Swim Platform Floppy!

[gscho002]

hello - i have a 2010 SANTE 210. the swim platform has become progressively floppier the last 2 years. i assume i need to replace the mounting brackets. this is simple on the platform side. but i'm wondering - actually expecting - that i also need to replace the mounts on the boat.

SO HERE IS THE QUESTION: are the bolts holding the boat mounts on going *through* the hull or do they thread into it somehow...... or to put it another way, can i simply unbolt these from the outside/back of the boat, and then bolt the new ones on? or is there a nut or something on the inside of the boat that i need access to? there is conflicting info from my parts shop versus online posts..... i fear it is the latter, which will require some major work t remove things inside the engine compartment it looks like......

and a follow up - on the web there is mention of rubber o-rings or things that are supposed to go on the boat mounts to "cushion" the fit and prevent this problem from developing. is anyone aware of this?

thanks for any info.

geoff

[kdonzi123]

Every this is through bolted. Need some one on the inside to hold the nuts. Then on the out side they will be stuck on due to the sealant they use. Good luck.

[wakejunky]

Can't answer specifically to your model year but, prior years the swim platform was bolted through the transom. So, more than likely you're have to gain access to the inside nuts. Simple answer would be to gain access to the area and see if there are bolts and nuts on the inside.

[Beach-TJ]

The platform shouldn't become floppy. If one does it's usually a mounting pin fell out, or a bolt/nut worked lose. I would inspect everything closely, odds are you just need to tighten something or replace a pin.

[gscho002]

thanks for all the input! just to give some more information, the platform did indeed break a pin a couple years ago, which i replaced. actually at that point, i put in stainless bolts. that helped some but over time it has continued to get worse. with the boat out of the water it is the attachment of the brackets where the slide over the pins on the boat mounts - the top is just no longer tight - so i am assuming both parts are widened/worn from all the action.

it actually is useful for me to know that the platform is normally pretty rock solid. we bought the boat used it definitely had enough play that i could hear it knocking around when the wake would hit the back of the boat when docked...... part of the reason i did not fix earlier is that i was not sure this was not sort of normal. it has only been last year and this that it is clearly outside the range of what can be right....

probably need to reverse dock it. but our berth does not seem to be long enough - the platform hits the floats if i back it in. bummer. wish they just hard-attached it to the boat like Cobalt. never had any issues then.

[homer12]

Your issue sounds rather unique. So the platform itself should be screwed into a bracket on the underneath side. That bracket slides over the bracket mounted to the boat transom. Which part of the bracket is loose?


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[gscho002]

yes that is what i have. the brackets on both the boat and the platform itself are screwed in tightly. that is not where the play is. the play is in the junction between the brackets. either the post that is attached to the boat has been worn down so it is not large enough or the sleeve that is on the platform-side bracket has been opened up so it is too large. that is where the play is. i suspect it is both and i have to replace all 3 on both boat and platform. this would be simple if the boat-side ones could just be unscrewed, but i think they are thru-hull bolted. was hoping someone would tell me differently!

[Nautiquehunter]

My 08 has been loose since new.

[xrichard]

Same as Nautiquehunter--my 08 always had some play at the junction of the boat brackets and the platform brackets.

[Indygreen]

Would agree with Nautiquehunter, my 08-230 is loose also.

[Infinity]

yes that is what i have. the brackets on both the boat and the platform itself are screwed in tightly. that is not where the play is. the play is in the junction between the brackets. either the post that is attached to the boat has been worn down so it is not large enough or the sleeve that is on the platform-side bracket has been opened up so it is too large. that is where the play is. i suspect it is both and i have to replace all 3 on both boat and platform. this would be simple if the boat-side ones could just be unscrewed, but i think they are thru-hull bolted. was hoping someone would tell me differently!

My thot is perhaps the stainless bolt has worn since that is a softer metal compared to something like grade 8 steel bolt (which would rust of course). I think before I changed out the swim brackets....I would look at the stainless bolt and if that is the case and they are worn down OR the holes in bracket have rounded out (which I have seen happen over time)....I would get larger diameter bolts and then drill the 2 existing holes in each swim platform out, so new bolt fits tightly, I would think that will fix your issue for another couple years for minimal money and labor compared to replacing the brackets, which are likely expensive and labor intensive due to thru-hull.
I may be off here in my thinking, but if what you are explaining is similar to what I visualize and have on my boat, then this should work?

[Beach-TJ]

geoff, if you need to change out the brackets on the boat, don't let them being through hull mounted bother you, there is nothing difficult about it, just seams intimidating until you do it once. Honestly, you want them through bolted, for strength.

It's nice to have a helper, as it's hard to impossible to reach the bolt and nut at the same time. If you look down into the engine compartment as well as each rear storage locker, you should be able to find the nuts fairly easily. There not on very tight, considering how large they are. You just need to be ready to clean up the sealant out of the holes after removing the bolts and brackets. Then have plenty of 3M 4200 (or equivalent) sealant for when you put it back together. Don't use 3M 5200, that's a permanent sealant, and things won't come back apart. Rubber gloves are also handy, as you will want to use plenty of 4200 on assembly.

[neirbot]

My former '08 was loose.

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[gscho002]

just a quick update if anyone is interested. platform ripped clean through the bolt holes on the port side and then the starboard side brackets on the platform before i could get it out. it also cracked the rectangular spacer that sits between the boat and the center mount bracket. our boat gets pretty strong wake from the surfers that come through our cove. the weak material that Nautique uses for thse combined with the looseness required to make it removable are a deadly combination in my opinion. there is no way this does not happen again and again. our shop says they have done 20 or more on our one lake th last few years.

so we are going to weld the next set together if they start to get loose at all.

if anyone from the company reads this......FYI i guess.

also is sort of nuts that the D-rings are UNDER the platform. how are we supposed to get to them to tie up? because of this, i cannot easily reverse the boat in our slip. so it must sit back-to-the-wake, which i am sure does not help......thinking of having new D-rings installed on the corners.