Bent spotter seat.

[oldjeep]

I'm in the midst of replacing the vinyl in the boat and figured I would fix the sagging spotter seat with some reinforcement.  Was surprised to find that it had some.  Anyone else seen this happen?  The only person who ever sits on this is a 120lb woman.

I guess I will drill out the rivets, straighten the aluminium  tube and buy one that fits inside before resecuring it in more than the 3 original spots.

Edited September 12, 2021 by oldjeep

[justgary]

That's crazy!  Is that square tube or solid bar?

[oldjeep]

11 hours ago, justgary said:

That's crazy!  Is that square tube or solid bar?

Aluminum square tube.  1/8" wall - or therabouts.  1" Ouside .75" outside .  Riveted to the coosa board in 3 spots.

I straightened it out easy enough with 1 blow from a hammer, so it isn't the toughest stuff in the world.

Edited September 13, 2021 by oldjeep

[hawaiianstyln]

could that have happened standing on the middle of that seat to put the rope on the tower

[oldjeep]

12 minutes ago, hawaiianstyln said:

could that have happened standing on the middle of that seat to put the rope on the tower

There would be no reason we would stand on that seat to reach the tower.  The only people who put ropes up are my son and I - we definitely don't need to stand on anything to reach the spool.  I can't think of any reason someone would stand on that seat.  Could just be from rough water, but if my wifes little 5ft 2 self can do that I would think a lot of folks would be complaining about bending it.

For a solution I bought a piece of 3/4" steel tube, pounded it all the way through the aluminum pipe coated in epoxy and then have epoxy filled the ends so that hopefully I don't have rust issues.  Once that dries I'm going to construction adhesive it and bolt it in 5 spots with stainless screws.  I'd prefer to not have to add any supports in the middle since that would make it harder to get stuff in and out of the compartment.

Edited September 13, 2021 by oldjeep

[hawaiianstyln]

makes sense, yah I wasn't sure about standing on that seat for something.  It was just an initial first thought.  I pretty much stand on my middle back seat to put the rope on the tow spool every time.  I'm short

[ahopkins22LSV]

Didn't you buy this boat pre-owned from a club or ski school? Maybe it happened there?

[oldjeep]

36 minutes ago, ahopkinsVTX said:

Didn't you buy this boat pre-owned from a club or ski school? Maybe it happened there?

It was 2 years old when I bought it from the school, but from the pictures I have it wasn't bent when I bought it.  I have noticed that it looked like it was sagging the last year or 2 - figured there was nothing but coosa in there and was surprised to find the bar.  Should be better than new by tomorrow, once stuff dries then I can get the new skin on it.  Then I am down to the 4 bow cushions.

Edited September 13, 2021 by oldjeep