Stay away from Marine Tower Systems!!!!

[TitanTn]

I think I have a thread here where I explain my frustration with the custom tower manufacturer. They're based in Vonore, TN. They make a lot of towers for some boat manufacturers, but also do custom work for individuals. In addition to the weeks of delay, and never making me the right brackets for the racks, they tore several things up on my boat during installation. Just sloppy installation work. I think they actually did a good job on the tower itself.

So tonight I wanted to make sure the mounting bolts were tight. After purchasing a large allen wrench, I tried to tighten the bolts and while they needed tightening badly, I couldn't get them to tighten. So I pulled the side air vents off to access the nut behind the gunnel of the boat. The support brackets were so small that I consider it negligence. I don't know what they were thinking when they made these ridiculously small backing plates. Needless to say, I'm correcting their mistake. I'm fortunate that I didn't have any issues with the fiberglass last summer.

There's nothing I can do but warn other people to not use this company. Here's the backing plate they used when installing my tower.

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/tower_backing_plate.jpg

[Ptownkid]

Oh wow...that's barely better than a few large washers....good lord!

[Jetlink]

The support brackets were so small that I consider it negligence. I don't know what they were thinking when they made these ridiculously small backing plates. They are all thinking about the bottom line... Classic example of tripping over a dollar to save a penny. Instead of investing a little more money in a quality bracket, they have now lost a customer in you and probably anyone else that stumbles upon this thread in a google search for a tower install on their boat.

[chrisk]

What Jetlink said! Transaction selling rather than relationship selling. Good thing you caught it Titan, wouldn't want to tear up that beauty.

[TitanTn]

Oh wow...that's barely better than a few large washers....good lord!

You're exactly right. You can see the circle from the washer on the bracket.

"Classic example of tripping over a dollar to save a penny" - I agree with the mindset, but I think it just boils down to laziness. They're a complete custom shop. They've got BARRELS of spare parts and material. They could have made larger brackets by only spending 10 more minutes on the project. No extra material costs. They're sloppy and lazy.

Just as one example of what they did during installation, look at this photo. When I opened this hatch door, this it how it opened. I had just installed new hinges and it worked flawlessly when I dropped the boat off. They accessed this storage area to gain access to the front tower mount. I think someone kneeled on the open door and ripped it off the hinges. Did they fix it? No. Did they tell me? No. They just loosely stuck the door back on and I found out when I got home.

http://unumemarketing.com/boat/damaged_door.jpg

[haugy]

Do you have an address for them? Or do they have a website? I'm curious about something.

That sucks about the trouble, that would piss me off to no end. I had a lot of trouble with my tower as well.

[TitanTn]

Here's their web site. http://www.marine-tower-systems.com/home.html

Their address is on the site. It's not far from Viper Customs. It's not the same as New Dimensions.

[iwakeboard]

Here's their web site. http://www.marine-tower-systems.com/home.html

Their address is on the site. It's not far from Viper Customs. It's not the same as New Dimensions.

First I've ever heard of them, and I live in this area. They do not build for any boat manufacturers I'm aware of. Hmmm

[suprasam]

Its all in the name: Marine Tower Systems a division of Proffitt's Machining Inc.
This is on the site......so you should know they are looking mainly at the bottom line. I am amazed they haven't been in court yet because of the lack of backing materials causing damage to new/used boat fiberglass.

[csuggs]

Titan - sorry for recommending MTS to you. I thought your tower turned out really nice, but was unaware of the installation issues. I was in their shop when they installed mine so I had some input into the process. As a side note, I think they manufacture a nice product, but I think they also do not do many installations. Most of what they do is production (non-custom) work for a few manufacturers of boats that we wouldn't normally look at like Tahoe. That's not an excuse for their poor installation standards, but may be an explanation.
Clint

[TitanTn]

Clint - I don't blame you at all. You had a good experience with them and in good conscience recommended them. As I said in the original post, I think they did a good job on the tower. It's exactly what I asked for and looks good. My issues with them included their inability to keep a schedule (took months longer than planned), poor initial installation, no interest in making me the correct mounting brackets for the board racks, and now with the backing plates. I saw a lot of towers in their shop, and several installed on boats in the back. They all looked great and I'm sure they do a fine job for manufacturers that have very specific standards.

My Supra isn't a boat they do in a production manner, so they have to figure things out as they go. My issue is that anyone with two brain cells to rub together should know that the backing plate they installed is woefully undersized and inadequate. Not to mention, this is NOT the backing plate they said they were going to install.

The whole thing was sloppy and irresponsible. I love bragging on companies who get it right, but I don't mind telling when things don't go well either.

p.s. I had a list of about six major installation issues (things they screwed up like the storage door) from the initial installation. When I approached them about all the issues (missing interior buttons, cut in the vinyl, interior parts not screwed back in place, etc) their answer was "sorry."

[TitanTn]

What did you replace with? Wood or Metal?

They lost some referrals today. You should email them a link to this thread. Bet that puts a stop to their shotty workmanship.

I'm adding wood, but still keeping the aluminum piece as well (basically using it as big ole washer). I've only done the front mounts so far, but it's already so much more solid.

I wish that I could say they'd care about this poor feedback and change their processes for the better. But their custom line of towers is just something they do on the side and it feels like they don't really have (or want) to spend the time to properly deal with the individuals. Most times when I called up there it would take about 8 calls spread over two weeks to get a call back.