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G3 Tower Mirror


Fman

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As much as I like the G3 tower mirror, I cant get the arm to stay tight. I have added *two* starred washers one on the top and bottom of the bracket and it still continues to come loose. The mirror wont move once I re-tighten the handle, but the handle becomes loose throughout the day. I am considering having an aluminum bracket fabbed up to actually bolt onto the pivet point of the arm to eliminate it from moving.

Does anyone have any other ideas? I thought about lock tite on the threads of the handle but its not a permanent mount, I take it off to stow the tower to get it into the garage.

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Kris, But is this something you have to keep putting on...Fman like myself take off the mirror each time to lower the tower for storage. I have the same issue. I just have to really crank it down and one time the handle snapped. Called the manufacture and they said wow that should never happen. They sent be another one and has not snapped yet.

LTD

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Wierd. I'd suggest you contact the guys at Samson. I am assuming the part that you crank down with the handle is what works loose... not the G3 tower clamp.

Mine locks tight.... as in brick chit house tight. On a side note, I think the G3 Tower mirror should be about 3" longer....i still have to look up at a pretty steep angle with my neck when my eyes are centered in the middle of the windshield... not comfortable for extended periods. I wish that mirror sat about 2-3 inches above the windshied.... so you could just look with your eyes... vs having to crank your neck to look 12-18" above the windshied. There was a guy on here who works billet aluminum projects... I voted he create an extention to drop that mirro down lower.

Back to the OP. I'd bet its a problem with your star washers... perhaps not the exact correct type for this application, you have overtightend and flattened out those flanges. The purpose of the star washers is to dig into the material with a bite.... so it wont freely spin loose. There are all types of star washers... perhaps you dont have the exact type in there that'll dig in and hold that joint.

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I had a Titan mirror arm that did the same thing. Called Titan and got a new arm...same thing. I ended up using a larger bushing with mine, still didn’t fix the problem. No matter how tight you got it would not hold in place. Is there a bushing that could be used?

I want one for my tower...should I just wait?

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I have had that "vibra-tight" on the thumb screw for a flag holder on another boat for a couple years now and it still has the same resistance when I turn it. The screw has never loosen up on me. Would be worth a try. I put it on the threads of the bolt and let dry for about 15 minutes and that was it. You could also put on both the nut and bolt if you need even more resistance.

Kris

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I am afraid of breaking the plastic handle from over tightening. The star washers seem to be pretty aggressive and dig in... anyone have a pic of what one I should be using?

Obski, great idea, I will contact Samson and try and get a better handle that will not break if I really crank it down. The vibra goop is another good idea, think I will try a different handle first.

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Just got off the phone with Samson, I am getting a new billet handle, not plastic. Unfortunately was a little disappointed they are charging me for the handle, and would not just warranty it. They said they rarely have issues with the plastic handles, and Malibu could upgrade to billet handles when ordering the boat, but they choose to go plastic. I dunno, seems like a small price to pay to spread the word about great customer service... not the case here.

Anyway, hopefully this will take care of the problem.

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The vibra-goop is $0.99 but the billet handle will look better than the plastic.

Sucks they wouldn't just send it to you since you were having problems. I would have a hard time paying more for the handle given what the charge for the mirror and it wasn't working right. Was thinking about getting one but will still with the windshield mount.

Good luck.

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The vibra-goop is $0.99 but the billet handle will look better than the plastic.

Sucks they wouldn't just send it to you since you were having problems. I would have a hard time paying more for the handle given what the charge for the mirror and it wasn't working right. Was thinking about getting one but will still with the windshield mount.

Good luck.

I was also bummed, they told me I could call Malibu and try to get it warranted from them.... Its only a $16 part shipped to my house, but you are right, for the amount the mirror cost it should have been a simple "we will send you the handle".... I was not about to get in an agument with her over a $16 part.

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Not knowing my mirror would loosen itself so easily, I actually had my mirror fall off last year while towing to the lake. I don't tow very far to the lake or go very fast either. In my case I was lucky, it landed on the driver's seat of the boat. Definitely something I kept a closer eye on after that happened. I would've been really pissed if it bounced out of the boat or did any damage.

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This is interesting... I just got off the phone with Scott who owns Samson. I quickly realized I was going to make no progress on them just sending me the part for free. He said Malibu orders the boats like this to save money on the stainless handle, and Samson has recommended the purchase the mirrors with stainless handles. Malibu apparently tries to keep there costs down, although when you are buying a $65k boat, seems like another $40 for the handle would be a no brainer. Scott says they have maybe one call a year with customer complaints about the mirror coming loose, the plastic handles work fine.

Basically, he explained its Malibus fault the mirror is coming loose because they elect not to upgrade to the billet handle. He said I got a great deal on the handle because it would have been at least $50 from Malibu. I basically decided not to argue his point, take the $16 hit and move on.... I will say, he did mention if this did not correct the problem they would take the entire mirror back and find out what is causing the issue, which I did appreciate.

LOL, If I would have just broken the handle they probably would have sent me a free stainless handle for replacement :)

Are there others on here who have experienced there mirror always coming loose? I am re-tightening 5-6 times a day on the water... easily. He also mentioned I should have been charged $600 for that mirror.... wow, it is a nice upgrade, but for $600 I would have a hard time spending that much $$$ for it.

Ok, Im done... I vented, now time to move on! :yahoo: ahhhh.... I do feel a lil' bit better.

Edited by Fman
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That vibra-tite stuff does work really well and I would suggest giving it a try. Maybe we can get a group buy on that.

I will give the handle a try, I should be a able to tighten it down a little better without having to worry about breaking the handle off. Then I will move on to the vibra-goop.

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Malibu apparently tries to keep there costs down, although when you are buying a $65k boat, seems like another $40 for the handle would be a no brainer. Scott says they have maybe one call a year with customer complaints about the mirror coming loose, the plastic handles work fine.

Basically, he explained its Malibus fault the mirror is coming loose because they elect not to upgrade to the billet handle. He said I got a great deal on the handle because it would have been at least $50 from Malibu. I basically decided not to argue his point, take the $16 hit and move on.... I will say, he did mention if this did not correct the problem they would take the entire mirror back and find out what is causing the issue, which I did appreciate.

Doesn't surprise me at all Malibu is looking at the bottom line here. According to this post though Scott know's there's a problem with hardware he is selling to Malibu. IMO, if he knows there's a problem with the plastic handle, he shouldn't be offering it to Malibu, he's just passing the blame on. IMO, they're both at fault here, but not enough people are complaining and it doesn't seem likely to change as it's such a small problem with a fairly cheap fix.

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Doesn't surprise me at all Malibu is looking at the bottom line here. According to this post though Scott know's there's a problem with hardware he is selling to Malibu. IMO, if he knows there's a problem with the plastic handle, he shouldn't be offering it to Malibu, he's just passing the blame on. IMO, they're both at fault here, but not enough people are complaining and it doesn't seem likely to change as it's such a small problem with a fairly cheap fix.

Think so? You think Scott should upgrade the handle and not be compensated for it by malibu? Malibu is the ones making all the money off these mirrors, not Scott.

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Wow, I'm shocked about the customer service! I'm with you...it's not the $16 dollars for the handle, its the point.

I was blown away, thought it would be a simple "No prob, we will send you a handle" end of story, happy customer, good customer service, great word of mouth advertising. From my end, I could care less who is responsible, I spent a good chuck of change on it and just want a mirror that functions properly.

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Think so? You think Scott should upgrade the handle and not be compensated for it by malibu? Malibu is the ones making all the money off these mirrors, not Scott.

I didn't say that, but it's his design isn't it? He's aware it's been a problem isn't he? And yet he's still selling Malibu a product he knows isn't up to snuff and putting his company's name on it...

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