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Hull seam issues


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Hi all! I'm a new guy on this site. I'm on a board for a youth camp on Whidbey Island, WA. We purchased a new 2006 Malibu i-Ride in 2006 for use at our summer camp. I broke the boat in on a local lake and have stayed involved with the boat during the summers. We run the boat about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week during the summer. The boat has been everything we hoped for. It has been reliable, a real draw for the youth at the camp, and it looks great!

Late last summer we ran into our first real problem. The seam between the lower and upper part of the hull came apart. It is the seam that is hidden under the rub rail. We noticed the problem because the boat was taking on a lot of water. The separation occurred on right hand side from the rear corner to just about the driver's seat.

The separation ripped our the rivets and the screws that hold the hull together. Once the seam was popped, the screws and rivets held the hull open and as the boat was underway the water essentially poured into the hull through the open seam. Once we finally figured out what was wrong we pulled off the rub strip, drilled out all the rivets and removed all the screws. We put it all back together the best we could but it quickly came apart again and started to let in more water

Questions: 1. Anybody ever have this happen before? And yes, we use bumpers and very tall vertical rub rails on our mooring dock and our ski dock. The hull was not hit hard down low to pop the seam. I think the vertical rails on our dock might just put too much stress on the seam? We have had competition ski boats at our camp for three decades and this is the first time we have had any issue with a hull seam.

2. As we work on the boat this winter we really want to fix this right. How do we do so? Obviously the rivets are not working well to hold the seam together. What else can we use besides pop rivets? I assume that we will also go to a slightly larger stainless screw. Is there anything "better" than aluminum pop rivets?

We NEED our boat to work and it is distressing to us to have an issue like this on a boat we love so much.

Any help / advice you can provide is appreciated.

KRoundy

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The dealer basically told us that it is our problem. The person I talked to said that it is obviously something we did wrong (even though they have not seen it), and that if we want to bring them the boat they will fix it in April and charge us. As a non-profit camp, we don't have a lot of spare $ to spend paying somebody else to fix the boat. We have some amazing maintenance guys at the camp and I know my way around a shop, so I think we can do it (we were able to put it back together with new pop rivets and screws and silicone sealant). It's just that the rivets don't seem to be holding for some reason.

I'm hopeful that somebody here who knows how these boats are assembled or repaired might be able to point us towards a solution.

I suppose I could try running at the dealer again? Is there really a lifetime hull warranty? I thought it was a 3-year warranty. But the dealer was so, uh, unhelpful and uh.... not nice that we are reluctant to go there. Just being honest. I won't name the dealer. I don't want to unnecessarily drag anybody's name thru the mud. They were awesome to us when we purchased the boat and we had them do the maintenance for the first winterization.

KRoundy

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Then you should call Malibu directly if your dealer won't work with you. If they seriously treated you like that then they deserve to be drug through the mud. As the original owner you have a lifetime warranty on your hull, screw your dealer, call Malibu directly.

Now I'm worried about my hull and the fact that I didn't (more like wasn't able to) purchase the hull warranty when I bought my vRide used!!!

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Yes...these boats have a lifetime hull warranty, and I would be shocked if it did not cover the top and bottom separating.

I would immediately call Malibu direct (not the dealer) and see what they have to say.

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Yes...these boats have a lifetime hull warranty, and I would be shocked if it did not cover the top and bottom separating.

I would immediately call Malibu direct (not the dealer) and see what they have to say.

Yes, and do it before you attempt to make any home repair, as this will make it harder for Malibu to agree to fix. I would think that this is a major repair issue and should be done right to ensure the safety of your passengers. I would think any accident that could cause the hull and cap to seperate would show obvious damage to the fiberglass and gelcoat.

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Yes...these boats have a lifetime hull warranty, and I would be shocked if it did not cover the top and bottom separating.

I would immediately call Malibu direct (not the dealer) and see what they have to say.

Yes, and do it before you attempt to make any home repair, as this will make it harder for Malibu to agree to fix. I would think that this is a major repair issue and should be done right to ensure the safety of your passengers. I would think any accident that could cause the hull and cap to seperate would show obvious damage to the fiberglass and gelcoat.

I would think this is important. What was a lifetime hull warranty may be void now that the repairs have been attempted by you instead of being done by an authorized malibu facility.

Hope Malibu would take care of it, especially for a non-profit organization like yours.

Keep us informed on how it works out.

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Hi all! I'm a new guy on this site. I'm on a board for a youth camp on Whidbey Island, WA. We purchased a new 2006 Malibu i-Ride in 2006 for use at our summer camp. I broke the boat in on a local lake and have stayed involved with the boat during the summers. We run the boat about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week during the summer. The boat has been everything we hoped for. It has been reliable, a real draw for the youth at the camp, and it looks great!

Late last summer we ran into our first real problem. The seam between the lower and upper part of the hull came apart. It is the seam that is hidden under the rub rail. We noticed the problem because the boat was taking on a lot of water. The separation occurred on right hand side from the rear corner to just about the driver's seat.

The separation ripped our the rivets and the screws that hold the hull together. Once the seam was popped, the screws and rivets held the hull open and as the boat was underway the water essentially poured into the hull through the open seam. Once we finally figured out what was wrong we pulled off the rub strip, drilled out all the rivets and removed all the screws. We put it all back together the best we could but it quickly came apart again and started to let in more water

Questions: 1. Anybody ever have this happen before? And yes, we use bumpers and very tall vertical rub rails on our mooring dock and our ski dock. The hull was not hit hard down low to pop the seam. I think the vertical rails on our dock might just put too much stress on the seam? We have had competition ski boats at our camp for three decades and this is the first time we have had any issue with a hull seam.

2. As we work on the boat this winter we really want to fix this right. How do we do so? Obviously the rivets are not working well to hold the seam together. What else can we use besides pop rivets? I assume that we will also go to a slightly larger stainless screw. Is there anything "better" than aluminum pop rivets?

We NEED our boat to work and it is distressing to us to have an issue like this on a boat we love so much.

Any help / advice you can provide is appreciated.

KRoundy

Call Bakes Marine they will help you! Thumbup.gif

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Hi all! I'm a new guy on this site. I'm on a board for a youth camp on Whidbey Island, WA. We purchased a new 2006 Malibu i-Ride in 2006 for use at our summer camp. I broke the boat in on a local lake and have stayed involved with the boat during the summers. We run the boat about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week during the summer. The boat has been everything we hoped for. It has been reliable, a real draw for the youth at the camp, and it looks great!

Late last summer we ran into our first real problem. The seam between the lower and upper part of the hull came apart. It is the seam that is hidden under the rub rail. We noticed the problem because the boat was taking on a lot of water. The separation occurred on right hand side from the rear corner to just about the driver's seat.

The separation ripped our the rivets and the screws that hold the hull together. Once the seam was popped, the screws and rivets held the hull open and as the boat was underway the water essentially poured into the hull through the open seam. Once we finally figured out what was wrong we pulled off the rub strip, drilled out all the rivets and removed all the screws. We put it all back together the best we could but it quickly came apart again and started to let in more water

Questions: 1. Anybody ever have this happen before? And yes, we use bumpers and very tall vertical rub rails on our mooring dock and our ski dock. The hull was not hit hard down low to pop the seam. I think the vertical rails on our dock might just put too much stress on the seam? We have had competition ski boats at our camp for three decades and this is the first time we have had any issue with a hull seam.

2. As we work on the boat this winter we really want to fix this right. How do we do so? Obviously the rivets are not working well to hold the seam together. What else can we use besides pop rivets? I assume that we will also go to a slightly larger stainless screw. Is there anything "better" than aluminum pop rivets?

We NEED our boat to work and it is distressing to us to have an issue like this on a boat we love so much.

Any help / advice you can provide is appreciated.

KRoundy

Call Bakes Marine they will help you! Thumbup.gif

as unlikely as it seems, I mean Bakes has a great reputation from every post i have ever read here, they would be the dealer for the Lake Stevens / Whidbey Island area. If it is bakes, there must be more to the story.

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Hi all! I'm a new guy on this site. I'm on a board for a youth camp on Whidbey Island, WA. We purchased a new 2006 Malibu i-Ride in 2006 for use at our summer camp. I broke the boat in on a local lake and have stayed involved with the boat during the summers. We run the boat about 4 hours a day, 5 days a week during the summer. The boat has been everything we hoped for. It has been reliable, a real draw for the youth at the camp, and it looks great!

Late last summer we ran into our first real problem. The seam between the lower and upper part of the hull came apart. It is the seam that is hidden under the rub rail. We noticed the problem because the boat was taking on a lot of water. The separation occurred on right hand side from the rear corner to just about the driver's seat.

The separation ripped our the rivets and the screws that hold the hull together. Once the seam was popped, the screws and rivets held the hull open and as the boat was underway the water essentially poured into the hull through the open seam. Once we finally figured out what was wrong we pulled off the rub strip, drilled out all the rivets and removed all the screws. We put it all back together the best we could but it quickly came apart again and started to let in more water

Questions: 1. Anybody ever have this happen before? And yes, we use bumpers and very tall vertical rub rails on our mooring dock and our ski dock. The hull was not hit hard down low to pop the seam. I think the vertical rails on our dock might just put too much stress on the seam? We have had competition ski boats at our camp for three decades and this is the first time we have had any issue with a hull seam.

2. As we work on the boat this winter we really want to fix this right. How do we do so? Obviously the rivets are not working well to hold the seam together. What else can we use besides pop rivets? I assume that we will also go to a slightly larger stainless screw. Is there anything "better" than aluminum pop rivets?

We NEED our boat to work and it is distressing to us to have an issue like this on a boat we love so much.

Any help / advice you can provide is appreciated.

KRoundy

Call Bakes Marine they will help you! Thumbup.gif

as unlikely as it seems, I mean Bakes has a great reputation from every post i have ever read here, they would be the dealer for the Lake Stevens / Whidbey Island area. If it is bakes, there must be more to the story.

Well then I politely take back what I said earlier. If that is the case, I agree there must be more to the story.

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Well, you guys narrowed in on the dealer. I really don't mean to say anything bad about Bakes here. As I said, we got a good deal on the boat from them, they were very helpful in getting us into a new boat when we were originally looking at used boats. The iRide is perfect for our camp. We just need to figure out this hull seam issue. I think Bakes is just trying to be honest with me. Unfortunately the sales person we purchased the boat from is no longer at Bakes so I really don't know the people I'm calling and talking to.

I don't know what the "more to the story" might be. There is no other damage to the boat. No delamination, no punch marks, even the rub rail doesn't look very marked up considering the 100's of hours on the boat. We did the repairs ourselves the first time because that's what the dealer told us to do. As soon as I started to describe the problem I heard, "Oh I see, you damaged the boat. You must have done something really bad to cause that." etc. They told us it was a "shoe-box" construction, how to pull off the rub rail and how to re-attach and re-seal the boat seam between the lower hull and the upper cap. They were very forthcoming with the information and we were able to re-attach the hull. But we obviously didn't do something right because now it's unattached again. We did what the dealer told us to do because they were very firm from the first phone call that this would never be covered under warranty and we must have done something wrong and either we or a marine repair place would have to fix it, etc.... I was the first point of contact at the dealer and our maintenance guy also took at run at them but we were very firmly told both times that this is not covered under warranty so don't even try.

Any ideas why this would be the "natural" reaction from the dealer? I thought it might be because this is a common problem, but I'm not hearing that here on this forum.

I really do like the guys at Bakes and I thought they were dealing with us on the up-and-up. They have been very firm with us from the start of this issue (it's not covered). But, I need to get my boat fixed! Who can I call at Malibu for help? Or, is there a certain person or department at Bakes I should try first?

Again, I'm just trying to find a solution for our camp. Thanks for all the input and thoughts here.

KRoundy

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Then you should call Malibu directly if your dealer won't work with you. If they seriously treated you like that then they deserve to be drug through the mud. As the original owner you have a lifetime warranty on your hull, screw your dealer, call Malibu directly.

Now I'm worried about my hull and the fact that I didn't (more like wasn't able to) purchase the hull warranty when I bought my vRide used!!!

Easy there are always two side to a story.

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Well, you guys narrowed in on the dealer. I really don't mean to say anything bad about Bakes here. As I said, we got a good deal on the boat from them, they were very helpful in getting us into a new boat when we were originally looking at used boats. The iRide is perfect for our camp. We just need to figure out this hull seam issue. I think Bakes is just trying to be honest with me. Unfortunately the sales person we purchased the boat from is no longer at Bakes so I really don't know the people I'm calling and talking to.

I don't know what the "more to the story" might be. There is no other damage to the boat. No delamination, no punch marks, even the rub rail doesn't look very marked up considering the 100's of hours on the boat. We did the repairs ourselves the first time because that's what the dealer told us to do. As soon as I started to describe the problem I heard, "Oh I see, you damaged the boat. You must have done something really bad to cause that." etc. They told us it was a "shoe-box" construction, how to pull off the rub rail and how to re-attach and re-seal the boat seam between the lower hull and the upper cap. They were very forthcoming with the information and we were able to re-attach the hull. But we obviously didn't do something right because now it's unattached again. We did what the dealer told us to do because they were very firm from the first phone call that this would never be covered under warranty and we must have done something wrong and either we or a marine repair place would have to fix it, etc.... I was the first point of contact at the dealer and our maintenance guy also took at run at them but we were very firmly told both times that this is not covered under warranty so don't even try.

Any ideas why this would be the "natural" reaction from the dealer? I thought it might be because this is a common problem, but I'm not hearing that here on this forum.

I really do like the guys at Bakes and I thought they were dealing with us on the up-and-up. They have been very firm with us from the start of this issue (it's not covered). But, I need to get my boat fixed! Who can I call at Malibu for help? Or, is there a certain person or department at Bakes I should try first?

Again, I'm just trying to find a solution for our camp. Thanks for all the input and thoughts here.

KRoundy

I would try to call Paul (Service Manager) and talk to him. I can promise you this; if there is something he can do he will. Sometimes his hands are tied with Malibu and they won't warranty things they think are user caused damage. I don't have any details on this event but think that another conversation is in order. I wish you the best of luck getting your issue resolved.

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Hi all! I'm a new guy on this site. I'm on a board for a youth camp on Whidbey Island, WA. We purchased a new 2006 Malibu i-Ride in 2006 for use at our summer camp........
........As a non-profit camp, we don't have a lot of spare $ to spend paying somebody else to fix the boat.........

Is it because you bought a brand new boat in 2006 you have no money for repairs? Maybe it’s just me but this does sound a little odd? I don’t know of any camp with money for a boat let alone a new one.

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When you put it back together, glass the joint from the inside with two or more layers of woven roving. BTW Just curious, are you pulling water logged tubes off the tower?

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Hi all! I'm a new guy on this site. I'm on a board for a youth camp on Whidbey Island, WA. We purchased a new 2006 Malibu i-Ride in 2006 for use at our summer camp........
........As a non-profit camp, we don't have a lot of spare $ to spend paying somebody else to fix the boat.........

Is it because you bought a brand new boat in 2006 you have no money for repairs? Maybe it’s just me but this does sound a little odd? I don’t know of any camp with money for a boat let alone a new one.

TONS TONS TONS of camps use Malibu's for their watersports activities, the boats last a long time and are safer to use for watersports.

That being said they are plenty of ways for that hull seam to come apart, what I would most likely expect is that when malibu put the boat together the seam was not lined up properly and some of the rivets and screws were pretty much right on the edge of the deck or hull. The fact that you've "fixed" this once makes me nervous from a warrenty perspective.

I would take off the rubrail and get some good pictures of the contruction/hole placement of that area. From there we can see what's going on structually.

-Chris

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Maybe Peter from Smooth Water can set us straight. I thought that if the boat was being used in a camp or commercial environment, the warranty was not the same.

/Steve

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I believe Malibu usee s an epoxy to hold two pieces together and add the screws or rivets to secure the parts while curing? My top had to be completely replaced due to cracks in the gelcoat on my 2007 VRide.

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Paul at Bakes Marine is out of the office now but will be back later this week. I'm going to contact Paul myself and try to work the issue. Perhaps some lines got crossed somewhere.

We use the tower to tow a lot of things, including tubes. Are we not supposed to do that?

We were not told that there were any issues with using the boat at our camp regarding the warranty.

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Oh, and with regard to $, the boat was purchased via a special gift to the camp. We are watching every penny as much as possible, particularly in the hard economic times of 2009, vs. the good-old-days of 2006. We have budgeted some $ for boat maintenance. I personally am going to work on this issue and I think the $ thing can be worked out if we do have to pay to get the boat fixed. I should have said something more like, "We'd rather spend the $ on something else" than fixing our basically new boat.

We have kept our previous two boats over 10 years. We need this one to keep going for at least 6 more years.

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We use the tower to tow a lot of things, including tubes. Are we not supposed to do that?

There are issues with pulling tubes from the tower. Usually there are decals on the tower specifying NOT to do this due to the amount of stress put on the tower. And frankly there is no reason to do it.... do they need more air?

Hope you can get this worked out. Even if it's not resolved thru the warranty, I'd think that Bakes can help get you some service to get it fixed.

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I hope we can get it worked out. I'm glad that I posted this here because it has given me some ideas and encouragement to make sure that it gets fixed correctly.

Kevin

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Kevin,

I hope t his helps clear things up.

The coversations that I've had with whomever helps with the camp has led me to believe the issue was not warrantable and i did give that opinion to him. The amount of pressure it would take to break off (the rivet heads were broken off how it was described to me) four feet of rivets on the rub rail would be a incredible amout of force. Even if you have fenders, bumpers, etc its still possible. BUT in those coversations (there was more than one this summer) I also said that with no pictures and not seeing the boat i have no idea whether it is somethign that could be covered. In order to determine that i would need to at least see pictures or the boat and present the issue to Malibu. So something is not getting relayed between whomever i'm talking to and you about the boat.

The tower is meant for wakeboarding and surfing only. Towing tubes from the tower alone can cause major structural failure to the tower, deck, or hull.

The warranty is handled different for rental boats for sure, i'm not 100% about camp boats. I do not have access to a owners manual right now. I'm at Malibu/Indmar service training and will be back in the office next week if you wish to discus further over the phone.

Hope to help you out in any way I can.

Paul

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Kevin,

I hope t his helps clear things up.

The coversations that I've had with whomever helps with the camp has led me to believe the issue was not warrantable and i did give that opinion to him. The amount of pressure it would take to break off (the rivet heads were broken off how it was described to me) four feet of rivets on the rub rail would be a incredible amout of force. Even if you have fenders, bumpers, etc its still possible. BUT in those coversations (there was more than one this summer) I also said that with no pictures and not seeing the boat i have no idea whether it is somethign that could be covered. In order to determine that i would need to at least see pictures or the boat and present the issue to Malibu. So something is not getting relayed between whomever i'm talking to and you about the boat.

The tower is meant for wakeboarding and surfing only. Towing tubes from the tower alone can cause major structural failure to the tower, deck, or hull.

The warranty is handled different for rental boats for sure, i'm not 100% about camp boats. I do not have access to a owners manual right now. I'm at Malibu/Indmar service training and will be back in the office next week if you wish to discus further over the phone.

Hope to help you out in any way I can.

Paul

Paul,

It sounds like some lines got crossed somewhere. The rivets were pulled out through the holes (I don't recall seeing any heads ripped off).

When will you be back at Bakes? I'll give you a call or maybe drop by to discuss. I'll also change our policy to make sure the tower is used properly! I know that I use the lower pylon a lot but have seen others use the tower to tow kids on a tube. I may be damning myself there, but I am not intending to be dishonest. I just want our boat to work! :)

Thanks Paul. Talk to you soon.

Kevin

Edited by KRoundy
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