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My daughter was born last fall so getting a bimini for my boat was a top priority. I like the Tower Bimini brand ones but they are pricey and I don’t like that you need to use straps to hold them to the tower when they are booted. It seems like the original factory biminis for the FCT2/NDT are no longer available so I set out to make something as close to that as I could and I am extremely happy with my results.
I started with the Taylor Made Tower Bimini (http://www.wholesalemarine.com/tower...top-68-71.html) Use the attached diagram to measure to make you have the room but I went with the 68-71” size. The material is made of Ultima which is thinner than Sunbrella but it looks like it will still last a long while and I am happy with the quality of it. The main thing I did not like about this bimini out of the box is that it has rear straps. I also didn’t like that when it was booted you needed to rig something up to keep it up. I solved both of these issues by ordering some extra parts. I had no problem drilling a few holes in my tower to get it mounted. I could have skipped the drilling and used clamps but I liked the stealth look of the black plastic instead of adding more polished clamps to my black tower.
It definitely helps to have an extra set of hands while you are trying to find the right mounting spot. I put some painters tape around the general area so that I could make markings for my mount locations. I then used some zip ties to hold it in place while I made sure that it would fold and unfold without interference. Something I didn’t check at this time was clearance for the hinged passenger seat to lift….I got pretty lucky! If you lift it straight up it will hit the bottom of the bimini mount ever so slightly but you can easily move the seat a tiny bit to the right as you lift and it clears without issue. If I had realized this at the zip tie stage I would have tried to move it back a little bit but then I might have run into interference with my tower speakers so all in all I think I nailed the location as best I could.
Once I was sure of my mark for the mounts I drilled a pilot hole using my markings on the painters tape. I then came back with a larger bit to fit the screws. Then I was able to screw in the side mount hinges. I added some silicone to seal the holes from potential water intrusion while I screwed them in. Once I got these done for both sides I mounted the bimini and made sure that everything was square and that I could fold and unfold without interference. Now I was ready to mount the front hook eyes for the front straps. The directions say to mount these to the deck of the boat but I wanted to avoid that so I mounted them to the tower. The kit comes with stainless hook eyes but I wanted to be stealth so I ordered black plastic ones. I made one slight mistake here. I wanted to mount these hooks pretty high so that there would be less strap needed. I then realized that with the straps at the shortest adjustment that they were still pretty long. This meant that the hooks had to be pretty low on the tower leg so that is where they went. What I should have done but didn’t think of until after I drilled holes was that I should have cut the webbing and remounted it to the bimini. I think it would look better like that but I am still happy with how it came out. I followed the same pilot hole and silicone method for these screws as well.
I then hooked the straps to the new eyes and had my partner hold the rear of the bimini in the desired spot while I tightened down the straps. I then added the hinged top slides to each of the rear bimini bows. Be sure to buy hinged ones because they also make ones that just slide on but you have to be sure to get them in the right spot as you are assembling the bimini whereas the hinged ones are easy to add at any time. ½” inch PVC pipe has a close enough outer diameter to work with the 7/8” fittings so I used this to mock up my rear legs since it’s dirt cheap. I attached a pole eye end to one end of PVC and then attached it to the hinged slide and then pulled it down towards the tower until everything was tight and took a measurement. This measurement came about to about 18” for me. I cut the PVC to size and added a pole end to the other end. Then I put down more painters tape so that I could mark and measure the holes for the side mount hinge. I then drilled and siliconed the holes just like all the others.
I wanted to make sure everything was working right with the PVC before I cut into the aluminum I had bought so I trailered and used the boat twice with this setup and everything worked perfectly. I then cut my aluminum to size and I used the boat all this past weekend and everything is working as planned. The bimini is rock solid whether booted or deployed. It does fine on the highway when it is booted, my only complaint is that twice the zipper for the boot has started to come unzipped while trailering on the highway. I plan to fix this by sewing a little Velcro flap to hold the zipper in place like a lot of neoprene life vests have. I am so happy with my results and I now have plenty of shade available for my daughter and plenty of sun when we want it because it only takes about 30 seconds to deploy it or boot it up.
Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or criticisms. I can also get you more photos of anything if you need. Here is a list of the parts I used or could have used. I have no affiliation with Whole Sale Marine but they seemed to have the best prices and a great selection. I also got 10% off for joining their mailing list.
7/8” Poles. Be sure to get the aluminum ones. It also comes in stainless steel but that is 4 times the cost and will not match the rest of the aluminum bimini. I ordered two 4 foot setions to be safe but one was plenty http://www.wholesalemarine.com/alumi...source=baynote
Hinged top slide. As I said above make sure to get hinged ones to keep it easy. http://www.wholesalemarine.com/sea-d...with-bolt.html
Side mount hinge. The bimini comes with a pair of these so you only need one other pair: http://www.wholesalemarine.com/bimin...nge-34951.html
Optional Bimini clamps in case you don't want to drill holes: http://diywake.com/store/bimini-clamp
Optional Thumb screws. I bought some of these but I ended switching back to the flat head screws that came with the fittings because they held better and were more low profile http://www.wholesalemarine.com/sea-d...air-34971.html
Pole eye ends. I didn't realize these were sold in pairs so I got twice as many as I needed. You need 2 pairs. http://www.wholesalemarine.com/bimin...end-34927.html
Optional Hooks. The bimini comes with stainless eyes but I ordered some of these in black. http://www.wholesalemarine.com/bimin...aps-34930.html
Sorry the pics are so small. I will try uploading them again with a higher resolution.
I started with the Taylor Made Tower Bimini (http://www.wholesalemarine.com/tower...top-68-71.html) Use the attached diagram to measure to make you have the room but I went with the 68-71” size. The material is made of Ultima which is thinner than Sunbrella but it looks like it will still last a long while and I am happy with the quality of it. The main thing I did not like about this bimini out of the box is that it has rear straps. I also didn’t like that when it was booted you needed to rig something up to keep it up. I solved both of these issues by ordering some extra parts. I had no problem drilling a few holes in my tower to get it mounted. I could have skipped the drilling and used clamps but I liked the stealth look of the black plastic instead of adding more polished clamps to my black tower.
It definitely helps to have an extra set of hands while you are trying to find the right mounting spot. I put some painters tape around the general area so that I could make markings for my mount locations. I then used some zip ties to hold it in place while I made sure that it would fold and unfold without interference. Something I didn’t check at this time was clearance for the hinged passenger seat to lift….I got pretty lucky! If you lift it straight up it will hit the bottom of the bimini mount ever so slightly but you can easily move the seat a tiny bit to the right as you lift and it clears without issue. If I had realized this at the zip tie stage I would have tried to move it back a little bit but then I might have run into interference with my tower speakers so all in all I think I nailed the location as best I could.
Once I was sure of my mark for the mounts I drilled a pilot hole using my markings on the painters tape. I then came back with a larger bit to fit the screws. Then I was able to screw in the side mount hinges. I added some silicone to seal the holes from potential water intrusion while I screwed them in. Once I got these done for both sides I mounted the bimini and made sure that everything was square and that I could fold and unfold without interference. Now I was ready to mount the front hook eyes for the front straps. The directions say to mount these to the deck of the boat but I wanted to avoid that so I mounted them to the tower. The kit comes with stainless hook eyes but I wanted to be stealth so I ordered black plastic ones. I made one slight mistake here. I wanted to mount these hooks pretty high so that there would be less strap needed. I then realized that with the straps at the shortest adjustment that they were still pretty long. This meant that the hooks had to be pretty low on the tower leg so that is where they went. What I should have done but didn’t think of until after I drilled holes was that I should have cut the webbing and remounted it to the bimini. I think it would look better like that but I am still happy with how it came out. I followed the same pilot hole and silicone method for these screws as well.
I then hooked the straps to the new eyes and had my partner hold the rear of the bimini in the desired spot while I tightened down the straps. I then added the hinged top slides to each of the rear bimini bows. Be sure to buy hinged ones because they also make ones that just slide on but you have to be sure to get them in the right spot as you are assembling the bimini whereas the hinged ones are easy to add at any time. ½” inch PVC pipe has a close enough outer diameter to work with the 7/8” fittings so I used this to mock up my rear legs since it’s dirt cheap. I attached a pole eye end to one end of PVC and then attached it to the hinged slide and then pulled it down towards the tower until everything was tight and took a measurement. This measurement came about to about 18” for me. I cut the PVC to size and added a pole end to the other end. Then I put down more painters tape so that I could mark and measure the holes for the side mount hinge. I then drilled and siliconed the holes just like all the others.
I wanted to make sure everything was working right with the PVC before I cut into the aluminum I had bought so I trailered and used the boat twice with this setup and everything worked perfectly. I then cut my aluminum to size and I used the boat all this past weekend and everything is working as planned. The bimini is rock solid whether booted or deployed. It does fine on the highway when it is booted, my only complaint is that twice the zipper for the boot has started to come unzipped while trailering on the highway. I plan to fix this by sewing a little Velcro flap to hold the zipper in place like a lot of neoprene life vests have. I am so happy with my results and I now have plenty of shade available for my daughter and plenty of sun when we want it because it only takes about 30 seconds to deploy it or boot it up.
Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or criticisms. I can also get you more photos of anything if you need. Here is a list of the parts I used or could have used. I have no affiliation with Whole Sale Marine but they seemed to have the best prices and a great selection. I also got 10% off for joining their mailing list.
7/8” Poles. Be sure to get the aluminum ones. It also comes in stainless steel but that is 4 times the cost and will not match the rest of the aluminum bimini. I ordered two 4 foot setions to be safe but one was plenty http://www.wholesalemarine.com/alumi...source=baynote
Hinged top slide. As I said above make sure to get hinged ones to keep it easy. http://www.wholesalemarine.com/sea-d...with-bolt.html
Side mount hinge. The bimini comes with a pair of these so you only need one other pair: http://www.wholesalemarine.com/bimin...nge-34951.html
Optional Bimini clamps in case you don't want to drill holes: http://diywake.com/store/bimini-clamp
Optional Thumb screws. I bought some of these but I ended switching back to the flat head screws that came with the fittings because they held better and were more low profile http://www.wholesalemarine.com/sea-d...air-34971.html
Pole eye ends. I didn't realize these were sold in pairs so I got twice as many as I needed. You need 2 pairs. http://www.wholesalemarine.com/bimin...end-34927.html
Optional Hooks. The bimini comes with stainless eyes but I ordered some of these in black. http://www.wholesalemarine.com/bimin...aps-34930.html
Sorry the pics are so small. I will try uploading them again with a higher resolution.
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