Opening Bimini tops...forcing it through tower?

[dusty2221]

So yesterday I decided to pop out the Bimini top since I hadn't done it since we bought it. Mainly just wanted to see how big it was and kill a little of the rainy day..Man was I surprised. Can anyone confirm that their 06 factory Bimini is a pain in the butt? I literally had to force it through the front arms of the tower to get the top piece to extend out. I noticed right away that the front two tower arms had some scratches there, and now I know why. Is there another way to get the front through the tower? The Bimini is wider than the top, and there is not really enough room to pivot it through, that I can tell anyways.

We had this issue with our '84 Malibu that we added a tower Bimini to, but it had enough clearance that you could pivot one side through then the other would swing right through. After seeing how this one sets up, I def. will not be powder coating the tower, it will be beat to hell after opening it once!

[Jon]

I see you have the 20ssv. I have had the same trouble with a few of my customer's boats. You can make some adjustments so that it opens without any trouble. You have to rotate the bimini mounts to the perfect position. You will just have to play with it until you find the right spot. Also, there are two positions for the bimini. The bottom position is for when you have it unfolded. The up position is for when it is folded and ready for trailering. You have to have the bimini in I believe the up position for when you unfold it. It may be the down position though, It's been a while so I can remember exactly. Just have someone help you rotate the mounts and mess with the positions of the bimini and you will get it after a few minutes.

[dusty2221]

I might mess with it this weekend. The tower is wider at the bottom, so the down position makes sense, but even in the down position, to fold it back up, it still has to jam through the tower...