Hide away ski pylon

[TN_Boarder]

2006 Mobius LSV

The '06 and I think even the newer Moombas have the extra ski pylon sticking right up out of the engine compartment. If you have kids (and even if you don't), you probably have realized the health hazard this pole can be.

The Supras have a nice hide-away style that I think twists and drops down into the engine compartment so that the top is flush with the compartment cover when not in use. Does anyone know if something similar can be purchased aftermarket and added to the Moomba?

I have seriously considered just removing the thing all together since it rarely gets used, but I don't really want the unused hole that will remain.

[jester]

Someone maid their own. I do not know who it was but i think it was posted about a month or two ago. I cannot be sure since time has been flying by. I do agree that it would be helpful to have it drop down.

[yearround]

I have read parts of the book that EdG quotes from. i too anxiously await the arival of the retractable ski pylon, though not enough to remove it in the waiting.

my kids like to swing from the "tarzan rope" shortened T handle surf rope. it really hurts when they hit the pylon.

Please SC or some other genius, help this important matter come to pass!!! Razz and Newty, and others, are pretty smart, maybe they will make it?

[yearround]

hey Ed, don't hijack the thread with freudean quirks. let's get razz and newty to build a retract pylon for our moombas, nothing weird, this is the family section.

maybe TN boarder can you make the retractable pylon?

[sandm]

why can't you use the supra part?
mine is nothing more than a round tube welded to the bottom of the metal plate that the engine cover latches to. the actual pylon is a round metal piece with a bolt in it to swivel around and stay in the up position.

if the metal bracket is the same width and mounted in the same spot on the moomba and supra, would be a matter of welding in the bracket and done..

[yearround]

why can't you use the supra part?
mine is nothing more than a round tube welded to the bottom of the metal plate that the engine cover latches to. the actual pylon is a round metal piece with a bolt in it to swivel around and stay in the up position.

if the metal bracket is the same width and mounted in the same spot on the moomba and supra, would be a matter of welding in the bracket and done..

i understand it is not the same. would one of our lurking dealers on here let us know for sure? if you want to remain anonomous, send a pm to someone for you, we always hear things from a reliable little bird.

[fingerstick]

I know this is about v drives, but I have a d.d ('07 mobius) and the ski pylon was just in the way. I removed it and put a piece of black plexi-glass in the "ring" and it looks factory.If I ever trade or sell the boat, simple enough to put pole back in.

[sandm]

how's the ski pylon attached?
if its bolted on the bottom, maybe some type of quick release and buy another one, cut it down to the stub and use it as a filler? swap the tall one for the short one when skiing?

now I'm going to stop by the dealer this weekend and check it out.

[yearround]

i guess i missed the photos and stuff from the earlier post. thanks for bringing them back.

for now, i think i will use the metric wrench, i have two, i am sure one will fit.

if i can get to a supra, i will look at theirs and try to get a better idea what to do. i just may try this mod. from the pics, it appears rather simple, but if you and daze were intimidated, then i just don't know if i could do it. i don't drink, so i can get my courage from the bottle either.

[sandm]

I have a supra, so I know what I am dealing with, and if anyone needs detailed pics,lmk..

now onto the moomba issue..

if it's bolted thru the sides, then it should be a bolt that takes no stress, as it's holding vertically and all the stresses of a skier are horizontal. why not create a hole thru it and use a pin setup like the platform to hold it in, then get a second one much shorter that is flush with the engine cover pad. swap them out when skiing, and back in when you want the sunpad?
kind of a pita to swap them out where the supra is permanent, but probably a much easier fix..

or buy the round tube and pylon from skiers, cut out the square post, weld in the round one with a flange for added support and voila, done.

[moombadaze]

Simple fix...

toss the round peg away.

go to a machine shop and have a square chunk of alumanim that will fit tight into the square hole, machin the top portion to a round top with a ski rope swivel. Use quick release pins-like on the swim platform-to hold the pilon in 2 position's , high and low. I can picture it in my mind but may not be putting into a correct discription here.

[Razzman]

You may be on to something there 'daze. I can invision exactly what your saying. I would further that with a very thin delrin sleeve inside the square orifice as an aluminum to aluminum connection over time wears easily and causes galling which will bind.

OR

Just make a new setup completely like this guy did. I've contemplated this mod for a long time but as of yet have not really had a chance to really look into it. Someday ...

Custom Retractable Pylon (http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65921/542179.html)

[Razzman]

Ed, just out of curiosity what's wrong with cutting off the bottom of the tube?

[moombadaze]

Razz, very good point on the sleve

Across the bottom of the square hole is just a thin plate-shouldnt be to hard to remove that to get the drop down needed.

I dont picture the new pilon sticking up as far either-So the the new pilon will not be as long-really only needs to extended up about 2-3 inchs for the rope to not rub on the engine covers.

[sandm]

yea, I second that one razzman... if it's being supported by a bolt, bottom shouldn't matter, and for drainage, it shouldn't be sealed anyway.

I'll post up pics when I get home this afternoon if you want them from a supra..


I guess I don't really understand what you are dealing with. it looks like a square hole with a round ski pylon that is permanently mounted and has some of it into the square hole with a bushing to fit. what's the diff if you take out the long one and put in a shorter one? with some kind of removeable pin assembly?

[sandm]

or perhaps weld in a sleeve the diameter of the pylon you have, then just use the same bolt setup like the supra. it rides in a channel, and at the fully extended position, it spins 90deg and the bolt locks it above the channel it slides up and down in.

[sandm]

uncapping the tube should only take a couple of minutes with a grinder? or a metal recip saw?

[Razzman]

Ed, yeah they are just jammed in and held with one bolt. The square bottomed pylon would be stronger imo. Also you wouldn't need to re-make the swivel as it's removeable. Just remove the top and the delrin swivel portion and re-make everything below that.

The only prob i see is that i don't think the square tube is long enough but i'd have to really look into that.

[moombadaze]

Ok, how much would a 4x4x6 or 8" long chunk of aluminum going to cost?, how much would a machine shop charge to turn the top half into a round section that narrows at the top?-think- a ice cream cone upside down type of look. Reuse the swivel and we have a done deal.

[moombadaze]

.... and it ain't gonna be cheap for the 1st one made


What ya thinkin $?? but what if there doing 2;) at the same time

[sandm]

based on how the supra piece operates, you have now figured out how to get a piece that slides up and down, but what to do to keep it in the up position?
the supra uses a bolt that slides up and down but twists into place. square won't twist.

[Razzman]

square won't twist.

Not the last time i checked it won't! :p

Seriously, you could have a pull pin setup as 'Daze suggested, but that requires lifting the cover and manually doing it. No big deal i guess if you don't use it much or don't mind.

Otherwise at this point unless you were to re-work the whole cage assembly i don't see how it could be done, doesn't mean i'm not working it though! :D

[yearround]

i can't see anything in ed reply about the supra in action, but if i close my eyes, i can see it.

cheers RAZZ! i am ok if i lift the hatch to pull a pin. we love to ski, but only do it about every 3rd or 4th time out and try to tube less than that!

i too will try and talk to a friend who has a machine shop to see about making a pylon. i tink i would prefer square pylon rather than the round peg in a square hole

maybe a square/round sleeve that would receive the supra pylon?

[Razzman]

Here is the perfect pin for the task. Attach a lanyard so it can't drop and you've got it made.

Swivel Lock Hitch Pin (http://www.mcmaster.com/#pins/=36sno2)

[yearround]

nice, we have the pin, that is at least half the trouble!

i have just talked to my friend, i will try and get a sketch to him to better describe the pylon, but it should be no problem no guess on price, but if we did several, it would make the prices come down. all his equipment is CNC so once the program is written, he can konck them out pretty quick. this could be either for a square-round pylon with a pin option round with pin.

next week i will get into this.

[sandm]

went back and looked at the 3rd pic of what I would gather is a moomba ski pylon in the aluminum housing. why not just thread another hole, cut out the bottom and allow the current pylon to drop down flush with the pad and re-insert the screw as it drops down?

http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e194/sandm01/user3863_pic849_1232463073.jpg

[Razzman]

If i remember right the bolt keeps pressure on the shaft. If you were to do that then the shaft would have way to much play. In order to be able to maintain strength and still drop the square with an extremy close tolerance is the only way imo.

[sandm]

you aren't changing the "up" position as it now sits, just adding another tapped hole further up the pole for the down position, or if it's a pressure fit, put a bracket on the bottom to only allow it to drop, say 5 inches, then drop it and reinstall the same bolt. don't need any real pressure on it in the down position. bolt an "L" bracket on the bottom for the allowed drop and don't drill the hole since it's a pressure fit.

maybe I don't get the part, but it looks like a square tube with a round pole going into it and a bolt that is either threaded into it, or is a pressure fit. either way, just let it drop out of the way?

[Razzman]

In theory you could do that but then you need a wrench or socket everytime you wanted to move it or it would wobble around something fierce in the square opening. When i say pressure fit i mean it pushes the shaft horizontally against the square opening.

[moombadaze]

Razz, that pin is exactly what i was thinking.

Now, what about the L bracket for the hatch lock-how do we work around that? With no access to a welder to weld it in place.

Last time this mod came up I went out and measured--the pilon is to long/high to fully drop down as is would hit the electronics right above the trans. So i think reusing the factory pilon would not work.

[Razzman]

Ed, i saw that too but passed on it as the hole would have to be a precision fit or the detent ball would not hold. I was looking at ease of use and durability.

[Razzman]

You could be right Ed. I'm opening mine up in the morning so i'm going to get a good look at and see if we have other options.

[Razzman]

Well i just did a very long look-see and eval and i'm of the same conclusion as Ed. In order to do it right you'd have to pull the engine compartment upper framework and do a total re-work and imo it's just not worth it, for me at least.

[cab13367]

See post below.

[cab13367]

Thought I would take a stab at this. I've pasted the pic below for reference. Please ignore the notes on the pic. The ski pylon is held in place by the bolt you see in the pic plus one underneath that you don't see. So the two points of attachment keep it rigid when in use. So how about if we drilled two new holes in the square tube, along the same vertical plane as the existing bolt hole, but one near the top of the square tube and one near the bottom. Then drill and thread two corresponding, horizontal holes in the pylon for the bolts to screw into. The existing bolt you see in the pic can now be removed and abandoned as it's now unnecessary. The two new bolts (one near the top and one near the bottom of the square tube) will now hold the pylon securely in place in the up position so we can remove the bolt underneath the pylon and cut the bottom of the square tube open.

For the lowered position, remove the two bolts, slide the pylon down so the top threaded hole in the pylon now lines up with the bottom hole on the square tube. Insert a bolt here and tighten. This one bolt is enough to hold the pylon in the down position and snugly against the square tube.

You'll have to do some measuring before drilling the new holes to make sure the top of the pylon is flush with the sun pad in the lowered position.

There are some emissions control electronics directly under the ski pylon but it looked liked they could easily be relocated. I think you'd need to in order for the pylon to lower enough and be flush with the top of the sun pad.

So it will require removing one bolt and installing two to raise the pylon and removing two bolts and installing one to lower it. Depending on how often you use it, that might be acceptable.

https://forum.moomba.com/picture.php?albumid=108&pictureid=849

[cab13367]

I may do it this winter. I don't use the pylon very often and I have had a couple of people hurt themselves on it in the past (stubbing their toe or accidentally sitting on it) so it would be nice to be able to tuck it away.

[walb0244]

I know this is a old post but I thought I would ask and see if anyone ever did this. I was interested in doing this since we don't use it and we normally have little kids in the boat.

[jstenger]

Thought I would take a stab at this. I've pasted the pic below for reference. Please ignore the notes on the pic. The ski pylon is held in place by the bolt you see in the pic plus one underneath that you don't see. So the two points of attachment keep it rigid when in use. So how about if we drilled two new holes in the square tube, along the same vertical plane as the existing bolt hole, but one near the top of the square tube and one near the bottom. Then drill and thread two corresponding, horizontal holes in the pylon for the bolts to screw into. The existing bolt you see in the pic can now be removed and abandoned as it's now unnecessary. The two new bolts (one near the top and one near the bottom of the square tube) will now hold the pylon securely in place in the up position so we can remove the bolt underneath the pylon and cut the bottom of the square tube open.

For the lowered position, remove the two bolts, slide the pylon down so the top threaded hole in the pylon now lines up with the bottom hole on the square tube. Insert a bolt here and tighten. This one bolt is enough to hold the pylon in the down position and snugly against the square tube.

You'll have to do some measuring before drilling the new holes to make sure the top of the pylon is flush with the sun pad in the lowered position.

There are some emissions control electronics directly under the ski pylon but it looked liked they could easily be relocated. I think you'd need to in order for the pylon to lower enough and be flush with the top of the sun pad.

So it will require removing one bolt and installing two to raise the pylon and removing two bolts and installing one to lower it. Depending on how often you use it, that might be acceptable.

https://forum.moomba.com/picture.php?albumid=108&pictureid=849

If you remove the existing bolt (from above quote), you lose the latch for the engine hatch.