am trying to understand where I would run the tubing to feed into the bilge. Do I have to run it all the way to the back of the boat, past the hard ballast tanks or can I run it towards the front of the boat? Attached is a picture to help explain my question.

I may just plug the holes, but I don't love the idea of water pooling up in the cupholders after a good rain.

 

[haknslash]

Rather than run tubes all the way back to the bilge you could run them below each storage area and have them drain into the walk way using the same small white drains found on the swim deck cup holder drains. I thought about that on mine but ended up just plugging them.

Look at item 27 2016 Yamaha 242 LIMITED S E SERIES CALIFORNIA (SAT1800FRB) Deck Drain Fittings | Yamaha Sports Plaza

 

[2kwik4u]

Rather than run tubes all the way back to the bilge you could run them below each storage area and have them drain into the walk way using the same small white drains found on the swim deck cup holder drains. I thought about that on mine but ended up just plugging them.

Look at item 27 2016 Yamaha 242 LIMITED S E SERIES CALIFORNIA (SAT1800FRB) Deck Drain Fittings | Yamaha Sports Plaza

When you plugged yours did they ever fill up and spill over the top? How bad/deep did the water get with a frosty aluminum can in there on a humid day? Any issues with that.

I'm trying to decide if I want to plug mine (have plugs in hand), or run drains back to the bilge area. I've been caught in a few rain storms where the storage areas ended up absolutely soaked because of the dang cupholders, so I'm leaning towards a drainage system, but capping sounds a LOT easier.

 

[haknslash]

They never filled up to the point of overflowing during a heavy rain or when washing the boat. I’d guess maybe a 1/4” or less. Easily enough to dry out with a towel once it stopped raining. Even if they were to overflow it would likely just run down into the integrated cockpit drainage around each storage compartment. It would still be better than just allowing rain and water to pour and soak your carpet.

 

[MGoMike]

I removed the forward cup holder this evening and found that it drains into the ski locker with the center ballast bag. I’m gonna try running tubes from the side bow cup holders up there to let the water drain that way. I noticed this evening that the dock lines I was storing in one of the front carpeted storage areas were soaked. Clearly a bunch of water is getting in to the carpeted storage when it rains. I’ll report back on my experience with the mod.

 

[MGoMike]

Ran tubes up front today to drain into the ski locker. Attached a few pics. Looks like more rain next week so I will see how things go. I’ll use some adhesive zip tie holders to snug the tubes up against the top of the storage area once I feel comfortable with this solution.

It was easy to snake the tubes up front once I took the forward cup holders off. The only snag was that I caught a sliver of fiberglass in my thumb. It was a good reminder to wear gloves when working in those spaces.

 

[MGoMike]

Hope this helps. Drilled through other sides of frame rail and mounted on outside.

Anybody drill through the frame rail with a powder coated trailer? I mounted the boatbuckles to the tabs next to the taillights but it feels kinda flimsy there. For a powder coated trailer, I’m guessing I need to get some sort of coating to spray on the spots that I drill to prevent rusting. Any advice/experience with that? I did a little searching on the forum and didn’t find any info on drilling through a powder coated trailer.

 

[haknslash]

Rustoleum

 

[Liveto99]

Or cold galvanizing spray