Tower Speaker Weight - TOO MUCH??

mossy44 · Criminal Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 87 City: Memphis, TN

i have a a pair of B530's and a pair of B60's on my tower. i have a '02 xstar. does anyone else have a problem with the bolts or screws that keep the tower up? i lay the tower down after every weekend of riding, and it seems as though all of the weight is being put on the actual screwor knob. i might need to take a picture of it, but even with a friend pushing up and down on the towerto try to take off some of the pressure, there is still too much weight on it for me to screw the knob all the way in. in fact, trying to take one of the knobs out yesterday, the actual knob came off.

shouldnt the top part of the tower be resting on the bottom part of the tower? instead of all the weight on a bolt on each side?

there are two parts of the tower. the horizontal (sort of) piece that is mounted to the hull and then the top part of the tower that can fold down.

i hope somebody understands what i am saying.

my main question is does anyone else with this much weight on their tower have any problems?

atxwake · Posted: May 12, 2003 10:17 am Post subject:

mossy, are you folding the tower towards the bow or the aft? (just trying to get a visual here). Either way it shouldnt matter. I see your point though, The bolts would take all the stress, but then again, they do when your riding behind it too. Theres nothing but 4 bolts that hold the top half of the tower to the bottom part. Try relieving some of the stess. Once you have it in the garage or whatever, prop it up with something from the floor of the boat (old board, piece of wood, etc). Or if you want to get real in-genius, rig something to the ceiling of your garage to starp it to with a ratchet strap or something.

mossy44 · Criminal Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 87 City: Memphis, TN

i have actually already built something that the tower sits on while the tower is down. its a 2x4 that lays across the hull of the boat up in the bow. i dont think that when the tower is down is causing any problems. there isnt really any stress on the tower anywhere in the down position (that i can tell).

i am just thinking that any downward pressure should be from the top part of the tower down onto the bottom part of the tower instead of top of tower onto 2 bolts. i figured thats too much weight for those bolts. just a centimeter or two off and it would be what i think it should.

i really wish i had a picture handy. any other zeroflex tower guys have one available?

atxwake · Posted: May 12, 2003 4:38 pm Post subject:

Here's a pic, maybe you could explain it a little more. The downward force shouldnt really matter. The zero flex on the boat in the pic, has never even budged with people hanging all over it. I would be confident that it would support me hanging on it all the time (185lbs) without a problem.

mossy44 · Criminal Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 87 City: Memphis, TN

in the picture (you cant see the actual knob, but you know its there) in the bottom left hand corner of the picture. right by the drivers head. thats the knob i am talking about. on both sides, i am having a problem with it. this is the 3rd time i have taken it in for them to redrill the holes. the part of the tower that runs along side the windshield = "bottom part"

i feel like that knob should not be supporting all the weight of the upper part of the tower. i figured the top of the tower should sit right into the bottom half and then the holes should be centered.

instead, the top part sits down in the bottom part, and then i have to lift up on the tower a few centimeters so that the holes line up. i think that is whats causing the problems.

i took it to the dealer this morning, so we will see.

thanks for the help so far even though i still dont know the answer

atxwake · Posted: May 13, 2003 6:45 am Post subject:

mossy,
Now I finally understand what your saying, so all the weight is on the bolt, that's wierd. I'll check on ours, but im pretty sure where that knob goes the top part sits on the bottom part, so that the weight is resting on the "bottom part" but not the bolt. Let me know what the dealer says/does about it. Also, have you had any problems with your ballast pumps? Sometimes our's just wont empty or fill, we'll drive around for a min, then they work fine, it's just a pain. We're gonna take it in this week for it.

Ryan

mossy44 · Criminal Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 87 City: Memphis, TN

i had some problems with my pumps when i tried to run all 3 at the same time. i now run the back 2. and then run the fron one. is yours a '03? i know that in '02 they had a bunch of problems with the pumps and had 2 or 3 recalls on them and i had every recall done. they seem to work a lot better. i had a bunch of problems with them at first. i figure since i fill my own 700 lb sac up front in the bow anyway, it doesnt take me extra time to run the two back pumps, then the front pump.

as for what the dealer said, he said they are supposed to be like that and that the bolts should be fine on handling all that weight. doesnt really make sense to me. let me know what you find out when you look at your boat. see if yours does what mine does or if the tower actually "rests" on itself.

mossy44 · Criminal Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 87 City: Memphis, TN

i had some problems with my pumps when i tried to run all 3 at the same time. i now run the back 2. and then run the fron one. is yours a '03? i know that in '02 they had a bunch of problems with the pumps and had 2 or 3 recalls on them and i had every recall done. they seem to work a lot better. i had a bunch of problems with them at first. i figure since i fill my own 700 lb sac up front in the bow anyway, it doesnt take me extra time to run the two back pumps, then the front pump.

as for what the dealer said, he said they are supposed to be like that and that the bolts should be fine on handling all that weight. doesnt really make sense to me. let me know what you find out when you look at your boat. see if yours does what mine does or if the tower actually "rests" on itself.

Tim Krasin · Outlaw Joined: 13 Feb 2003 Posts: 104 City: Houston, TX

What size bolts are those? It's real easy to do a stress calculation and find what they should hold up to - probably not a problem.

mossy44 · Criminal Joined: 07 Feb 2003 Posts: 87 City: Memphis, TN

can you tell me how to figure it out? i will measure the bolts when i get hom tomorrow. i'd be interested in finding that out.

Tim Krasin · Outlaw Joined: 13 Feb 2003 Posts: 104 City: Houston, TX

Well, for a simple look - just need the cross sectional area (shear area) and approximate the load applied (how hard the rider pulls and the moment arms created by the tower geometry).

Perhaps the best bet would be to inquire with Mastercraft about the design intent of the bolts - to take the load or to hold the ends together and the tubing end to sit in the pocket? If they say it'll be fine as is - then it's their liability, otherwise this is a defective tower/quality control issue.