Tahoe 55
Petty Officer 1st Class
- Joined
- Jul 15, 2008
- Messages
- 226
Well, I've had my Smart Tab SX's on from the start of this season and if you looked though my posts, you could tell I'm a big fan and supporter of the "Smart Tab movement"... They make a huge improvement in every area they were designed to improve, but they let me down last weekend... 
We rented a cabin on Lake Gaston for a long four day weekend get away. I spent time the week prior on getting the boat ready, going over everything mechanical, cleaning, washing and waxing. She was ready for fours days of fun on the water! I should have paid closer attention to the Tabs, because after the 1st day on the water the port side was missing.... I noticed it at the end of the day, but had felt the boat act a little weird earlier that afternoon. Mainly noticed the "no wake wander" back a little and more bow rise when making a U turn hard to port.
What was missing was the tab plate and the little yoke on the end of the actuator (little shock absorber) that attach?s to the plate. All the pins were still there and the actuator. I examined the starboard tab and noticed the yoke on the end of the actuator was loose where it threaded on the actuator. The yoke is plastic and it threads onto a small steal rod at the end of the actuator. It was loose and "wobbled" out. The plastic wasn't strong enough it seems and mine are the 80lb actuators, so it has the most stress of any on them. So I think the port side wobbled loose, came off and the plate was flapping in the water until I backed up. I would then "tuck under" and the water force snapped it off...
I pulled the starboard side off and used the boat the rest of the trip without the tabs. Man, I missed my tabs!
Monday morning I called Nauticus and told them what had happened. The guy was friendly and said they have seen this problem before and have updated yokes with a brass treaded insert to address the problem. He got my address and said two new yokes, a plate and hardware would be at my door by Wednesday. Thanks Nauticus for a great product, continued product development and standing behind that product!
Thought I'd share my story with all of you in case you encounter the same problem. If you have older tabs, look at those yokes....
We rented a cabin on Lake Gaston for a long four day weekend get away. I spent time the week prior on getting the boat ready, going over everything mechanical, cleaning, washing and waxing. She was ready for fours days of fun on the water! I should have paid closer attention to the Tabs, because after the 1st day on the water the port side was missing.... I noticed it at the end of the day, but had felt the boat act a little weird earlier that afternoon. Mainly noticed the "no wake wander" back a little and more bow rise when making a U turn hard to port.
What was missing was the tab plate and the little yoke on the end of the actuator (little shock absorber) that attach?s to the plate. All the pins were still there and the actuator. I examined the starboard tab and noticed the yoke on the end of the actuator was loose where it threaded on the actuator. The yoke is plastic and it threads onto a small steal rod at the end of the actuator. It was loose and "wobbled" out. The plastic wasn't strong enough it seems and mine are the 80lb actuators, so it has the most stress of any on them. So I think the port side wobbled loose, came off and the plate was flapping in the water until I backed up. I would then "tuck under" and the water force snapped it off...
I pulled the starboard side off and used the boat the rest of the trip without the tabs. Man, I missed my tabs!
Monday morning I called Nauticus and told them what had happened. The guy was friendly and said they have seen this problem before and have updated yokes with a brass treaded insert to address the problem. He got my address and said two new yokes, a plate and hardware would be at my door by Wednesday. Thanks Nauticus for a great product, continued product development and standing behind that product!
Thought I'd share my story with all of you in case you encounter the same problem. If you have older tabs, look at those yokes....
