Fitted tower during the week to 175-gctid397543

[Guest]

Hi All,Just thought I'd post my finished product of the tower on my 2006 175. It was a long process to select which tower was going to best suit my boat and I ended up going with a Liquid tower by Indy (http://www.liquidindy.com/catalogue_product.asp?pid=47) Reason for this was It looked like I would be able to get it around my bimini, I didnt have to cut and bolt together any pipes so I thought it would give a more factory look, I liked the simple design as I didnt want to dwarf my 175 and it appeared to be good value for money.

[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/701225=29435-IMG_3192.jpg[/img]

[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/701225=29436-IMG_3193.jpg[/img]

[Guest]

I don't know anything about towers but it looks like a great choice. Did you do all the work yourself? Do you have any mounting details or tips that might help other people looking to do the same thing or something similiar?

[Guest]

Looks great. Nice job!

[wgander]

The tower will come with instructions. The best tip is to give yourself a lot of time to decide where the mounts will go. You should provide backing plates to distribute the stress (if not included with the tower). Access inside our small boats is really limited - make sure you'll be able to place the backing plates, washers and nuts on the bolts before drilling any holes. Seal holes with 3M 5200. I think I spent more time planning the install than actually doing it. You'll need at least one helper, if only because it's a bit clumsy trying to mate the tubes and mounts.

[Guest]

Here is how I wen't on my install, hope it helps someone. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this on a boat and found it rather straight forward. I had done a fair bit of reading online on how others had gone about it.

1. assemble tower with all adjustable fittings loose so they can still be moved with a bit of force

2. set tower legs in the middle of its maximum and minimum distances allowed for legs to be apart

3. Masking tape rags onto the deck mounts of the tower

4. Lift the tower into place on the boat with a helper and position roughly where you would like it to sit

5. Take not of where the mounts sit and remove tower

6. measure from centerline/bow to front mounts on each side and mark

7. measure back from the front mounts the distance between the front and rear legs and mark

8. check inside hull for obstructions ect. and move both marks either way depending on whats in the way

9. drill small pilot hole in hull (ensure drill is in reverse for good half of the hole) and then re-drill with the size of the tower mounts (again in reverse first)

10. use marine 5 ply and cut up some backing plates, mine were about 3inches long on the front by 2.5" high and 4 inches long by 3inches high on the back

11. hold the backing plates in place and have a mate drill a mark in them on each mount and then drill them through

12. sand the inside of the boat where the backing plates are going with 80grit and clean surface with methelated spirits or acetone

13. use automotive fiberglass body bog and put a nice thick layer on each backing plate

14. take a old bolt and place the backing plates in place and bolt them up so that all the bog oozes out but don't tighten all the way

15. once bog is cured remove bolts and redrill the holes as they will now be bogged up

16. counter sink the holes that you have drilled

17. bolt the deck mounts in place

18. disassemble tower and re assemble one piece at a time on the boat with lock-tight on all threads

I didn't use a helper at all except for the parts where I stated I did. Did the job over two days but it could have been done in one if that was all I was doing.

[Guest]

kidafa wrote:
Here is how I wen't on my install, hope it helps someone. This is the first time I've ever done anything like this on a boat and found it rather straight forward. I had done a fair bit of reading online on how others had gone about it.

9. drill small pilot hole in hull (ensure drill is in reverse for good half of the hole) and then re-drill with the size of the tower mounts (again in reverse first)

10. use marine 5 ply and cut up some backing plates, mine were about 3inches long on the front by 2.5" high and 4 inches long by 3inches high on the back

11. hold the backing plates in place and have a mate drill a mark in them on each mount and then drill them through

12. sand the inside of the boat where the backing plates are going with 80grit and clean surface with methelated spirits or acetone

13. use automotive fiberglass body bog and put a nice thick layer on each backing plate

14. take a old bolt and place the backing plates in place and bolt them up so that all the bog oozes out but don't tighten all the way

15. once bog is cured remove bolts and redrill the holes as they will now be bogged up

nice job re-inforcing the hull where the brackets mount. I've been seeing a lot of people not reinforcing the fiberglass where the tower is mounted. What you listed is pretty much identical to what bayliner did from the factory on my '04 xt. boat is now 8 years old and doesnt have even one stress crack in the gel coat where the mounts are.