Reinforce Wake Tower

What is the best material to use to reinforce a aftermarket wakeboard tower?
I should be recieving my aerial assault tower in a few days , I do not want to rely on the small backing plates, and want to know what people have used and which is the most reccomended.

Marine ply?
Sheet metal?

also what is the best adhesive to create a barrier between the reinforcement and the hull

Liquid nails?
Bondo?
Fiberglass Resin?

Re: Reinforce Wake Tower

You can do a search and if you do, you will see lots of opinions. Most people seem to like some sort of plywood backed by either liquid nails or epoxy to fill the gap. I tried Liquid nails which did not work for me. It took too long to dry out & firm up (waited 3 days) so I used 3M sealant (4200 I believe) which became hard quickly and hasn't cracked like people have had the liquid nails do. My gap is not a large one as I rounded out some 3/4" MDF to fit the roundness of my hull and help fill the gap. This way I didn't have to rely a bunch of filler material.

Since I did use MDF which I feel is more prone to water absorbtion than other types of wood, I brushed on expoxy resin over the peices but IMO it's not necessary if your keeping your boat stored inside. Added insurnace that can't hurt. If you decide to skip this step, just keep an eye on it. You can always apply it after you get them installed which now that I think about it, isn't a bad idea. It would seal up the whole system really well and just give you that much more adhesiveness to your hull. You could even then take it one more step and put a little fiber glass in the resign and you would have a bullet proof system! Sorry- just rambling on with ideas now.

(I could have also used the resin to fill the gap but it's harder to work with than the sealant.)

Good luck!

Re: Reinforce Wake Tower

Thanks for your insight, I think I will go with the marine grade ply with the 3m sealant. Unfortunatly I will have to create a small access hole for the front support of the tower. I think im going to make one right underneath the drivers and passengers dash, unless anyone has any better ideas??...

Re: Reinforce Wake Tower

Pictures would help.

Re: Reinforce Wake Tower

Use a peice of 1/4" plywood about 3x6" and a good amount of liquid nails to form to the inside of the hull. This will provide a strong support for the back. Check out this post and read it in it's entirety.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=396000

Re: Reinforce Wake Tower

Hansolo99 said:

Use a peice of 1/4" plywood about 3x6" and a good amount of liquid nails to form to the inside of the hull. This will provide a strong support for the back. Check out this post and read it in it's entirety.

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=396000

Click to expand...

If there is anyway you can go bigger i would recommend it. I made mine 11x6 about a 1/2" thick. I recommend reading that link that hansolo99 posted he helped me out with some ideas, that worked and which i believe will continue to work.