stuck pedestal posts

[ruffinit]

I recently bought a 1995 Sea Nymph FM 161. I've been going over everything on the boat, and I'm wondering what the secret is to maintaining the pedestal seat posts. The pedestals are all hard to remove from the bases (although they all come out.....just too much effort is required!). I can see where the former owner put a pipe wrench on the posts to get them out. Should they be cleaned up and lubed with silicone, or is there some other secret to this?

[marine4003]

when you get them removed apply a good rubbin' with surfboard wax...ive found "Dr. Zog's Sex Wax" to be the best, this needs to be repeated about every 4 months...Yes,i'm serious.

[ruffinit]

I'll give it a try.....thanks.

[109jb]

First. What style post?

I have the threaded 3/4" dia posts in my Starcraft and I carry one of those rubber strap wrenches in the boat, I think its called a "Grip Wrench". It has never failed to remove any of the posts in there and it doesn't mark up the post. For maintenance, I periodically clean any corrosion and then lube the post with chain lube.

[stevenj]

my seat post bases have a plastic liner in them, found that the aluminum
cup of the base oxidizes and puts a choke hold on the plastic liner, causing the I.D. of it to lessen causing it to lock up the post. was able to get new liner cup from swivle eze. broke out old liner, cleaned out oxidization build
up with wire brush and installed new cup.

[tashasdaddy]

i keep a pipe wrench in the boat.

[ruffinit]

Thanks all for replies.
My pedestals sound like Stevenj's, so I'm going to try locating replacement plastic sleeves for bases.
thanks, again.

[Irv964]

Would a very light coat of say penetrating oil sprayed on/in the base pedestal hole not eliminate this problem? (just enough to not create a mess)
I also suppose sanding/cleaning up the oxidization every once in a while in the bas hole would help quite a bit too?...........Irv964

[ToothDocNick]

I was having the same problem......I did the same thing as StevenJ did, but I took it one step further. I was able isolate the problem to the treated Ply that was used on the boat.....this was causing the corosion to occur. I removed the seat bases from the boat and cleaned them up. I then applied a primer to the underside of the base and then coated them with rubberized undercoating. I did not spray the inside, after finishing the underside I reinstalled them, removed the plastic cup, and installed a new one. It has been a year now with no problems at all. Problem solved.....Primer $3 a can, Spray undercoating $6 a can, a little bit of time cleaning and reinstalling....problem fixed.

[Salmonseeker]

I have similar style seat posts in my boat.

What I have found is that the aluminum does get slightly deformed where the seat post lock mechanism is. When the posts are turned, the deformed aluminum chews up the plastic liner in the base. I usually check them at the end of the season and file or sand away the raised portions of aluminum that cause the wear. I then give it a light coating of WD-40. I will also give the plastic sleeve a light sanding also if the posts are still snug.

Seems to work for me, I tried greasing them but did not like the grease stains that were left when ever I removed the seats and touched the boat carpet. Perhaps Vaseline or some type of clear grease would help also. Maybe the surf board wax would work well as suggested above. It might be hard for me to find up here in Ontario though. Not too many surfers on the Great Lakes.

[marine4003]

I have similar style seat posts in my boat.

What I have found is that the aluminum does get slightly deformed where the seat post lock mechanism is. When the posts are turned, the deformed aluminum chews up the plastic liner in the base. I usually check them at the end of the season and file or sand away the raised portions of aluminum that cause the wear. I then give it a light coating of WD-40. I will also give the plastic sleeve a light sanding also if the posts are still snug.

Seems to work for me, I tried greasing them but did not like the grease stains that were left when ever I removed the seats and touched the boat carpet. Perhaps Vaseline or some type of clear grease would help also. Maybe the surf board wax would work well as suggested above. It might be hard for me to find up here in Ontario though. Not too many surfers on the Great Lakes.

DUDE...Like..What, Oh,Man what a bummer.cruise on down to the Outer Banks and snag a wave,we'll supply the wax.

[toddah]

OR
I want to have the hidden camera when you walk into the midstates boat shop or bait store and ask for Dr Zogs Sex Wax! You could disappear and never be seen again!!! LoL