Stripped Tower bolts on 06 22SSV

[cbondurant]

I have a 06 22SSV with 50 hours on it. One of the tower bolts is already stripped and I fear the other will strip out after time. I have to lower my tower to store it, so the threads get used each time I go out. I figured they would stip eventually, but not this soon. This is a poor design in my opinion. It seems like they should have used some sort of steel insert rather than screwing directly into the aluminum. Has anyone else encountered this problem, and if so what was the resloution? The book says that this is not covered under the warranty, which I find to be suspect in the first place.

Steel into aluminum is always a bad choice when you have to take the tower down daily or each time you go out. One thing that would help is anti-seize on the bolts for lubrication so the threads are not pulled on so hard, and the other is to drill and put heli-coil stainless steel thread inserts in.

[lowdrag]

Also turn the bolts backwards at first while pushing them in. You'll feel them click or drop in just a little when the threads properly engage. Then tighten them down. This eliminates a lot of the possibilties of cross threading which can be a big problem threading steel into aluminum.

[99 LAUNCH]

I second the ant-seize. That stuff works great.

[mdsmgu]

Call Skier's Choice, I am sure they are receiving complaints, but they are usually not responsive. Ask for someone in Warranty repair

[DKJBama92Mariah]

Originally posted by mdsmgu
but they are usually not responsive


Huh? I've heard alot of people gripe about their dealers, but i honestly think that's the first time i've heard a complaint about Skier's Choice itself. Did you have a bad experience? If so, from the experiences i've had and ones heard of, SC will bend over backwards to address a customer's complaints. My boat's 14 years old and every time i've called them for a part, it's been on my doorstep the next day.

Cheers,
DKJ

[mdsmgu]

You are correct with a 1992 model Supra, but try buying a new one built after 2000, all they do is fall apart. Skiers Choice is only responsive after you force the situation. My dealer is great, but the first 10 weeks Skiers Choice was terrible, they finally took the Boat back and the Warranty Repair area was very comprehensive, On the Tower Bolts, that are stripped, more than likely the Tower needs to come off and replaced or re-bolted, they had to on mine.

[mdsmgu]

You are correct with a 1992 model Supra, but try buying a new one built after 2000, all they do is fall apart. Skiers Choice is only responsive after you force the situation. My dealer is great, but the first 10 weeks Skiers Choice was terrible, they finally took the Boat back and the Warranty Repair area was very comprehensive, On the Tower Bolts, that are stripped, more than likely the Tower needs to come off and replaced or re-bolted, they had to on mine.

[mdsmgu]

Now it is 14 to 15 weeks after purchase, and I continue to have major problems, and Skiers Choice is NOT stepping up and taking care of THEIR problem. I would highly recommend someone to research the different manufacturers of boats before they buy a new Skiers Choice boat.

[msutoad]

So, what is majorly wrong with your boat that Skiers Choice is not stepping up about? Sounds like your dealer is not doing its job very well.

I had all kind of warranty work done, and my dealer worked so hard dealing with SC, that I did not have to do anything. They even repaired gelcoat blisters. So, while SC might have some flaws in their boats, they certainly have stood behind anything I showed my dealer.

Just curious about the problems you are seeing.

[mdsmgu]

My boat has had several things wrong in all areas, it currently will not run, and they indicate it is the engine now, so Indmar will have to be contacted and Supra (Skiers Choice) will not have to worry about this, but this is only one problem out of over 25 different major issues.

My Wakeplate fixed three times, and finally the fourth to get it to work correctly
Tower was ready to fall off (only held on by one bolt)
Mirror fell off
Indash Radio not wired correctly ( I had to fix it myself the first day I owned it)
Sirius Sat Radiio not wired correctly
CD changer not hooked up correctly
7" LCD screen not wired correctly
Electronic interference with Tower Speakers and WakePlate
Perfect Pass surging
Gelcoat problems
Crack already had to be fixed, and a few more are starting to show
Ballast Bags would not empty , took two different times to fix, and now does not work again
Idlerpulley frozen
Belt destroyed
Bad design in boat, cuts front Ballast Bag
Ski Platform came apart, had to be fiberglassed
Pin holding platform came apart
Anti Syphon valve in fuel tank defective, (this is also a bad design) problems again a few weeks later
Docking lights quit working
Washer holding the light bar on the tower are rusted, and Skiers Choice did not use Stainless Steel washers only bolts. ?????? Talking about Cheap!
Not all screws were put in the boat when first delivered, vents put in with only three of the four screws drilled.
Already needed spark plugs in the first three months?
Missing a pin in the Rad Cage at delivery
On more than two occassions, the boat just goes into neutral, you have to shut it off and restart before it will do anything?
Engine stalls when you go to pick up your skier after going into neutral
Has went into service for several of these items more than three times to the dealer.
Had to go back to the factory after two months to fix the tower that was incorrectly installed, several items had to be "recalled" and replaced by the factory. The boat still continues to have problems.

I have to trailer the boat sometimes three times a week back and forth to the dealer, more than one dealer and the factory has worked on this boat. It continues to be a problem, and Skiers Choice told me the first day I had the boat , don't worry these are just a few minor problems and they guaranteed me I would not have ongoing problems. First mistake, I should have returned the boat the first day. All I get done doing this summer is taking this boat out of the water and trailering it back to be serviced. Luckily I have another boat in the garage to use in a pinch, but it is not a wakeboard boat, just a ski boat. And I really did not spend the kind of money this Gravity Games boat was to have it look good on the trailer, I wanted to use it and enjoy it in the water. Boy what a disappointment!!!

Hope you have better luck than I have had.

[msutoad]

Who is your dealer, and where are you located? Close to the Factory in TN?

[mdsmgu]

I am in Indiana, but was in Tennesse for most of July, and my first trip to TN the first week of July, the boat started to fall apart, and I finally got someone from the Factory warranty area to look at the boat (very nice guy), and he said it was too big of problems to fix it without taking it back to the factory and tearing it apart. I have offered to take it anywhere to get it fixed, I would drive it back to the factory, any dealer, etc.

Do you remember who you have worked with at the factory to get things fixed? I am willing to talk to anyone that can make things happen.

What part of the country are you located?

[msutoad]

I am in NC...

I worked with my dealer who inturn dealt with SC.

I have worked with Rob Loucks quite a bit, and he was responsive, helpful, and sincere. He helped debug a problem on the phone, and was always up front, and polite. He was able to get results on the SC side, and also aided in getting parts to my dealer.

I hope this helps.

[cbondurant]

I finally got my dealer to agree to inserting helicoils. http://helicoils.com They seem to work ok. Time will tell. Two solid pins with locks would probably work better.

The problem I have is I have to take my tower down every time I use the boat. I put 200hrs on last summer. I took extra precaution to thread the bolts correctly.

Sorry to hear that others are having slow response times from SC. I am currently waiting to receive a warranty part going on 4 months now. Hopefully things will get better. SC has good potential. They build a good boat.