FAE and center platform bracket on 2008 210

[xrichard]

I just installed an FAE on my 2008 210. The cockpit of the boat is definitely a bit quieter after the install and I'm happy with the product. But I need some advice / help:

The FAE support bracket fits on the center swim platform bracket...a vertical square tube on each side of the male (boat-mounted) portion of the platform bracket. Because of this, there is no way to insert the existing retaining pin meant to hold the platform in place. That means the pins on the 2 outer brackets now do the work of what was once done by 3 pins on 3 brackets.

(As a side note, it appears CC changed the swim platform brackets in recent years...my recollection of my 95 Nautique is that the pins didn't used to have any structural integrity...they simply kept the platform from rising up and off the boat-mounted part of the bracket and had nothing to do with the brackets pulling away from the boat. On my boat, the lower portion of the female (swim-platform-mounted) part of the bracket is partially open which means the pins hold it from pulling away from the boat. If I mount the swim platform w/o any pins in place and lift up on the rear of the platform, the lower part female brackets pull away from the male brackets).

So....how have other folks handles this issue? Or is it a non-issue and I should just leave it alone...could be the outer 2 pins absorb the additional load with no problem? Could be the additional load is minimal?

I've thought about drilling through the FAE bracket so I can insert a pin through one side of the FAE bracket...through the existing holes in the swim platform bracket...and out through the other side of the FAE bracket, but there is a weld right at that point in the FAE bracket (for the horizontal member that extends aft to support the exhaust downtube) and I'm afraid of weakening the FAE braket.

[NautiqueJeff]

Can't help you with your platform bracket question, but did you purchase your FAE through the link on this site by chance? Just wondering...

[xrichard]

I didn't...sorry about that. I should have. My recollection is that I received an email sometime in December from FAE re: an end of year sale and I called them last minute...literally the afternoon of 12/31 I think...to get the sale price.

[SkiTower]

pardon my ignorance, but what's an FAE?

Also, my pins don't hold my plaform in place, just keep it from coming off as you described. Overall I'd be fine without the center pin if needed. Not sure if it translates to yours, though.

[ers906]

fresh air exhaust

[Latonkaboarder]

The pins on my 08 210 don't have anything to do with supporting the platform. Tthe pins just keep the platform from rising up. Could you post a pic of your platform brackets? Wondering if they are different than what is on my boat.

[xrichard]

I'll post a picture next time I take the boat out. The pins definitely provide support to keep the bottom of the female portion of the bracket from pulling away from the bottom of the male portion. I'm guessing the new design of the brackets (relative to my '95) is why CC went with a substantial pin instead of the flimsy retainer pin used in the past.

I, too, did not think this was the case (or even give it a thought) until I installed FAE. But, you can take a look on your own boat and might be able to reproduce: remove the pins and lift up on the rear of the platform...you'll see the bottom of the swim platform brackets pulling away from each other...where the brackets meet at the top will stay in place (unless you're lifting the entire platform upward). I did this with a zip tie snug (but not tight) through the hole in the bracket in the center of the platform...lifting up on the rear of the platform easily broke the zip tie and kept going. The movement of the bottom of the bracket was out--away from the boat, not up.

Maybe not a big deal, but it transfers all load from the pin+top of bracket to just top of bracket. Obviously, with FAE the pins on the outer brackets are still in place. However, my concern is that removing the pin on the center platform allow the center of the platform to move up enough that no load is supported by the center bracket. It's difficult for me to tell if this happens.

[xrichard]

Here are some photos that show the issue...

The first picture shows the platform in place (but w/o the pin inserted so you can see the hole for the pin...it is aligned perfectly and the pin simply slides through the hole shown).

The second picture is when I lift on the rear of the platform. As you can see, the female portion of the bottom of the bracket swings away from the male portion. The pin clearly provides the structure to hold the bottom portion of the bracket in place horizontally as well as vertically (...in fact, the bracket moves enough that you can see the aft side of the male portion of the bracket through the hole for the pin).

The third photo shows the FAE bracket on the center swim platform bracket. The hole for the retaining pin is approximately where the horizontal aft-facing arm is located on the FAE bracket.

So, this is what I'm talking about...

[Latonkaboarder]

I just had my boat out Saturday and was thinking of this post when I returned home and removed my platform. I removed the pins in my platform and relized the issue you were talking about. Anyway in my opinion I think you would be ok running just the two outer pins on the platform bracket but that is just my opinion. You may want to try running it with just the two outer pins and make sure there is not going to be to much movement or stress put on the platform with just the two of them in there. I don't think you will have any issues because it seams like there is not a lot of stress put on the pins. When I wiggled my platform it seams as if the pins keep the platform from moving up (or the bottom of the platform bracket from pulling away from the boat bracket) and don't effect much when pusing down on the outer edge of the platform which is where my concern would be. The only time the pins would have a load on them is during inital take off until the boat gets up on plane or during surf sessions and I don't think it is a whole lot of force pulling up on the platform. I hope this helps and makes sence. I do not have an FAE so again this is only my opinion and I am not a CC engineer so I could be wrong on this.

[xrichard]

Yeah, my main concern is when taking off and the water pushes on the platform. When I set up with just the outer pins in place (w/o the pin in the center bracket), I was surprised how much I could move the platform at the center...in terms of the female portion moving up relative to the male portion. I'll measure, but I think I could easily move it 2-3 inches and after running the first time w/o the center pin (...following install of FAE...),there were marks on the bracket showing that it moved quite a bit.

Bottom line: I don't know if it is a problem. I think my only solution, if I'm concerned enough, is to have a welder reinforce the FAE bracket so I could drill out that bracket and place a pin all the way through from one side to the other. Or I could just drill the FAE bracket w/o reinforcement to I could insert a pin through the swim platform bracket, but the hole in the swim platform bracket lines up in a very awkward location on the FAE bracket--it looks to me like I'd weaken the FAE bracket substantially if I drilled it without modification.