Installing a wake tower soon, a couple of questions.

Over the weekend I purchased a DIY Fully Loaded Pro Wake Tower for my '92 Bayliner 195 Classic. It was a good deal and based on all the reviews it should be a great tower for the $$$. It's not as cool looking as what I'd like (OldJeep's Liquid Audio on his 2005 195 Classic) but it has all the goodies for the price of a stripped LA tower. It turns out that Raul is local so I was able to go pick it up directly from him.

After lot's of reading I have a good idea of how to properly install the tower so that it's secure and safe, but would like to run my idea by those who have been there. I might as well add that I will be following the manufactures install specs to a tee, with the exception of adding some more backing material.

Since it's a Bayliner and the fiberglass hull is pretty thin I plan on installing either wood or plastic cutting board backing under the supplied aluminum brackets with an appropriate epoxy. I'll use Liquid Nails at the minimum, but I'd like to find the 3M epoxy that I've heard other members mention here. The exterior surface that I'll be mounting to is fairly flat. The one thing that concerns me is that the area I'll be mounting is about as narrow as the brackets themselves. I plan on making my backing around the same width as the brackets, but several inches longer to help distribute the weight.

Another concern is where the rear bracket will mount. On the inside of the boat the carpet goes all the way up past where I plan on putting my backing. Should I cut the carpet out of the way where I plane on placing the backing with epoxy, or is it OK to slap the epoxy/backing/alum brackets right over the carpet. The big downside is that the rear mounts are visible from the inside because that's where the paddle/flag storage is located. You will be able to see my work so I don't want it to be too ugly.

My big question is how to get the cables for the lights and speakers out of the tubing and into the boat. I'm a low voltage technician by trade (fire/burg alarm and sound) but after looking at all the mounting hardware I'm not so sure how to route my cables into the hull. As an electronics tech I don't like the idea of strapping the cable all the way down the side of the tubes, nor do I want to drill any more holes than necessary. I'd appreciate any ideas, and pictures of how you did it are even more valuable.

Here's some pics of the bracket on the outside of the boat.

Rear mount location, looks good to me.



Front mount location, a little tight, but the lesser of all the evils. I figure the rubber gasket should help with the slight gap, and a little bit of overhang on the bottom is probably better than mounting too high and not having enough contact between the gelcoat and the rubber gasket/mount.



Thanks for the help. My goal is to do this right on the first try and I appreciate any help from those who have been there before.

BLD

Re: Installing a wake tower soon, a couple of questions.

I almost forgot...What does drilling the holes in reverse mean exactly? Does it mean drilling from the outside in with the drill motor in reverse, or does it mean drilling from the inside out. In my experience it seems that neither is practical as drilling from the inside of the hull out will most likely crack the gelcoat, and drilling with the motor/bit in reverse doesn't cut through any material very well. I'd really like to know about this one. Even though our boat is a '92 it's in excellent condition overall and I don't want to risk cracking the gelcoat just to get a tower on it.

Thanks.

Re: Installing a wake tower soon, a couple of questions.

I just got mine for Christmas (great wife, hugh!), so I have not experience yet. I am reading and studying.

I understand the reverse drilling to mean you run the drill in reverse -- yet it will be slower going, but it will get there. Aerial's instructions also have you place blue 3m tape over the entire area before drilling.

This iboats thread is interesting, have you read it yet? http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=396000

Good luck and report back.

Re: Installing a wake tower soon, a couple of questions.

im a pro installer and factor installer for LT Wake. done lots of b-liners

ok.....first....backing plates.

i make my backing plates from 1/2 inch plywood......fiber glassed on both sides....and gellcoated on the out ward side....i resin coat the edges. i charge 50 bux a post for backing plates. i try to go 8 inches either side of center......some times you cant.....but the longer the better

i also make my own putty out of poly ester fiberglass resin.....search oops super dooper peanut butter in the restoration forum.

find the location of the posts first.......then drill a center hole......(place tape over the gellcoat on the out side of your boat....then mark and drill a center hole, with the motor of the drill in reverse till you are thru the gell coat. this will prevent cracking)

now you can see light thru your hull......
using the same size drill bit......drill a hole in the center of your backing plates. set them down.

taking a 30 grit sand paper....rough up the area of fiberglass in side the hull.....(no...you cant epoxy to the carpet...just peel it back then re glue it back on...just cut a notch in the carpet around the backing plate.)
after the area is througly scuffed up and the top layer of wax os off the inner surface of the fiberglass.....take your peanut butter and smear it all over your backing plate...(not the gell coated side)......stick a bolt thru the hole.....and tighten up the backing plate so the peanut butter squishes out. let sit and cure (45 mins) remove bolt.
this is messy so make sure there is plenty of plastic under where you are working or you will get resin all over everything. this bond to the fiberglass is very important or you will have stress cracks all around the hull in a few years.

by the way....when drilling the drivers side rear post....make sure you are not drilling thru the control cables. there is also a good chance that you will have a small backing plate in the rear areas that is in the way of where you want your backing plates........knock them off.....if the backing plate is for a cleat.....you will have to either move the cleat or change the position of the tower.

ok......now the peanut butter is cured........you can also use kitty hair....but my stuff is way stronger. fill the center hole with more peanut butter or even 3m 5200. (not sillycone)
and make your 4 holes per post. bolt them firmly in place but not so tight they stop the center post from pivoting... (some manufacturers)

ok....install your tower....


as far as drilling holes......the best way is to make proper speaker connections like they use in a band speaker..... a 1/4 inch phono jack will work for the speakers....but not for the lights them selves.....some people use a din connector.

the wires uasually run down the front posts. and to the hull....just run them so they are out of sight from every angle....uasually this is between the hull and the pillar.

hope that helps
cheers
oops

Re: Installing a wake tower soon, a couple of questions.

I usually link everyone that asks to this site, its the same concept and will basically give you a good run down on what you need to do.

http://www.samsonsports.com/how_to_install_wakeboard_tower.html

Measure twice, drill once!

I've personally never been a fan of the universal towers after hearing and seeing all the gel coat cracking horror stories. I'll pay the extra $600 up front for a tower made for my boat instead of lord knows what down the road for cracked gel coat repair. Hope it works out for ya, most fair just fine... I don't trust my own luck.

Re: Installing a wake tower soon, a couple of questions.

Thanks for the replies and the links. I've seen the thread on the cracked gelcoat, and the samson videos already. That's where I got the idea to make a backing plate instead of just using the tiny aluminum ones that came with the tower.

Oops, at first I thought your idea was a little much. but after clicking on your hull extension thread and reading the first 10 or so pages I quickly realized you may be on to something. That was one heck of an undertaking and I'm impressed. I scanned through the thread looking for pics of the finished product, but the best I could find was the large pic of your avatar. Reading the entire thread is on my to do list now. I see you met my buddy Murphy as well. Him and I go way back, and even when you make it clear you don't want him around he's very persistent and insists on showing up at the most in-opportune times. Anyway, I'll be looking up your peanut butter recipe, and following your method very closely in conjunction with the manufactures method.

I actually called around a few times today to get estimates to have shops install the tower for me but that is going to cost way too much money so I plan on taking my time, gathering the parts and getting this thing on the boat right the first time. I am kinda bummed though because after taking a closer look I'm not so sure I'll be able to run my light and speaker cables inside the tubes. There's too many swivels involved that I can't snake through, and from the looks of it the front pillars are actually the ones that come off to collapse the tower. I guess I'll just have to zip tie down the sides of the rear pillars and drill a small hole in the hull of the boat.

Thanks again,

BLD

Re: Installing a wake tower soon, a couple of questions.

In terms of running the wire, I plan to do something like seen in the Aerial tower instructions for the tower wiring kit they sell: http://www.aerialwake.com/installation/instructions.lasso?-token.product=Wiring Installation

However, with the tower I bought, I will only have to bridge one hinge, and then come out of the bottom tube to enter the boat, and do not have the problem you have with the front leg needing to be unattached.

In terms of the front leg problem, I have seen several wiring kits online that have a plug that can be removed. For example, here is one on ebay right now: http://compare.ebay.com/like/330433...f0352b4&itemid=330433820178&ff4=263602_309572

That would allow you to unplug the tower when you collapse it.


I do plan to study my hinge point on my tower and consult with an engineer friend to see if I can possibly drill a hole through it for the wires, but will not do it if it weakens the hinge. It sure would be nice to only exit the tower once at the hull. However, to have a small piece of nice looking conduit exit and enter again will look much cleaner than wires zip tied, especially when I go to sell this boat.

Re: Installing a wake tower soon, a couple of questions.

the hull thread is a few years old now....and the boat is my beauty.......gets good comments when ever i drop it in the water,,,,however i hope to be building the interior this winter....

after the hull extension boat.....i have been asked to do lots of stuff on boats....including resurrecting boats from hurricane heaven. they actually pay me big money to do this....lol

during the spring and summer......i clean house installing wake towers......i make a minimum of 500 bux for 3 hours work....lol

this is NOTHING you cannot do by your self. you are just afraid to drill holes in your boat like anybody else ! (dont worry...we can walk you right thru that !)

as far as th wire on the out side......NO..... thats what connectors are for..

my friend.......this is done every day.....all day.

one thing i hope you got from my thread is .....YOU CAN DO IT !

cheers
oops