uh oh....or am i ok?

[Brian66D]

I have been installing my joystick wakeboard tower the last few nights after work. It is almost complete and I will post pictures when we are finished.

I am just curious if I am going to be okay here...

So during the install process I am using plywood(standard not marine-oops! but they wont ever see water anyways) to make larger backing plates for the tower. The tower came with rubber gaskets for the inner and outer plates that go against the hull. I had planned on using epoxy directly inbetween the fiberglass and plywood. My friend decided that the only way to go about this was to use the epoxy but....epoxy the inside rubber gasket to the plywood, and THEN epoxy the wood to the fiberglass. Now I know judging from how much epoxy we used/had at our disposal that there are some voids in there. Am I going to be okay? My concern with the voids not being filled is that the edges of the plywood are going to be the pressure points even though i did cut the corners off.

My current setup is:
outer mounting plate->outside gasket->fiberglass<-inside gasket<-epoxy->plywood<-backing plate

Will I be okay or am I going to be prone to stress cracks? I didn't really feel up to arguing and just wanted to get it on so hopefully everyone will say its okay because theres no changing it now...they are stuck on there with epoxy and are most definitely not coming off even if I try.

 

[pat8839]

Re: uh oh....or am i ok?

Did your instructions say to use additional backing plates inside the hull? Surely it did, but I would think the gasket (rubber washer) on the inside of the hull would only be used of there was no additional internal backing plates. I feel like the backing plates would not reach the inside of the hull properly if you have the rubber washer between your plates and the hull...Basically I am thinking you do not need the rubber washer on the inside.

 

[sickwilly]

Re: uh oh....or am i ok?

Just re-torque after one or two uses. I think you will be fine.

I don't agree that it was the ideal way to do it, but I would think there is enough epoxy to create enough filler between the plywood and the side of the boat for the flex of the rubber washer to not matter.

That rubber washer was to help with the curvature. The epoxy on the inside made it not-necessarily.

 

[Brian66D]

Re: uh oh....or am i ok?

Did your instructions say to use additional backing plates inside the hull? Surely it did, but I would think the gasket (rubber washer) on the inside of the hull would only be used of there was no additional internal backing plates. I feel like the backing plates would not reach the inside of the hull properly if you have the rubber washer between your plates and the hull...Basically I am thinking you do not need the rubber washer on the inside.

the directions said using plywood backing plates was an option. I was thinking the same thing but theres no going back now....

Just re-torque after one or two uses. I think you will be fine.

I don't agree that it was the ideal way to do it, but I would think there is enough epoxy to create enough filler between the plywood and the side of the boat for the flex of the rubber washer to not matter.

That rubber washer was to help with the curvature. The epoxy on the inside made it not-necessarily.

This makes me feel more comfortable. After looking at it in the clear daylight it does appear that a decent amount of epoxy is between the plywood and fiberglass of the hull. However I can only see the edges so the voids that could potentially be there are the only things that scare me. I will definitely re torque everything after the first few uses...maybe use loctite on them as well....

Thanks for your input....I'll post pictures tonight *(pending the boat gets cleaned)*

 

[pat8839]

Re: uh oh....or am i ok?

Use the loctite-my tower actually came with a bottle of it

 

[Rellik546]

Re: uh oh....or am i ok?

i have the pro series joystick tower and have had it on my boat for a full year. I installed it without any additional backing plates. the tower probably sees a good 6 hours of use everyweek and i have no spider cracks or stress. also it doesnt rattle at all. at the begininning of this year however i did tighten all the bolts, a couple were slightly loose. Its a great tower, i love it! i hope your enjoy yours too!

i honestly wouldnt worry about any small voids behind the plywood as long as all the edges are seated around the plywood to the glass. my glass is probably an 1/8 or 3/32 thick where its mounted and its fine.