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Take a look at these gelcoat pics...


CFH

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So... this is my brother in laws 2000 wakesetter and he found this at the end of the year. Im thinking platform brackets are loose? I told him to take it to a glass shop asap. Whats your take on this? Looks pretty bad to me, maybe its more than just the brackets being loose? As soon as I get mine out of storage in the spring... Im checking my bracket bolts to make sure they are nice and tight!

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Edited by CFH
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Looks terrible but appears all cosmetic to me. Notice that all or most originate where a hole was drilled. Poor or improper drilling/chamfering techniques causing excessive spider cracking are nothing new to malibu.

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While I have no personal experience with this, it looks like water got in to the fiberglass where the holes were drilled and then was frozen to the point of expansion. I agree that it needs to get to a _good_ fiberglass shop sooner than later.

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^I agree with this (@mikeo). Water in bilge area not dried out thoroughly before putting up for winter can seep through fiberglass in various through hull penetration areas that may not be sealed as a result of age/wear and tear etc. ultimately getting between fiberglass and gelcoat then winter freeze does nasty expansion... does not take much to make something like this happen. bilge and entire boat interior hull area should be dryed allways prior to putting up for winter. Not saying that is the cause, but could be the culprit. Always check for loose through hull bolts etc to make sure they are tight. I found that 2 of the 6 through bolts on my drive shaft strut (2013) were not tight. So I popped the whole strut off, resealed from both top and bottom and re tightened. When installing through the hull, items need to be sealed both from outside as well as inside to prevent water from getting in the through hull penetrations. Same for reverse action if not properly sealed from the bottom/outside of hull.

Edited by BlackBluMalibu
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Malibu has a life time warranty on there hulls....I'd be speeking with a dealer on this issue.

You never know.

Lifetime structural warranty on the hull.

Gelcoat isn't structural. It might be covered if there is a structural reason for it occurring. It looks like thermal cracking to me.

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Multiple fat guys standing on it? Or backed platform into wall?

Also the bunks on that lift are too short. Transom not supported. That would be my best guess as to the source of the problem.

Edited by oldjeep
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I'd agree with the transom not being well supported. You can kind of see those stress cracks make an arc around the trailer bunk in the picture looking up. Not saying that caused the transom cracks as well, but definitely some stress there.

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Lifetime structural warranty on the hull.

Gelcoat isn't structural. It might be covered if there is a structural reason for it occurring. It looks like thermal cracking to me.

interesting to know. ... thought it included stress cracks.
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I anticipate that the boat has another plug? Do not leave the plug in unless you are about to go to the lake.

It looks to me like he backed the boat into something or it was lifted inappropriately to cause all those gelcoat cracks. They are nothing structural, from what we can see here. They may have even been there for years, and may not change for several years more. Despite that, it isn't a boat I would leave in the water for more than a week at a time.

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I anticipate that the boat has another plug? Do not leave the plug in unless you are about to go to the lake.

It looks to me like he backed the boat into something or it was lifted inappropriately to cause all those gelcoat cracks. They are nothing structural, from what we can see here. They may have even been there for years, and may not change for several years more. Despite that, it isn't a boat I would leave in the water for more than a week at a time.

The boat is pretty clearly sitting on a lift, good idea to leave plug in ;)

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The boat is pretty clearly sitting on a lift, good idea to leave plug in ;)

Good advice....Lifts in these here parts are pretty rare. I did think that trailer bunk looked strange, but didn't think of that.

You just weigh the risks of the lift failing vs. the risk of the boat getting water in the hull. Seems like a lift failure would be more common if you have a good cover.

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ahopkins22LSV

Multiple fat guys standing on it? Or backed platform into wall?

Also the bunks on that lift are too short. Transom not supported. That would be my best guess as to the source of the problem.

I'm trying to think about our friends hoists and the bunk placement looks pretty normal to me. Looks to be about a foot or so from the transom? Do yours run all the way back?

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The only lift I have is for a jetski, but yes the bunks go to the transom;)

If the bunk doesn't go under the transom that is a lot of weight that could put a hook in the hull between the end of the bunk and transom. Even worse if you are adding people weight to it when raising and lowering.

I don't know what Malibu recommends, but the couple boat mfg that I could find quickly via google say that they shout extend a couple inches beyond transom, which makes sense to me.

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ahopkins22LSV

Yeah, I agree and that's how all the trailers are so it makes sense to me, but I was just thinking back to my friends different lifts. I will have to check in the spring if I remember. But I have the feeling that most bunks on the majority of lift manufactures don't extend all the way or past the end of the transom. Interesting for sure.

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I'm trying to think about our friends hoists and the bunk placement looks pretty normal to me. Looks to be about a foot or so from the transom? Do yours run all the way back?

Bunks always need to go to the transom. Lifts and trailers.

Edited by 23LSVOwner
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I understand the theory and concept, but I am wondering/questioning the actual setups people have.

I've worked in the industry for way longer than I care to admit.

I've seen too many issues to count from boats not being properly supported on lifts and trailers.

More so on trailers though.

People don't understand that fiberglass actually takes up to a year to fully stabilize and cure out. Without that full support it can cause rockers in the hull.

Boats with outboards also have issues with being trailered without full bunks. Fiberglass by nature flexes. All that unsupported weight hanging off of the ends of the bunks can cause gel coat cracking, etc which is amplified with the extra flex induced because of the lack of full support.

In the case of this particular boat, with the rear not being fully supported this issue could have began with people jumping on the platform to get in the boat.

Just my observations.

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I know that our bunks do not run the whole length of the boat, and I can guarantee that there are very few lifts (if any) on our lake set up this way. I am by no ways saying that it is the correct way but it is certainly very common.

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Our old Wakesetter set up

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Edited by BlknYlwT22
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