1999 Flight Control Tower broke - common?

[Joshua J Rowe]

Tower broke last night. I believe it happened on the drive home.

A good welder might be able to fix this.

Anyone had this happen? If so what did you do?

[Joshua J Rowe]

From what I see on here....this is common. Not surprised, this tower is flimsy. It does not withstand lateral force very well. Good example of poor or non existent engineering!

I would rather not drill more holes in the boat for a new tower so I do believe I'll be fixing this issue myself.

I have in mind a few potential permanent solutions for this issue. Once I get it figured out I'll share with the community.

If this had broken while pulling up a rider we could have had a very bad day! Not cool.

[wakejunky]

Those towers were a little more flimsy than new models. If you're gonna go through the trouble of getting it welded, you might as well look into adding gussets to strengthen it up.

[xlair]

I would probably just bite the bullet and invest in a new dimensions tower. The old tower was the first of its kind but hardly an engineering marvel


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[Joshua J Rowe]

Those towers were a little more flimsy than new models. If you're gonna go through the trouble of getting it welded, you might as well look into adding gussets to strengthen it up.

I agree 100%

I think I have a solution to prevent these failures.

I don't know if it breaks forum rules to ask this question....

Would anyone who owns a boat with this tower be willing to spend $150-200 for a bolt on kit that would prevent this failure and stiffen up the tower?

I need to talk to a manufacturer about what it would cost to produce these things, but I'm fairly confident it would end up in that price range.

[xlair]

There really aren't many of these towers left. Almost have already broken and gotten replaced so I'm not sure it would be worth your time but sounds like a good idea for a fix.


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[Tryathlete]

Stress riser on a cheap aluminum casting right at the drilled hole. If I were going to fix it, I'd put a solid piece of aluminum bar stock and weld it in place of that casting.


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[AC*]

Joshua - where are you located? I just replaced my FCT1 with a NDT on my 99 AN. Send me a private message if interested. I know these are notorious for breaking, but mine hasn't... I just chose to upgrade the looks of the boat.


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[Clmsnflyj]

When I purchased my 1999 PAN the tower was broken in 3 of the 4 drilled holes. I paid a guy 50 bucks to weld up the holes and put a bead around the tubing. Seems to be strong and was an easy/cheap fix.


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[Pitty]

Does a 2002 SAN, have the same tower?

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[Joshua J Rowe]

Stress riser on a cheap aluminum casting right at the drilled hole. If I were going to fix it, I'd put a solid piece of aluminum bar stock and weld it in place of that casting.


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I thought about that as well.

I also thought I could cut it off at the weld and machine a new one from a fresh piece.

[Joshua J Rowe]

There really aren't many of these towers left. Almost have already broken and gotten replaced so I'm not sure it would be worth your time but sounds like a good idea for a fix.


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Thats a good point.

[Joshua J Rowe]

I decided to buy a welder and fix this myself. The guy I had weld it a few weeks ago did not do work I trust, and when I got home I found the other side had a fracture as well. Plus I need to make a repair on my riding mower so.....welding here I come.

Anyone know what type of aluminum these towers are made of? One of the last bits of information I am looking for is what type of filler rod will be best to make this repair.

[a0128]

Does a 2002 SAN, have the same tower?

Nope. 2002 has what is known as FCT1 Gen2.

Here is a link showing the evolution of the FCT.

https://www.planetnautique.com/vb5/f...control-towers

[Joshua J Rowe]

Here is a video of how I ended up repairing my tower. I think it may have been progressively failing. I would bet there were fractures long before it finally gave out. For other folks with these towers I suggest you inspect them every so often to see if fractures are forming! Everything is welded now, and the tower feels much stronger.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PJZ...ature=youtu.be