Roswell Area 52 Tower install...

[PS94]

Anyone done one? any tips or hints? or is this best left to the pros?
It's going on a 1996 Sea Ray BR 180

 

[Marada92]

Re: Roswell Area 52 Tower install...

I dunno about the Roswell but they are all basically the same as far as what you have to do. Its mostly a matter of getting over the fear of drilling holes through the hull. I did a big air h2o tower on mine.. Took about a day but it's a universal tower that required a lot of drilling on each piece. If you have some mechanical ability you can do it and save yourself some cash.

 

[PS94]

Re: Roswell Area 52 Tower install...

Yeah, that's my biggest fear....drilling big holes on my boat...

 

[Marada92]

Re: Roswell Area 52 Tower install...

It's really not that big of a deal just take your time and plan out everything... And if you screw up it's fixable but with some work. Just be sure to measure everything four times and be sure to chamfer the holes. All this does is taper the hole... This helps to keep the gel coat from cracking over time. And if it the tower doesn't come with large backing plates then I'd suggest looking into it. This simply helps spread the pressure on the fiberglass over a larger surface area. I'm going to fiberglass in some plywood pieces on mine but you may be able to get away with simply glueing plywood in without the glass. You do have access to the area inside the boat where everything will mount right? If you don't feel comfortable with it then by all means take it to a professional but I assure you it along with anything else on a boat "seems" alot more difficult than it really is. Email the tower manufacturer and see if they can email you the instructions.. This should help you make up your mind on if you can handle it.


Edit: I went back and looked up that tower after a posted this... It's a sweet looking tower for sure. Like that they ship them prewired also.. Running wire up one is a PITA. Price is a little steep but then again it comes loaded. Might have to consider them on my next boat!

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Roswell Area 52 Tower install...

Mine came factory installed...

Only advise I can give... Use a larger internal backing plate than will be provided.

www.samsonsports.com

View an installation video and you'll get the main idea of it all. They provide great tips for drilling, chamfering the holes, and how you should properly install a backing plate.

Only other advise, get a tower thats powder coated, polishing bare aluminum by hand is a PITA!

 

[WakeMe]

Re: Roswell Area 52 Tower install...

PS 94,

I just installed the Monster MTE, the thread is "Installed Tower over the weekend." I bought mine via the iboats marine store. In order to get an idea of the job, follow the marine store Monster Tower link and you will find the Installation Guide pdf. I agree with Marada, measure, then measure again and again then drill. It wasn't difficult, just took a day really ... with several water breaks. I can't speak for the different manufacturer qualities, I'll see over time. I'm going to post a few more pics on the above mentioned thread in a couple of days.

 

[PS94]

Re: Roswell Area 52 Tower install...

WakeMe - it was your thread that inspired me to think about installing this...It's been sitting in my spare room for a year now...
it does have backing plates, slightly larger than the exterior pads...
I have an overhead crane at my shop, I'm going to use that for positioning it, and marking..It's the drilling holes....aieee!!!

 

[ThreeMileBayWaker]

Re: Roswell Area 52 Tower install...

it does have backing plates, slightly larger than the exterior pads...

So does mine...

... and now I have these...

Save yourself headaches down the road, use a larger backing plate