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carbon fiber ski locker lid?


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my large honeycomb aluminum ski locker lid is starting to sag too much. not a surprise; the little girl is getting a bit long in the tooth.

i've poked at my dealer to price out an oem replacement but that seems to be a slow go.

working w this cf idea

although not a rectangle it's, very roughly, a 68" x 20" x 1/2" panel. the span (that must support a live load or two) would be at least 20" but support is not continuous around the edge so the relative direction of the longest span will change across the panel. multiple layers or the proper cf weave should cover this issue.

i'm wondering if cf is a reasonable approach to replacing that lid.

i know zip about cf but have been browsing a bit.

it doesn't look like using the oem aluminum as a substrate is a good idea. it's strength is already compromised and water between it and a cf layer would create a nice little battery. that thin aluminum would corrode in no time.

i'm tempted to attempt replacing my oem lid with a 1/2" hdpe panel bonded to a layer or two of cf fabric. (edit: turns out that hdpe has thermal expansion of 1/32" per foot per 40°F so bonding will warp the composite panel) with the hdpe exposed on the lower face of the panel i can staple upholstery much like the oem system. edit to add: wag hdpe 1/2* x 68* x 30* = $200.

i did entertain leaving the cf exposed but, after a recent project editing a pix of the rig to see how a teak replacement would look, i can't believe the cf would look any better than the teak i didn't like.

i have not, yet, spent sufficient time on the idea to sort out if cost or some other aspect of the idea will kill it in it's infancy.

another option is to move to a 3/4" anti-slip king starboard panel (w/o upholstery) moves the price to $300-ish. it can't be painted.

good on you; still reading this deep in to this post. i knew a few of you would make it here.

i guess what i am in search of is some insight from all who know more about cf than i do. i suspect that includes most of you.

sounds like a nice winter project.

will cf cover this application at a cost comparable to an oem replacement?

any and all feedback will be appreciated, thanks.

Edited by tvano
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Hdpe covered in carpet or gatorstep? Maybe double thick with the bottom layer fitting inside the lip. Should be easy, not too ghetto if you have a little more talent than I do!

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Hdpe covered in carpet or gatorstep? Maybe double thick with the bottom layer fitting inside the lip. Should be easy, not too ghetto if you have a little more talent than I do!

i have not worked w hdpe but i figured if hdpe would hold up to the load on the span then malibu would ship with it rather than the honeycomb aluminum panel.

icbw; often am.

about that "icbw" thing. poked at king plastic and am wondering if starboard might do the trick.

anyone out there that can look at the specs and tell me if this panel will hold up to a couple of hefty folks tap dancing on the ski locker lid?

i wonder if this panel can be painted???

Edited by tvano
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HDPE will be a little heavier than the honeycomb, but should be plenty durable in a 3/4" or 1" thickness. But it doesn't catastrophically fail like CF does.... and I believe CF is toxic when it gets under your skin.

As far as working with HDPE, any basic wood working tools will work fine.

Edited by Bill_AirJunky
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Interesting topic as I have recently finished the same project on 2011 Txi locker lids here in Australia. The OEM honeycomb aluminium base has failed twice on our boat and we do not treat it any differently to our past two Malibu's that we have had no problem with locker lids.

However, we researched a range of products including all listed above, spoke to many and in the end were convinced to use 18mm marine ply and painted it with 3 coats of an epoxy resin used in boat building that soaks into the timber & sets to produce a strong waterproof board that you can staple & glue the original skin to. We were concerned that it would be too heavy but now it is complete & on the boat you cannot notice any difference to the original.

We had an interior trimmer remove the skin & carpet from the old lids, used the old bases as templates to cut the marine ply, coated the ply with the epoxy resin and had the trimmer install the old skin & carpet on the new board. All up cost was $400, marine ply sheet was $70 and anything else e.g. CF was going to be significantly more.

We have had the new lids on the boat for approx. 2 months and there is no deflection when bodies stand on them and so far all good. I thought when we finished the project that we should have taken pics along the way to assist others but alas we didn't do it.

I think it is something Malibu needs to look at as the reason our old ones failed (twice) is aluminium sheets had delaminated from the honeycomb middle. Anyway we now have a unique Malibu as it has some timber. Hope you find a good solution.

Cheers Ian J

Newcastle, Australia

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@tvano: CF is a great solution for a couple of reasons, very stiff and lightweight. I have done three panels on my vessel so far, the rudder cover panel, the ski locker panel (small one between the helm and observers seat) and my swim platform. My objective was weight reduction focused on wake improvement and I wanted a split panel for the ski locker as that is now where my fuel tank sits. CF is not hard to work with, pretty much like working with fiberglass, you can do either wet layup or vacuum bag depending on how involved you want to get. I source my CF from US Composites, they have excellent prices.

For both the rudder panel and ski locker panel, I used marine ply as the core material and for the platform I used corecell as the core material (Home Depot / Lowes 1/2" closed cell foam boards are also great and cheap). The platform came out super stiff and 11 lbs with brackets so 19 lbs lighter than the original platform & does not need a center support. The other two panels basically cut the weight in half. All three panels have to support humans standing on them & CF + core construction method allows that and tends to result in a stiffer panel. You will need only a couple of layers of cf, another option for cost would be hybrid, do a layer of S glass followed by a layer of cf. You can staple or glue the upholstery or carpet back on to the panels.

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thread is 4+ years old, but replacement cost back then was $125...

http://www.themalibucrew.com/forums/index.php?/topic/30661-ski-hatch-cover/

think that hatch cover is a 68" width or a clam-shell?

if i could replace w oem at $125 i'd quit trying to reverse engineer.

think i'll poke at bakes, too. edit: think i'll give my dealer another opportunity then tag bakes.

Edited by tvano
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ahopkins22LSV

think that hatch cover is a 68" width or a clam-shell?

if i could replace w oem at $125 i'd quit trying to reverse engineer.

think i'll poke at bakes, too. edit: think i'll give my dealer another opportunity then tag bakes.

I know they can get them because the factory sent us a replacement for the floor locker when I needed the piece behind the engine cover over the exhaust. Hell they probably still have the floor locker piece the factory sent by mistake for ours. Not sure if it would be the correct size though.

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Having the same issue on my 2011 RLXI down under.

As a temporary fix, I made up a T support arrangement using Galv Angle, could be made from aluminium to save welding.

Ski%20Locker%20Support%202_zpset0uwaqn.j

Ski%20Locker%20Support%204_zpsnr2amdbo.j

Ski%20Locker%20Support%201_zpsded5kql7.j

Ski%20Locker%20Support%203_zpsi3zekjlu.j

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I completely misunderstood what your issue is. I though you meant the floor panel just in front of the engine. Guess I should have read the thread closer. :Doh:

+1 Too many years of referring to the floor compartment as the locker and the rear compartment as the trunk.

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I really like that idea of the galvanized aluminum T support. I've been trying to come up with a similar idea, but this one is much cleaner than what I was considering.

I wonder if there's a better material that could be used here other than aluminum. I worry about what that would do to the gel coat on the transom side of the trunk even in the newer boats that have grip tape over that gel coat.

Ultimately I'd want to find something that is already in that shape/configuration so I could just cut it to length and screw it into the bottom of the trunk lid on one side.

Mike

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I worry about what that would do to the gel coat on the transom side of the trunk even in the newer boats that have grip tape over that gel coat.

Mike

I have a bit of thin rubber bonded to the underside of the T where it touches the glass at the rear.

So far after one season there are no marks. Frot is on the carpet inside the locker.

BUT, now I found the screws holding the gas struts are coming loose.

Guess the alum honeycombed core is failing through corrosion from the cushion being soaked.

Looks like a winter project to come up with a replacement product for the core material.

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  • 1 month later...

before going to town with this project i thought i'd check the price on new/oem locker lids.

that idea has been an exercise in patience, i started poking at my dealer in july and have yet to hear a price.

with that stellar service in mind i asked a well respected active tmc dealer to quote a price on oem.

that dealer's response was "Are you the original owner of the boat? If yes, there is a lifetime structure and hull warranty. Malibu will cover that under warranty."

any of you had any luck chasing a new ski locker lid under warranty?

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Not the the rear trunk, but a number of us had the rear floor access panel. All 4 of them were the wrong size. I had to give them the measurements of the panel and do the recarpet myself. I know someone on the lake had a front locker floor replaced along with part on the truck lid. All were covered under warranty.

Call down to Malibu direct and bypass the dealer.

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