I was thinking about screwing a couple of hooks on the inside walls of our '06 Q6 for bungees, etc. and was wondering if anyone had any idea how thick the sidewalls were. I'd sure hate to have a screw sticking out the side of the boat, haha.
DON'T DO IT!!! I wanted to put a rod holder under the gunwale... used two tiny 1/4" brass screws. Gelcoat cracked on the exterior of the boat before I got the screws tight! I now need to repair the gelcoat. wound up using epoxy to glue the rodholder to the carpet lining.
NOOOOOOOOOO! I pulled the carpet back and epoxied some 2x2 and form fitted against the inside hull, the screwed my rod holders to that. I would say no more than 3/8" thick. Make up a couple small blocks, glue, glass, epoxy, silicone or whatever adhere to the hull then screw to the blocks or plywood pieces.
I'm not clear from your post what you think you will be screwing into. If its the hull, the above advice is correct. Don't do it.
However, if your boat is like the one I had, there was an inner wall with space between it and the hull. I mounted lots of stuff to it. I just made sure my drill bit didn't reach the hull.
I was thinking about screwing a couple of hooks on the inside walls of our '06 Q6 for bungees, etc. and was wondering if anyone had any idea how thick the sidewalls were. I'd sure hate to have a screw sticking out the side of the boat, haha.
Well, how thick do you think the hull side walls would need to be for a hook to be secure? It would seem that a hook would need to go in about 1" and so the hull would need to be maybe 1-1/2".
It is more like 3/8" so, like the others said No-Go.
FWIW - I did some work on the v-berth in my boat and there were some trim strips along the top of the sidewalls. The screws that held them went through the hull and deck joint and then finally into the back side of the rubrail. The fact that the strip was positioned in the same location as the rubrail was the only way it could be done.
I don't know anything about the construction of your particular boat. It will depend on wether it is a one piece hull or hull with drop in liner. A boat with a drop in liner has basically a inside wall with space between it and the outer hull. Many boats are built this way so they can be foam filled and wiring and such can be hidden.
JRampey is correct, when I was installing my ski tower, we needed to drill through the gunwhale for the mounting bolt on the tower (we also mounted a backing plate, but that is a different discussion). My Q7i has a one piece hull, there was no inner/outer hull. It is probably only about 1 inch thick 4-6 inches below the top of the gunwhale.
I would not do anything to the hull. I have a Tahoe 222 and at the end of the season last year found my boat would not plane. I inspected the hull and found a hole and it had absorbed a great deal of water. When I took it to be repaired, the fiberglass shop said he had never seen a hull, fiberglass and gelcoat so thin and cheaply made. I love the boat, but will not buy Tahoe again. For the price point, they have to figure out ways to get it there. I will definetely be more careful going forward!
