Revised dash at sport knob w/ adjustable phone holder possibly installed on early '15?

[scottmcn1]

12 hours ago, mikeo said:

I got the kit, but it was part of another transaction so I don't have a line item price for the kit. Unfortunately the kit shows up in a bunch of plastic bags with no instructions. I'm pretty good a figuring this stuff out, but every time I put the kit together and put my phone in the holder the springs bind up.

I've emailed my contacts at Malibu asking for instructions or an assembly diagram with no response yet. I'm going to call them on 4/12 to see if I can't make some progress (and I need to discuss a few other things with them). It should be a simple assembly, and maybe I've got a pre-production or defective part, but I've got to wait until I try assembling it with instructions.

If anyone has a '16 that they want to take apart to reverse engineer the instructions I'd love to see some pictures! If I can't get Malibu to share anything I'll see if my local shop will let me take one apart and put it back together again.

Keep us posted for sure - I am interested to see how it all fits together as it seems the 2016 looks a bit bigger than the 2015 trim panel. 

[mikeo]

 

13 hours ago, scottmcn1 said:

Keep us posted for sure - I am interested to see how it all fits together as it seems the 2016 looks a bit bigger than the 2015 trim panel. 

Here are a few pictures of the '15 vs. the '16. For the most part, they're exactly the same size; the mounting holes are in the same position and the perimeter is the same overall. The '16 is slightly thicker at .5540" while the '15 is .5205"

 

[IXFE]

@mikeo... Can you post up the measurements of the plate (width & height) as well as the distance between the mounting bolts on the back.

I know that @Stevo is interested in a '16 plate as a replacement for the RF dash remote and is wondering if it will fit his '14 LSV.

 

P.S.  How much do I love the new @ feature!!

 

[Stevo]

anyone with a 14' in their garage or front yard , if you could measure the rockford faceplate as well would be awesome. Mine is 1.5hrs away and i wont get there for weeks.

 

@IXFE you are wearing cargo shorts with big pockets right ???

Edited April 13, 2016 by Stevo

[tjklein]

If anyone wants to sell their '15 trim piece I'll take it!  It would be a good project for me.

Thanks

[mikeo]

@IXFE since @Stevo is only about 15 minutes away from me I'll PM him and arrange something. I might know of a way to get all the parts he needs to mock up a modification without a bunch of driving. I'll get the dimensions posted this afternoon or this evening; I might be able to scan it on to a grid so it's possible to download and print 1:1 for mock-up purposes.

[scottmcn1]

19 hours ago, mikeo said:

 

Here are a few pictures of the '15 vs. the '16. For the most part, they're exactly the same size; the mounting holes are in the same position and the perimeter is the same overall. The '16 is slightly thicker at .5540" while the '15 is .5205"

 

This is awesome - thanks for posting. Keep us posted once you figure out how the springs work correctly. I am going to order the kit from my dealer. 

[Wakesetter67]

Anyone check on the price on the 16?

[mikeo]

After more time spent "playing" with the springs and a call to the factory, I've determined that I am installing the springs correctly, but I still think there is a fundamental flaw in the design. My contact at the factory is going to talk to a few people and get back to me, meanwhile I've ordered some new springs and miniature gas strut to see if I can resolve the issue.

It's worth noting that these spring problems that I'm having are due to fact that I have two challenges:

1. I have one of the largest current production smartphones and it's in a case. I have an iPhone 6+ in a "Unicorn Beetle" case because I'm hard on phones.

2. I don't like the "slop" of the default springs when there isn't a phone in the holder. The incessant rattle of metal-on-metal coming from the phone holder will drive me over the edge.

The gas strut will need a minor modification (drill the mounting holes bigger) but I believe that it will yield the most elegant solution. I'll know on Friday afternoon once the parts arrive.

[Boaty2point0]

Mikeo, thanks for posting the pictures. Quick question: I had my dealer quote the parts necessary to do this swap.  They were unaware of any specific "kit" to do the swap, but put together a parts list for me anyway.  They say that I need a knew sport knob - that there is something different between the '15 and '16 knob. The sport knob takes the cost of the parts for the swap from $90 w/o a new knob to $370 with a new knob. Any idea if/why a new knob would be needed?

Thanks! (BTW, new MalibuCrew member here. First post. Picking up my 2015 22 VLX next week!)

[mikeo]

@Boaty2point0 welcome to TMC! Some words to live by with this crew: pics, or it didn't happen.

Now, to answer your question: the kit is part number 413462 and there is no reason you can't use the sport knob that you have right now. I didn't get a new sport knob and mine fits just fine. Here is a pic of the package the small parts came in:

 

[mikeo]

Here we go, I got everything assembled and working how I want it. I had to find replacement springs because I didn't like the rattling of the cell phone holder when there wasn't a phone in the holder; the default/factory springs I received were just a bit too short and I tried a bunch of different things to get them slightly longer to eliminate the rattle. Since the kit I got had a few "extra" plastic bearings in it I tried using those, but I ran in to this problem:

the springs jammed with the ball bearings in place and started to deform the springs. I ordered replacement/upgrade springs from McMaster (part # 1986K54). The new springs were slightly longer so I needed a way to compress them while getting the backing plate in place while putting the faceplate over the plate: dental floss!

Now I could compress the springs slightly and get everything to fall in to place:

At this point I slid the assembly off the counter and flipped it over (keeping the backing plate in place) and was able to fasten the other half of the phone holder using the 3 shoulder screws:

continued...

 

Here's what it looks like when it's finished:

but there was still too much metal on metal rattling for me, so I upgraded the springs to a gas shock/strut:

That's McMaster part # 9417K2 (the 5lb version) with the rod ends drilled out slightly larger to fit the mounting bolts. I used one of the mounting studs from the '15 in the backing plate to mount the shock. If you're going to do this, make sure you put the shock in the same orientation otherwise the cylinder will catch on the lip of the cutout that the backing plate fits in. No more rattling metal now!

I'm 95% done, I just need to get some low profile nuts to replace the nylock that doesn't fit on the bottom bolt of the sport knob.

[Stevo]

9 hours ago, mikeo said:

@Boaty2point0 welcome to TMC! Some words to live by with this crew: pics, or it didn't happen.

Now, to answer your question: the kit is part number 413462 and there is no reason you can't use the sport knob that you have right now. I didn't get a new sport knob and mine fits just fine. Here is a pic of the package the small parts came in:

 

Just to confirm this is the part # for the 16' frame and phone holder front and back (minus the sport knob)?

[mikeo]

That was the only part number I have on anything I got, and I wasn't able to peek at the computer for the description when it was ordered. I'd check with the shop when you order it, but if you're getting it from SE just ask them to order the same thing they got for me.

[IXFE]

This is impressive research and work, Mike. 

I especially love the ingenuity of the gas strut!!

[mikeo]

13 hours ago, IXFE said:

This is impressive research and work, Mike. 

I especially love the ingenuity of the gas strut!!

Thank you! 

I think there are a bunch of things that TMC members do to their boats that could be of significant value to others. I'd suggest that Malibu could be doing some of these at the factory, but with your recent meeting there and the analysis you posted on the quarterly earnings announcement I know there isn't margin to execute on many of these enhancements.

[Boaty2point0]

Thanks for the info!  I'll ask my dealer to order that kit and let you know if I get any new info / run into problems!

[Boaty2point0]

Picked up the '16 parts from my dealer today. Will try to install soon. 

Will post pics as I go!

[Boaty2point0]

OK.  Got the '16 larger phone holder installed in my '15 today.  Same experience as mikeo - the plate swaps into the hole in the dash just fine and the sport knob swaps into the plate just fine.  I have no idea why Malibu told the parts guy at my dealer that I would need a new sport knob (for $280) to complete the swap.  You don't.

So, here's a picture of the hole in the dash without the plate, a comparison of the '15 and '16 plate, and a PN list with cost of the parts needed for the swap.  Since you don't need the $280 sport knob, the total cost for the swap is a very reasonable $89.59.

I think someone mentioned they want to buy a '15 plate if one is available.  Well, I have one available now!

Anyone want to help me figure out how to add pictures to a post.  Massive fail trying to insert Photobucket URLs into post above...

I was advised... "pics or it didn't happen"

;-)

[whiplash]

1 minute ago, Boaty2point0 said:

OK.  Got the '16 larger phone holder installed in my '15 today.  Same experience as mikeo - the plate swaps into the hole in the dash just fine and the sport knob swaps into the plate just fine.  I have no idea why Malibu told the parts guy at my dealer that I would need a new sport knob (for $280) to complete the swap.  You don't.

So, here's a picture of the hole in the dash without the plate, a comparison of the '15 and '16 plate, and a PN list with cost of the parts needed for the swap.  Since you don't need the $280 sport knob, the total cost for the swap is a very reasonable $89.59.

I think someone mentioned they want to buy a '15 plate if one is available.  Well, I have one available now!

Anyone want to help me figure out how to add pictures to a post.  Massive fail trying to insert Photobucket URLs into post above...

I was advised... "pics or it didn't happen"

;-)

Look at this post for info on attaching Photobucket pictures.

 

[Boaty2point0]

 

 

[sic0048]

$105/hr for labor??? I'm in the wrong business.......

[minnmarker]

$479.94 - $25.49 = $454.45 for beer or whatever

http://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Holder-Universal-X-Grip-Cellphone/dp/B0055PH0XA?ie=UTF8

[mikeo]

44 minutes ago, minnmarker said:

$479.94 - $25.49 = $454.45 for beer or whatever

http://www.amazon.com/Cradle-Holder-Universal-X-Grip-Cellphone/dp/B0055PH0XA?ie=UTF8

More like $89.59 vs. $25.49. So that mean $64.10 using your single part, but you're missing the suction cup and arm; you would really need to quote:

http://www.amazon.com/Ram-Mount-Suction-Universal-X-Grip/dp/B0066BWMNU

at $49.49. That means the malibu logo and having it match your boat costs $40.10. Since I already use a RAM mount to position an iPad mini above the 7" display as a monitor for a GoPro and to play music (I don't want my phone calls and email notifications going through the stereo) but I do use my phone for rider presets and I like to keep it charged up. Really, it's all about personal preference; If I could get the M235 steering wheel I would opt for the stereo delete, I wanted to sport knob for easy control.

[Boaty2point0]

Lol. I will probably have to upgrade to the '17 holder after Apple comes out with an EVEN BIGGER iPhone 7 SuperPlus. ;-)