Warning!!! All tower owners please check your base mounting bolts.

[Mainah]

Given the recent issue with the AR240 tower I decided it would be prudent for me to check the the 3 tower base mounting bolts on each side of my 2016 242 LS while I have the boat home on the trailer. Using a 3/4 deep well 3/8 drive socket, 18in long 3/8 drive extension, and a 3/8 inch drive 90 tooth ratchet I was able to get a half turn on each nut. This is using only one hand and with no significant amount of torque. I did not want to over tighten so I did not reef on them. Probably just settling but I figured worth a thread as something for everyone to check. I also checked my cables to ensure they still had their stop nuts and they were tight.

I think it is prudent to check the base mounting bolts regularly given the potential harm a tower can cause.

 

[hobineros]

How does one access those bolts? Do you fold the tower forward or are they hidden up inside the hull?

I noticed Sunday that my tower was making a lot of rattling noise, more so than it ever has. I think my bolts are loose as well. When I push up or pull down on the tower I can see the mounts tilting. The pivot point seems secure , the mount is rattling loose.

 

[EmeryZ28]

How does one access those bolts? Do you fold the tower forward or are they hidden up inside the hull?

Also interested in this

 

[Mainah]

Nuts are inside the hull. I climbed in the storage and battery compartments to get the job done. I do recommend a long extension bar or a couple bars together to get the job done. If the nylon lock nuts continue to keep coming loose I will replace with compression lock nuts.

 

[hobineros]

Ughhh... dude I am way to big to fit my ass in there, I'm 6-4 and weigh 250lbs. Yamaha loves to hide bolts and make us into contortionists. LOL!

Wouldn't make much sense to put the nut on top so we could just tighten it from time to time... NOooooOOooo...

Sigh...

 

[EmeryZ28]

thanks for the info! 5'8 170 coming in handy for this one! lol

My knobs on top of the tower are unable to be tightened any further by hand, good to know there are bolts inside that need to be secured. thanks again for sharing, I will take care of that this weekend. I usually have 2-4 little kids on my boat between my kids and our friends, last thing I need is someone getting crushed!

 

[Jgorm]

I made my wife do it. One of mine fell off and I found the nut on the ground.

 

[hobineros]

I think I am going to see about flipping them over one at a time so I can in the future just give em a crank every so often and not worry about getting stuck upside down in a 2x2 box.

 

[swatski]

This thread is a good reminder, this should be a seasonal check certainly for the AR and LS towers.

The AR towers have two bolts on each side with factory locking nuts, need a very deep 3/4" socket - the one I use is probably 4" tall.

I just did mine last weekend. I use a 24" extender w/a short drive end up tightening about 1/4 turn. Nothing's really lose or moving I think the material must get compressed overtime (hence it can be tightened up). but I like to double and triple check those parts. I actually use two nuts on those bolts.

My tower has a modified locking mechanism (hand wheel bolts) but the rest is factory.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2015-ar240-tower-fix.16089/

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[swatski]

This thread is a good reminder, this should be a seasonal check certainly for the AR and LS towers.

The AR towers have two bolts on each side with factory locking nuts, need a very deep 3/4" socket - the one I use is probably 4" tall.

I just did mine last weekend. I use a 24" extender w/a short drive end up tightening about 1/4 turn. Nothing's really lose or moving I think the material must get compressed overtime (hence it can be tightened up). but I like to double and triple check those parts. I actually use two nuts on those bolts.

My tower has a modified locking mechanism (hand wheel bolts) but the rest is factory.

https://jetboaters.net/threads/2015-ar240-tower-fix.16089/

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As a maintenance item in these boats, I tended to the tower base bolts (under the hull cap).

Access is crap; to make it worse I have my batteries moved to anew compartment on the port side, so it is a bit tricky - I used a borescope to inspect and guide the process.


Even with the seat off, it's a bit gimmicky to reach those bolts.
Glad I did though, I was able to tighten them by about half a turn.
Not a disaster, but they definitely need attention every season or two.


My new favorite no-penalty beer for boat work, lol.


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[AmesJainchill]

It's on the list for the dealer for the second season in a row for me, lol. Tower rattled last year, they "fixed" it over the off-season, then it started rattling again about a week or two into this season so it's on the warranty punch list again. Not sure if it's the same cause as above and the tower doesn't visibly move when I shake it to make the noise, but there's no way I'll be squeezing in the underseat compartment!

 

[Rod5]

I found pulling the cockpit speaker allowed easier access to those 3 nuts. Still flying blind and by feel but I couldn't reach the back 3rd nut without doing so and it made reaching the other two nuts much easier to reach and feel.

 

[swatski]

I found pulling the cockpit speaker allowed easier access to those 3 nuts. Still flying blind and by feel but I couldn't reach the back 3rd nut without doing so and it made reaching the other two nuts much easier to reach and feel.

I appear to have some advantage here, in this regard. Compared to your situation, I only have two nuts. Per leg.

That doesn't sound quite right....

I'm talking about AR vs X/LS/E tower, of course.

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[Rod5]

Oh that's right I forgot about the tower differences and possibly my tower is slightly more forward and closer to where the side window ends...

 

[Tobes]

As a maintenance item in these boats, I tended to the tower base bolts (under the hull cap).

Access is crap; to make it worse I have my batteries moved to anew compartment on the port side, so it is a bit tricky - I used a borescope to inspect and guide the process.
View attachment 162169

Even with the seat off, it's a bit gimmicky to reach those bolts.
Glad I did though, I was able to tighten them by about half a turn.
Not a disaster, but they definitely need attention every season or two.
View attachment 162170

My new favorite no-penalty beer for boat work, lol.
View attachment 162171

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You are a Polack I see. My future father in law gave me some of those the other day lol

 

[swatski]

You are a Polack I see. My future father in law gave me some of those the other day lol

I love NA IPAs, my favorite currently being Athletic Co, Brooklyn Brewing being a somewhat distant second.

But, in the non-IPA category there are two beers of distinct flavors that stand out as being crazy close to the non-NA counterpart: Heineken Zero (unreal...) and Zywiec (love it). Both of those two taste so freaking close to the original, I have no idea how they accomplish that.

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[mrcleanr6]

End of this season i am going to check mine. The 275sd tower is a pretty substantial piece and those bolts are holding alot of weight. They dont seem loose bit better safe than sorry. What i did find loose was all the bolts holding my fiberglass hardtop to the tower itself. I could see where the whole top had shifted about 1/8” or more. There are about 10 bolts plus another 3 holding the anchor light pipe. Everything was super loose by 2-3 turns or more. I could wiggle the anchor light back and forth.