squeaky hard top

[hl]

Bought my first pontoon (1989) with a great 4 stroke engine, and loved it except for one thing. The rear supports for the hard top would make an annoying squeaking noise. Tightening the bolts would stop the noise for a while, then the noise would return. After dropping the top I found the holes that held the bottom supports were wallered out (if that is one way of saying). Is this a common problem with a hard top and how can it be repaired?

 

[HotTommy]

A photo of your boat or one just like it would be of great help in providing a good answer.

 

[GA_Boater]

Bronze bushings can be used to make a better seat for the bolts. Need pics to give a better explanation, hl.

 

[hl]

I will try to get photo

 

[ahicks]

We have a hardtop on our '99, LOVE it when compared to the hassles of a fixed soft top (like fireworks...) and it shows no signs of wear.

How wallered out are the holes? Could you drill them to 5/16 or 3/8" and use bigger bolts?

 

[hl]

media1_2 .jpg see picture drilling out is possible. / with the idea of inserting a bronze bushing as Ga-boater suggested

 

[GA_Boater]

No pic, hl. :blue:

 

[hl]

unable to download

 

[GA_Boater]

Try Option 3 - http://forums.iboats.com/forum/forum-rules-and-guidelines/9938375-photo-upload-tutorial

 

[hl]

No Title

 

[GA_Boater]

The end of the square tube is getting pretty thin. Adding a bushing is going to make it even thinner because the hole needs to be drilled larger. That will cause more problems.

I would drill a new hole about where the circle is and use two bolts, one in the original hole and one through the new hole.

 

[hl]

Thanks for the reply. That seems to be a good idea. It might take 3 months to see if your idea works. The water level will not come up until April. I will post the result..

 

[Grub54891]

I think you have a plan, except the bolts holding it together are regular bolts. Get some stainless steel bolts, and stainless nylock nuts, then it'll stay tight better. Adding bushings will prevent the rail from crushing In over time and keep it tight. If the tube that's ovaled out is hollow-can you see inside it? You could find a smaller piece to slide inside it, and then drill your hole with a bushing to make it even stronger.

 

[lmuss53]

Some sort of X brace in the rear helps to stop the back and forth swaying that causes the holes to open up. I have used simple pieces of anchor line tied through eyebolts put through the frame of the top.

Replace a bolt at the top and bottom with an eyebolt of the same size. Then tie a line from top on one side to bottom on the other. Do the same thing with a line going the other way to form an X. You will be amazed at how much this stabilizes the top and reduces the squeaking and general wobble of the hardtop.

I have used heavy bungee cords as the crossing lines, but the best results came from lines cut to length with bigger springs from a broken trampoline on the ends. I would pull the top to one side and hook the spring in the eyebolt, then push it to the other side far enough to get the spring on the other eyebolt.

A little trial and error get the lines the right length and the tension just right. I put the springs at the top and just unhooked them at the end of the day if I dropped the top down.

Try it, it makes a big improvement.

 

[hl]

Follow up repairing squeaky hard top. I had someone cut the sections that were damaged wielded them back together. just finished putting everything back on and drilled holes. Plan to pull the pontoon back to the lake after adding a depth finder and trolling motor.. I will reply if this does not fix the problem.

 

[HotTommy]

Thank you. I really appreciate it when the OP takes the time to wrap up an open thread.