Rattles, shakes, and loose stuff.

[Mark42]

My boat is now 25 years old. Its in good shape, but I often would cringe when hitting a big wake and the hull comes down with a crash. Every thing shakes, rattles and wiggles.

Well the last few weeks the interior was out of the boat. When removing the screws, I realized most were stripped out, some were missing and only a few were handling the load. Apparently the previous owner tightened some screws until the were stripped, as the heads show repeated turning with a driver.

So when the interior went back in, the side panels got fresh screws and fresh ply behind them to screw into. Select screws were replaced with a bolt with finish washer on one side, fender washer on the other and nylock nuts. Also drilled out the holes so the next larger size bolt could be used. Where there was space, multiple fasteners were used.

Now that its together, the dash and side panels are rigid. Will have the boat in the water in a couple of days, and I am looking forward to seeing how these changes impact the boat. From how much stiffer and solid the interior feels, it should be noticeable.

Anyone else go through this with their boat?

 

[drewpster]

Re: Rattles, shakes, and loose stuff.

Yes The reason that I finally decided to tear in to my tri-hull was the fact that it sounded like we were riding around in a bucket. I am a fresh water boater so I do not have to contend with the hammering that the sea can give a boat. However it was obvious that the boat needed some huge help when the thing actually had an echo when the engine was idling. I have taken this boat to the coast before and I shudder the thought of what could have happened if we had gone out in rougher water. Now I am much better at keeping an eye on all the fittings.
I had to remove literally hundreds of screws from my bigger boat when I started working on it three years ago. Very few of them were still holding on. When I go back with everything, the fasteners are going to get re-worked as well. I complained about the amount of screws I had to take out, but given the fact that so many were loose, it is probably a good thing there were so many.

 

[Mark42]

Re: Rattles, shakes, and loose stuff.

Yesterday had the boat out and the wind picked up making for some rough water. First trip with Smart Tabs installed, and the boat handled very well on the rough water.

What was obvious was how tight everything was. Replacing a few key wood screws with nuts/bolts made a big difference. There was no rattling of panels, and no shaking of the dash. The dash was very rigid which is nice and gives a feel of confidence that just isn't there when everything moves around.

I would not be surprised if the cabin retains its solid feel due to the through bolting of some key supports.

This "modification" to the boat only cost about $15-$20 in stainless steel fasteners, but should go a long way to keeping the boat in good shape.

Sometimes it just the little things that make a big difference in the boat.