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Tightness of Bimini question?


Javi

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I recently purchased a bimini from Tower Biminis. I'm liking it a lot compared to others I've seen. The standard size is bigger than others. Danny also seems good to deal with. Responsive and good customer service. Question I have is that I am making adjustments for the initial installation and it feels like in order to install according to the recommendations, it need to pull hard on it and it gets super tight. When locked in place it feels stiff to the point that if I tap it with my finger it makes a nice loud "thud" sound. I can play music with it!

Is it supposed to be that tight? I am concerned that it is bad for the seams overtime. Talking to Danny I can loosen it a bit by loosening the allen screws that lock the back anchor poles and sliding them back a bit, but if I do that the back of the bimini sticks up more which will likely cause issues with rope wear when wakeboarding. As it is, I think the back of the bimini already sticks a bit too high for my liking and under certain conditions the rope will likely drag.

What are your thoughts and does anyone have one of the Tower Biminis that can let me know how it fits. Mine is for the Illusion X tower.

Thanks!

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I have one as well and remember it being a bit tight at first but once I got it all adjusted it seemed to loosen up a bit. What made mine tight was the supports in front not seating in the all way, I could not even get it to fold all the way back at first. I don't think it should be tight like you are describing once its on right... It could just be that your rear mounting points are slightly off, these boats are built by people and sometimes have variations..

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I have one on a Titan 3 tower and at the beginning of the summer I was bothered how loose it was as it flapped in the wind sometimes.  Tightened it up but was going to call them and ask how tight these should be.  The way it is now I feel like over time it could cause your concerns of the seems being over taxed or stressed which could lead to separation.  I'm going to just spend a little longer next time I'm out to get that happy medium.  As for tightness measures, I could probably bounce a quarter off mine right now :shocked:

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What material/fabric is your top made of? If it’s sunbrella, it will stretch a bit over time. I wouldn’t worry, better slightly tight than too loose and flapping around while you are under way.

You can always mount the top and get the fabric wet to have it stretch a bit.

  • Like 2
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Slightly different concern here. I am currently running with my bimini  up most the time. What precautions can be taken to prevent fading?  It gets  a lot of sun through the 8 months I get out. Factory Sunbrella material is what I assume is the material on 2018 LSV?

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2 hours ago, dalt1 said:

Slightly different concern here. I am currently running with my bimini  up most the time. What precautions can be taken to prevent fading?  It gets  a lot of sun through the 8 months I get out. Factory Sunbrella material is what I assume is the material on 2018 LSV?

Simple - don't use it!  :)  Seriously, Sunbrella offers a 10 year warranty https://cdn.glenraven.net/sb2016/pdf/warranty/sunbrella-fabric-warranty-en-us.pdf so just use it!

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4 hours ago, justgary said:

And here I was thinking the answer is to get a Bimini to cover it and keep it looking good.  :crazy:

This is for real:  I know a guy who puts seat covers on his seat covers to cover the leather upholstery in his Bimmer.  He is insane. Protecting SEAT COVERS???

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7 hours ago, Eagleboy99 said:

This is for real:  I know a guy who puts seat covers on his seat covers to cover the leather upholstery in his Bimmer.  He is insane. Protecting SEAT COVERS???

I know someone who puts floor mats over his floor mats...........  in his lease car!

Edited by Sixball
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22 hours ago, dalt1 said:

Slightly different concern here. I am currently running with my bimini  up most the time. What precautions can be taken to prevent fading?  It gets  a lot of sun through the 8 months I get out. Factory Sunbrella material is what I assume is the material on 2018 LSV?

I run my Bimini pretty much 99% of the time as well and I have been using the 303 water repellent for the last 10 years on mine. It’s primarily for repellancy, but it seems to have done a good job of keeping it from fading. I am in the process of replacing just the canvas now because the surf rope has finally worn through on the corner. 

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10 hours ago, Sixball said:

I know someone who puts floor mats over his floor mats...........  in his lease car!

I've never leased a car - do you get charged for normal wear and tear on the floor mats?

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Not on this lease. this is not a common dealer lease. Even if something is trashed , broken, whatever he would need to take it in and fixed before turning the vehicle in but its covered under the lease deal. Even the insurance is covered. Its just him.

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As far as protecting the Bimini (303 Fabric Guard-Green bottle label) is the way to go.

I agree that these boat towers vary. My front posts of the bimini had to be bent different because the holes did not have the same angle in the tower (tower manufacture error).

Making adjustments to the bimini without cutting the back posts is tricky because if you loosen a bit the tightness, then the back will stick up more causing more rubbing of the rope. 

I will try it as it is, super tight for a while and monitor it. If it still feels too tight after some use, I will look into cutting the back posts a bit to shorten the front to back stretch and be able to pull the back down more so that the rope touches less.

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BTW,

I know cutting the front posts would technically be easier but If I do that the hole cutouts (rope and light) will be too far off. As of right now, there is much more room in the back and maybe a finger gap in the front.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think most bimini's stick up a little in the back and make the rope rub, I know mine does that. I also use 303 fabric guard or the Starbrite waterproofer on my bimini, bimini boot and the boat cover...it has done a good job keeping them all from fading and also makes them repel water much better doing that each Spring. I also had my factory bimini double stitched to help prevent tears too, tho mine is a 2014 so its not tight like you are describing.

On surf rope wear....my friend had a good idea and I followed suit on mine since I was worried about it wearing a hole in bimini at the back especially where rope rubs the worst when a rider is getting pulled up. On the first 3ft or so of the surf rope, he threaded the rope thru a pool noodle, the pool noodle encasing the first few feet of the rope, keeps the rope from rubbing directly on the fabric and so far has protected it well. Before doing that, we discussed sewing some kind of protective layer over the bimini fabric, cutting down and adding the piece of pool noodle has been fairly simple and easy tho.

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I like the idea of the pool noodle. I was thinking about something similar but it was basically slotting the pool noodle vertically and kind of snapping it in place along the edge of the back of the Bimini just when riding. Then just pulling it off when done. I used to do something similar when carrying delicate surfboards in the roof racks with my old car that had Yakima racks with the wind deflector and the deflector did not allow placing the typical longer pads. I just cut short sections, slice then open and snapped them in place. Only problem with my idea may be that if the rope does rub hard it cannot slide or roll side to side on the Bimini so going your way may be best. 

Now how do you keep it in position? so it doesn't just slide off.

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I am now using a section of clear vinyl hose (from a garden center) that covers from the tower tow point to the first knot on the rope which ends about a foot behind the rear bimini hoop. I had to untie and re tie the head loop to get the hose on, but I have mad boy scout knot skills so she’s working like a champ.

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