2011 FCT tower coming loose

[wilaw]

Just recently got delivery of my 2011 superair 230. The tower was fine during the first two runs but after the third run I noticed the gap of the tower (where the lock is) is widening. The tower is in lock position and I've tried to reset the lock a couple of times but the tower still leaves a gap and it is getting worse. The tower would rattle back and forth when the boat is in motion. Maybe the locking mechanism inside is loose? My dealer has no idea whats wrong because the tower was built when the boat was manufactured. Anyone else have this problem?

Wilson

[shag]

I don't know, but that sounds not good. I would not use it till it is corrected. There is too much potential if something is wrong.

[Hayden]

Ours isnt loose on 2011 210 but since we had speakers and bimini it squeaks alot to the point of being annoying. I would think it is loosening up somewhat also

[Nautiques_NZ]

Go and see your dealer, there is a remedy for this and it should be covered by warranty

[Ski Nautique 1]

Recall

Just recently got delivery of my 2011 superair 230. The tower was fine during the first two runs but after the third run I noticed the gap of the tower (where the lock is) is widening. The tower is in lock position and I've tried to reset the lock a couple of times but the tower still leaves a gap and it is getting worse. The tower would rattle back and forth when the boat is in motion. Maybe the locking mechanism inside is loose? My dealer has no idea whats wrong because the tower was built when the boat was manufactured. Anyone else have this problem?

Wilson

Take it to your dealer

[AllianceBJJ]

Was just searching for more info on this....

Apparently there has been a pretty large scale recall about this issue.....I heard Roswell is actually flying reps to dealerships to help....

Mine was shaking and rattling like crazy over the weekend....Just my dealer alone had over 40 boats to fix the issue on...They are drilling into the tower and base to mount some blocks that will have hand screws on them to shore up the tower....

[horkn]

Sounds like the dealerships need to be notified. This is a big problem when you consider that people are being towed by the tower.

[AllianceBJJ]

Dealerships were notified....Buxton told me not to use the boat before we got it fixed...Ours was i nthe fisrt group of boats to get fixed asnd they just got it back to me on Friday....I have to say the fix works, but it is not the most attractive/factory looking fix they could have come up with....

[kirkout]

Retrofit is a Joke!

Retrofit is a Joke for a $115,000.00 boat. Why don't they fix this major design flaw instead of making a poor effort of a quick fix and keep shipping boats this way. I Just got my brand new 230 in July and they are still shipping this piece of junk tower with this beautiful boat. The tower latches are crap and just providing screws does not solve the problem. This should be a major re-call..but it is going to take someone being bashed on the head by a falling tower because they were fiddling with two stupid screws. Not what I would expect from Nautiques.

[scottb7]

Can someone please post pictures of the dealer fix? Thanks.

[DJH]

Can someone please post pictures of the dealer fix? Thanks.

Here you go. It's the black piece of metal bolted to the base of the tower. The install requires the top and base of the tower to be drilled and tapped.

If you study the photos of the 2012 boat in the General Discussion forum closely you can see the towers are still shipping with this fix. If you study the photos real close you can also see the top allen bolt has been replaced with a knob so the tower can be lowered without a wrench. I'd be curious to know if anyone has experience with this. My tower was still creaking with the fix installed... I cranked the allen bolts as tight as I dared with a wrench and it seems to have quieted down... I can't imagine the knob solution would have allowed me to get as much torque.

[scottb7]

Thanks for the picture....Can you describe in a bit more detail the issue with allen bolt/knob. You mention that knob allows tower to be lowered without a wrench. I thought you just twist to unlock the lever toward bottom to unlock and then lower the tower. I am confused.

[DJH]

The intended design of the pre-fix tower is exactly as you described... move the lever to "unlock" and lower the tower. The "fix" breaks this. The block is bolted to the top and bottom of the tower and basically locks it in place. To lower the tower you now need to remove the top bolt (either with a wrench or knob depending on the version you have) and then move the lever to unlock.

[kirkout]

They sent me two loose knobs to put into screw holes to hold tower in place as a poor quickfix solution to a badly designed tower latch system. The problem is that now instead of the quick unlatch and drop/raise tower like on the 2009 model..you now have to screw in two knobs too. Very tight tolerances and please try not to cross threads, or drop knobs in lake etc. The latches are still too weak to hold tower with only factory mounted speakers. (We use or boat to surf mostly). Our port latch gave way completely and the starboard is loose. If you are not very careful while unlatching latches and unscewing knobs.. the tower can fall very quickly and the large speakers can bash in someones head in driver seat. Showed it to my dealer and he is very simpathetic to my concerns and doing everything within his power to get me a solution. He even tried to drop and raise tower himself and almost dropped it ..and could not do it by himself.

For Nautiques to keep shipping this tower on 2011 and 2012 models is almost neglagent, although they do give you a little warning sticker. Kia called me today and told me my 2011 Sorento had a recall. I have had no problems, but they are replacing my alternator with a new one for free because of the risk of a potential problem..that is how you handle a re-call ...and that is on a $30k car ...this is a $100k+ boat.

[SuperAirDave]

CC should design a new FCT that works properly, not add brackets that defeat the purpose of the quick release function. And continuing to produce it for the 2012 model year is rediculous.