So, my swim platform came off yesterday

[Tyger]

Like several other posters, I've been annoyed and concerned by the amount of play in my swim platform. I've also noticed the number of posts about swim platform problems so I figured it was bound to happen to me some day.

Yesterday as someone was climbing onto the swim platform it came totally off underneath them. In the process one platform mount came off with the platform and all the screws ripped out of the other mount, leaving it on the boat. I figure either a) a mount pin came out and one side of the platform rode up, causing it to put unbearable pressure on the other side, ripping out the screws or b) the pin on one mount just sheared off. I'm guessing based on the strength of the materials the pin had to come out on it's own. At first I was worried that our surfing setup (see my post about boat attitude) had caused undue stress on the platform. However, I surfed once more at the end of the day with the platform gone and I could see that the water wouldn't push against the platform if it was present.

A couple of the screws holding the mount plates are not super-tight, but none of them have any play in them what-so-ever. I also noticed that some screws on both platform mounts have non-stainless screws going into them, which have rusted. Based on the fact that these are flat-slotted wood screws and many of the screws had gunk on them, I have to assume that the former owner of the boat replaced some screws at some point (maybe after they stripped) with non-stainless screws and put in some epoxy or something that didn't hold.

Has anyone else had this happen to them? Can anyone vouch that the screws from the mounts to the platform are all the same stainless phillips screws from the factory? Finally, are there any methods of keeping the platform more solidly mounted? I'm not too concerned about quick release right now because I don't need to take my platform off ever. Finally, I noticed that the bottom of the mounts are both bulging down somewhat from the force on them. I think stopping the play in the platform will stop this from getting worse.

I'm tempted to replace it with a teak platform, but I kind of like the firberglass one and I generally like to keep my boat factory. However, I'm definitely not going to replace the factory pin. I've already bought a regular wire lock pin (see pic) from Home Depot and I'm looking for a stainless version. However, I've had trouble so far finding a stainless wire lock, so I may end up with a stainless clevis, which seems pretty easy to find.



Currently, my idea of fixing is this (after input from my car fixing buddy):

Fill in the screw holes with fiberglass resin
Put in all new stainless screws once the fiberglass sets up
Use Loc-tite red on the screws
Replace both pins with wire lock pins or similar

I'm also going to see about getting slightly large pins that will fill in the hole completely so I don't have play on the platform.

[Yellowmobius]

If you can use Stainless bolts

[zegm]

I would not use fasteners from Home Depot until you check out the origins. www.McMastercarr.com has all the stainless hardware you need as they seem to supply the US Navy contractors.
Teak is awesome and not expensive and will make the boat look much better.
Not sure Locktite red will be the solution for the screws in fiberglass, would look at the 3M Marine sealants/adhesives. Don't get me wrong locktite is great but too thin and the 3M (I want to say it is a 3000 number or something like that I used it a couple of years ago and it was awesome) would do a better job in fiberglass.

[bradenb12]

I have a 2000 Mobius V and the swim platform is loose...The problem is you can access the top two bolts on the brackets but you can't get to the bottom bolts as they are underneath the sub floor...bad engineering design! I've thought about cutting small holes in the sub floor so I can access the bottom bolts, replacing them with stainless, and using loctite on them.

[Tyger]

Thanks for the tip on McMaster-Carr, zegm. Found what I needed in a couple minutes!

[Tyger]

Oh, I forgot to mention... After pulling the boat out of the water on Sunday I noticed that all of the bolts were out of the wake plate (where the plate attaches to the hydrolics). The guy that put the drain plug in the boat said that he noticed they were missing when he put in the plug in earlier that day (great to have non-boaters along, eh?).

Has anyone else had this problem? I noticed the plastic on the hydrolics is threaded, but I'm thinking of going with longer bolts this time and using lock-nuts on them from the back. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks everyone for the input.

[ian ashton]

I noticed quite a bit of play in my swim platform, and upon further inspection found that one of the pins was straight up missing! I was a bit shocked as my boat is only 1 month old, but its something that we weren't checking regularly, as my boat stays in the water. I put bolts in place of the pins, with a lock-nut on the end to ensure that the problem doesn't happen again.

[tazz3069]

Tyger--
What did you end up using. My swim step is loose. I noticed that my pins are a bit smaller in diameter than the hole. Went out and purchased the next size up pin and it did not fit.
Tazz

[Tyger]

Tazz, I bought both a 1/4" and 5/16" wire pin lock from Home Depot and had the same problem. The 1/4" is too loose in the mounting bracket and the 5/16" would not fit in the mount plate holes.

I ended up ordering 1/4" pin lock from McMaster-Carr. My boating buddy took my mounting brackets to work today and he's going to have the bottom holes welded in. Then I will re-drill the holes a smaller size and use the 1/4" pin. This will hopefully remove most of the play in swim platform.

However, it's not an easy fix for more people if you don't know someone who's good at welding aluminum (which is a trick).

[Tyger]

(It's kind of odd that I tend to respond to my own posts a lot.)

Well, I ordered the McMaster-Carr parts late Monday and they are here already. That's fast service!