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TL;DR... New Dimensions builds a great tower and will work with you on any design changes you may want. 5 stars!
Picked up my boat from New Dimensions Friday and now that I've had a bit of time to look it over I thought I'd give my opinions...
Firstly... for those that don't know my 2003 SANTE has a pair of Wet Sounds Rev410s (100lbs) hanging from it was well as whatever weight in boards so it has taken some abuse over the years and as anyone with one of these boats knows the lateral strength is less than adequate. 2 seasons ago I noticed a crack in the port side rear mounting plate, but kept an eye on it for the remainder of the season till I could remove the tower and have it repaired. Within 2 outings the following season it cracked in the exact same place, so I once again kept an eye on it until right before the SE Nautique Regatta I noticed the port side front leg was cracked nearly all the way around the tube right at the base. This forced me to remove the tower and cut the season short unfortunately.
I decided to not repair this tower and go with a new build from New Dimensions Towers. Conveniently they are located about 4 hours from me so after talking with Wayne who took his time to hear my ideas and discuss his thoughts I pulled my boat to him the end of Sept. We discussed more ideas and what I wanted/expected... Wayne was very understanding and took time out of his day to listen to everything I said, adding his suggestions as well, and also gave me a tour of his facility. We came to a design which closely mimics the original build, but went with SCH80 instead of SCH40 tubing, used thicker mounting plates, and added bars to the top of the tower like in 2006 to better triangulate the structure from lateral movement. It took awhile to get the materials because of well the way things are now, but once he had the tubing Wayne and his son went to work and knocked it out in about 2 weeks. Then had it powder coated gloss black.
This tower is rigid! Overall the design came out exactly like I expected with a few things I didn't expect. The welds look great, the powder coat is very nice, and overall I'm very pleased. It is also worth mentioning that my boat took up space in their shop for almost 2 months. With the exception of some fine dust and a couple shoe prints on 1 seat cushion my boat was nearly as clean as when it arrived there. This is a machine/welding shop so I accepted there would be some dust... overall I was pleased with the care they took with my boat and they kept it covered whenever not working on it.
Only complaints I really have are the bolts the secure the tower are not captured like the factory tower, so I'll have to be careful if folding the tower over water not to drop them, but I already have an idea to remedy that. Also the dimensions are slightly different which makes the top part of the tower taller when folding it over. At the top of it's arch I can no longer touch the tower without moving to the side. This will prove to be very difficult to fold the tower once the speakers are installed again. It may not be a single person job anymore unfortunately which is a real bummer because I have to fold the tower every time it leaves/enters my garage.
Anyway... onto pics!
On the jig
Mocked up on the boat
Delivery day
Mount plate is almost twice the thickness
Brass inserts where the bolt comes up to secure the tower
Teflon washers at the hinge which the factory tower never had and always bothered me
Picked up my boat from New Dimensions Friday and now that I've had a bit of time to look it over I thought I'd give my opinions...
Firstly... for those that don't know my 2003 SANTE has a pair of Wet Sounds Rev410s (100lbs) hanging from it was well as whatever weight in boards so it has taken some abuse over the years and as anyone with one of these boats knows the lateral strength is less than adequate. 2 seasons ago I noticed a crack in the port side rear mounting plate, but kept an eye on it for the remainder of the season till I could remove the tower and have it repaired. Within 2 outings the following season it cracked in the exact same place, so I once again kept an eye on it until right before the SE Nautique Regatta I noticed the port side front leg was cracked nearly all the way around the tube right at the base. This forced me to remove the tower and cut the season short unfortunately.
I decided to not repair this tower and go with a new build from New Dimensions Towers. Conveniently they are located about 4 hours from me so after talking with Wayne who took his time to hear my ideas and discuss his thoughts I pulled my boat to him the end of Sept. We discussed more ideas and what I wanted/expected... Wayne was very understanding and took time out of his day to listen to everything I said, adding his suggestions as well, and also gave me a tour of his facility. We came to a design which closely mimics the original build, but went with SCH80 instead of SCH40 tubing, used thicker mounting plates, and added bars to the top of the tower like in 2006 to better triangulate the structure from lateral movement. It took awhile to get the materials because of well the way things are now, but once he had the tubing Wayne and his son went to work and knocked it out in about 2 weeks. Then had it powder coated gloss black.
This tower is rigid! Overall the design came out exactly like I expected with a few things I didn't expect. The welds look great, the powder coat is very nice, and overall I'm very pleased. It is also worth mentioning that my boat took up space in their shop for almost 2 months. With the exception of some fine dust and a couple shoe prints on 1 seat cushion my boat was nearly as clean as when it arrived there. This is a machine/welding shop so I accepted there would be some dust... overall I was pleased with the care they took with my boat and they kept it covered whenever not working on it.
Only complaints I really have are the bolts the secure the tower are not captured like the factory tower, so I'll have to be careful if folding the tower over water not to drop them, but I already have an idea to remedy that. Also the dimensions are slightly different which makes the top part of the tower taller when folding it over. At the top of it's arch I can no longer touch the tower without moving to the side. This will prove to be very difficult to fold the tower once the speakers are installed again. It may not be a single person job anymore unfortunately which is a real bummer because I have to fold the tower every time it leaves/enters my garage.
Anyway... onto pics!On the jig
Mocked up on the boat
Delivery day
Mount plate is almost twice the thickness
Brass inserts where the bolt comes up to secure the tower
Teflon washers at the hinge which the factory tower never had and always bothered me
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