Extended pylon on tapered pylon?

[cadunkle]

I got a Fly High stainless extended pylon for my '89 Saltare. Hammered the T out of the factory pylon but the fit seems loose due to the taper. On the fat part of the Supra pylon the OD is 2.408" while the ID of the Fly High is 2.52", a .112" difference. Other thing that concerns me is the Supra pylon tapers to a 2" OD at the top, which allows even more play.

I've never used an extended pylon before but this just seems loose to me. Manual says push pylon hard forward and tighten straps, yadda yadda, which implies some clearance is normal. What do you guys who run pylons do and do any pylons fit better than the one I have?

[89supracomp]

I have an extended pylon, and at first, I tought the same thing as you. However, I have used it alot with no problems. I would always let the extended pylon slide over the factory pylon all the way down towards the base. Since the factory pylon is bigger at the base, it seemed to take some of the wobble out.

Recently I modified my extended pylon. The brand of pylon i have is a "ten foot pole." I dont know why they call it a ten foot pole because it is only 5 foot long. Some of the fly high pylons are 7 feet long and thats what I wanted.
Since my pylon was only 5 feet tall, I was unable to have it up with my bimini top because the ratchet strap would not clear the front top edge of the bimini.


So, I went to a local machine shop and found a piece of scrap aluminum tubing. 3" O.D. with 1/4" wall thickness. (same as my extended pylon.) I took it to a welder and had him splice it onto my extended pylon to make it longer. Works great and it only cost me about 50 bucks. Alot cheaper than a new 400 dollar pole!

I had my upholstry guy sew in a zipper on my bimini top so that the pylon could extend through.
I installed a wakeboard rack on the pylon above the bimini top. That gave us a little bit more floor space.

I will try to get some pictures uploaded of the finished project soon.

[89supracomp]

I found some pictures.

First one is the weld where the two pieces were joined together. I put a coat of primer on it and some black paint and its really not noticable.

The last picture is the finished project.

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[cadunkle]

Thanks for the input. I can weld and have a welder, so I may see abotu getting a piece of tubing same ID and OD as the fly high and make it go all hte way to the floor. Other thought I may do is make a spacer for the top of the pylon to bring the top 2" OD piece to 2.5".

I got out and used the pylon today and it really didn't swap or flex much so I'm not terribly concerned, but I would like to tighten it up if I can. I also called Barefoot International about it and they said don't sweat the tapered pylon and looser fit on the older Supra pylons. Said just be sure the strap is cranked VERY tight and any sway should be minimal, which is was. Overall I'm happy, but wish they made a product that fit the older Supra pylons better.

[87SunSportMikeyD]

Great post and replies!!! 89SC that project looks fantastic!!!! LOL at the 5 foot pole though I always wondered that too!!