New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

[Jim Koochiching]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Interesting, WaterDR, I hadn't caught on that this problem with cracked welds might have begun with the 2012 models.

Bummer that Tomr50 has had the same failure in what are apparently 2013 tubes. Either the redesign didn't work or Tomr50 is just very unlucky.

I absolutely agree about dealer rep. Unfortunately I'm not impressed with what I've heard and seen from our local pontoon dealer (Premier) and the next nearest is at least 90 minutes away.

Why am I still considering Sylvan?
I explained it almost as well as I can already. The RPT quality issue is definitely a strong negative, but with a guesstimated failure rate of 5% (from talking with a few dealers) it's just one of many factors. There's a lot I like about the Sylvans, and the other brands I've looked at have their downsides as well for what I want in a tritoon.

RPT seems definitely superior for speed in a 2-log design, but I'm only looking at tritoons. For tritoons the Sylvan RPT design seems typical among planing designs for top-end speed (assuming the same motor and boat length). So RPT seems to have no performance advantage for me.

So I'll consider a Sylvan, but given the RPT issue it'll need to be a significantly better price and/or match to my needs for me to snatch one up.

I'll either decide in the next week or two and get one for next year or I'll take more time and have one delivered in the spring.
Jim

 

[Pesimist]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

The RPT tube problem started long before 2012. In my case: an 8522 with RPT's bought new in March of 2010. Not sure where you got that 5% failure rate but - good luck!

I really like most of the features on my Sylvan but repeated problems with the toons has me worried. I wouldn't recommend an RPT equipped Sylvan to anyone. A sylvan with standard TriToon design is a different story.

The RPT's Sylvan installed this past winter were the third set (yes 3-sets) that have been on my toon. After reading tomr50's post about his new (yes new design toons). Guess I'd better go down and pull the plugs to ensure I'm not taking on water.

You'd think that my toon has been subjected to very rough conditions but, our little lake is only 5,850 acres. A boat over 25 ft is a rarity so conditions are are probably very smooth compared to most.

 

[Jim Koochiching]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Wow. Didn't realize your case was quite that bad, Pesimist.

One thing that recently occurred to me, if I'm still inclined to go with that 8522 RPT at the end of my search, is to ask for an agreement in writing that the dealer will, for the first five years, come fetch my boat and bring a loaner boat within 3 business days if there is a problem with the RPT tubes that requires dealer service.

If the dealer is genuinely convinced that the RPT tubes are fine then they should be willing to sign such a deal.

I need to find a good 5 hours to grind through the options I've seen and quotes I've gathered. I may well go with a Premier, which has 2 nice advantages: J-clips for the cover (amazing they're the only alternative to snaps!) and a local if not eager dealer.

 

[airdvr1227]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Re J Clips; those are made of plastic...over time plastic dries out and fails. Just my 2 cents. YMMV

 

[Jim Koochiching]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Re J Clips; those are made of plastic...over time plastic dries out and fails. Just my 2 cents. YMMV

Yes they are indeed, but I just had a chat with our local boat cover seamstress yesterday and she said she can order the clips from Premier and they're not expensive. J-clips aren't directly exposed to the sun at least. And the seamstress said they seem about as durable as a good-quality snap. Snaps fail too and are less user-friendly.

Too bad there aren't other fastener choices. Too bad j-clips only work on Premier rails.

But we're getting off-topic.

 

[WaterDR]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

I had a 12 year old Premier with an original cover....never had a J clip break.

As to the RPT-Gate, I was not aware of older toons with issues. Also, does anyone know how many re-designed or 2013+ RPT's have failed?

 

[seagrass]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

This is my first post. I have a 2012 8522 CNF built in August of 2011. It has developed a major leak in the starnboard RPT tube. My first indication of a problem came when I experienced a nose dive in the stbd tube while crossing a wake. My fishing partener said "What was that" and I said "I haven't a clue". Well when I got back to my boat house and started to raise the lift I heard what sounded like air bubbling into the water near the bow at the back end of the nose cone. I also noticed air bubbles about 3 feet toward the stern from the back of the nose cone. i raised the baot high enough so that I could get behind it to remove the "drain" plug. I can stand behind my boat as the water is about 4 feet deep so I got a five gallon pail and held it as I removed the plug. What a shock I got! Water came gushing out so fast I almost lost control of the bucket. I stopped measuring at about 20 gallons. The water slowed down but continued to drain for almost 40 minutes.

I called my dealer and have sheduled to take it in nest week. He did not seem surprised about the leak and that is why I decided to search the web and luckily I found the iboats forum. Thanks to you all I will have some very good information when I get to meet with my dealer in person.

seagrass

 

[craigmack]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

umm... welcome to the club?

 

[The Woo Woo Kid]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Kooch, if you're looking at two toons, skip the RPTs. Get strakes. My 22ft Suntracker Regency w/26 inch toons, lifting strakes and a 135 opitimax will achieve over 40 mph. It also gets great gas mileage.

Used boats with strakes can be hard to find, but they're out there. Take your time and even if you have to have it shipped it's worth it.

About the premier J-clips. Excellent idea. Don't know others don't use something other than snaps.

Snaps flat out suck. Always have. Lame as hell.

 

[Pesimist]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Welcome to the club...Be careful lifting your toon out of the water, the extra weight may snap your lift cables.

 

[seagrass]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Pessimist, Very good suggestion. My lift is rated for 6000 lbs. so I think I am OK.

Seagrass

 

[serpa4]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Wow, such an informative thread. Unfortunately I'll probably never buy a Sylvan RPT. I was weighing it against other tube designed: Premier PTX and Bennington's ESP designs. Even if it was redesigned, they let it go for so long it is hard to believe. If people are on their 3-4 set of tubes and cracks from back in 2010 and no redesign till end of 2012, that is not customer service. Just think of how many forums there are and how many people don't report the issue. There are probably a ton of bad tubes out there and they know it. Loved that earlier post on that man buying tons of used tubes because they had so many. Obviously they were aware for over 2 years!

I was about to loose my job and sold my JC tritoon 21' with 150 suzuki. It had 4 strakes. With two passengers, I've GPS'd at 38-39mph. Very smooth and really great on MPG. Might look into them as it was a good boat with U shaped tubes.

I might go back with JC as it was a great boat, but just checking around for other options. It also had an insane fuel tank size which is great for large lakes.

 

[WaterDR]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Update: My toons thats were replaced over the winter, held up perfectly the entire season with a toon used about 50 times, beached over and over....no issues. So, sad it happened, but happy the repair worked.

As to looking at Sylban vs. other models, etc....Well, PTX is a superior product from Premiere but you will pay LOTS more for it.

I have $23,500 into my 2012 8524 Sylvan with a 115, underskin, Hydraulic steering, ski-bar, etc.... For me, it had a lot to do with geetign a good point atr a good price point.

 

[craigmack]

Re: New Sylvan 8522 CNF with RPT tubes Cracked welds

Glad to hear you haven't had further problems. I've also had a problem free season since mine were replaced with the updated toons.

 

[bruce1505]

hello i just found this site i also have a sylvan RPT TUBES LEAKING AND They both have been repaired once since i bought the boat used I'm the 2nd owner 8525 signature series with 150 f150 yamaha i see all the post are 2013 its now 2016 I'm not happy any new news thanks

 

[jbcurt00]

Bruce, Jim hasnt been back since 2013, not likely to reply.

Sorry to hear your Sylvan leaks. Start a topic about yours.

Thanks

Closed

Try to avoid posting to inactive topics