18 R23 gatorstep add

[Thistledoo]

ok perfect...making some head way

[TMH802]

What do you guys think about adding it on the rear seat. This is on a 23 LSV. That seat is mostly used as a step in our boat. I have an R23.


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[TMH802]

IMG_1578.jpg


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[freeheel4life]

2019 already has it. Believe you could get all the parts from your dealer to retro it to your seat from Tige if you want it. Just need a decent upholstery shop.

[cnote]

thought about doing a mod like that on the rear seat, but then you lose that spot for actual seating. i also wouldn't do it like the lsv, theirs is too small. anyways what i ended up doing was buying a sheet of eva foam and a hdpe cutting board and i put the eva on both sides of the cutting board. i put that on the seat when ppl are stepping in/out there from the transom. the benefit of that is i still keep the seat when i want it and i can move it around and use it also on the side seats when ppl step down from dock.

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[TMH802]

2019 already has it. Believe you could get all the parts from your dealer to retro it to your seat from Tige if you want it. Just need a decent upholstery shop.

Oh dang I didn’t know the 2019 had it. It must be an option because I looked at a couple 2019’s online and a few had it and a few didn’t. Are they sewed on or are they placed on the seat with an adhesive?


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[freeheel4life]

Pretty sure its a stack of HPDE secured all the way down to the seat backer plastic so it is super solid and doesnt move. Foam cut around it and at the very end vinyl tucked underneath. Gatorstep going on last. Thats just my guess tho.

[MikeB313]

Oh dang I didn’t know the 2019 had it. It must be an option because I looked at a couple 2019’s online and a few had it and a few didn’t. Are they sewed on or are they placed on the seat with an adhesive?


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The first 2019s didn't have it. They implemented it sometime late fall/early winter.

[Bamer]

The first 2019s didn't have it. They implemented it sometime late fall/early winter.

It was standard when I got mine in dec. IMO, it’s too small. I had them leave it out. I’d rather have full use of the sit vs such a small step


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[freeheel4life]

what i ended up doing was buying a sheet of eva foam and a hdpe cutting board and i put the eva on both sides of the cutting board. i put that on the seat when ppl are stepping in/out there from the transom. the benefit of that is i still keep the seat when i want it and i can move it around and use it also on the side seats when ppl step down from dock.

^^Cnote's solution sounds like a win win.

[D&P Powell]

...what i ended up doing was buying a sheet of eva foam and a hdpe cutting board and i put the eva on both sides of the cutting board. i put that on the seat when ppl are stepping in/out there from the transom.

I love this idea. How big is the board, and would you mind posting up a picture? We have used a towel for years, and considered having our dealer add the step in to our back seat... but this idea would probably be much cheaper and more practical.

[cnote]

The cutting board i used is this one on Amazon:
Stanton Trading 799-30 Cutting Board 18" x 30" X 0.5" White.

i think a 12x24 would also be fine though.

the eva foam I also got on Amazon was faux teak sheet, i had a bunch left over that i have other uses for (dock pads). I also needed to use some 3M surface adhesive to make it stay on, the sticker back didn't stay that well. i put on both sides of the board.

its a relatively inexpensive solution to keep the vinyl and stitching protected, which was the one placed on my 08 z1 that started to wear out.

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[cnote]

don't have a pic but I'll grab one next time we're out at pk

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[D&P Powell]

Thanks cnote! Already ordered the board you referenced above. Will order the Gator Step when they open Monday.

[TigeFamily]

Above idea is a great one since it spreads the weight over the vinyl on seat. Economical and easy. I looked into something similar before I added a step on my boat but was not finding anything I thot would work well or spread the weight enough, decking on both sides keeps it from potentially cutting into the seat if someone steps on it wrong. I basically got my idea by looking at the steps that factory installs on their G3 and the Malibu show in OP's picture.

So last Spring, I customized my back seat and added a step, something I have been wanting to do since stepping there constantly to get up to transom walk-thru splits seams as we all know...and it was happening to my back seat. I was already having new vinyl installed due to seam split, so it worked out well on timing. I didn't mind "losing" that spot to sit since I rarely have large crews on boat and someone can still sit there, just a bit of a harder seat, lol. Typically its the last place someone would sit anyway since you cant see any action facing front of boat. Also, since surfing is my main activity, I preferred to have something built-in since people are always going back and forth from transom and the one thing I am anal about on my boat is people not stepping on the vinyl. (I also added decking to my gunnels and have decking under back corner seats so when loading at dock, you just remove the back corner seat and people step from dock, onto the decking under corner seat so there is no reason anyone ever has to step on my vinyl again). Somehow it still happens occasionally tho....amazing how oblivious people can be at times. Some will look at the "step" in back seat and then literally step NEXT to it . I now nicely educate new people before they get into the boat so I am not tempted to toss someone overboard while underway

Anyway, I removed the vinyl from back seat and then cut a 12" wide x 10" deep section out of the foam. I used thick HDPE blocks and first screwed them together to make a solid "block", and then secured them to the actual HDPE of the seat by putting some screws into the new block from underneath. (I designed the total height to be roughly 1/4" lower than my foam so once I placed the top step and secured, it would "suck" down into the foam some. I then cut and routered the edges on a 3/8" thick x 14" wide X 12" deep piece of HDPE (wanted it to overhang the lower piece by 1" on all 4 sides). I pre-drilled the holes in the top step piece down to the lower piece so later on there would be zero guessing as to placement.

I then had the new vinyl installed on the back seat as if the lower blocking/support for the new step was not there. My thinking was I would have less chances of vinyl issues if there were no cuts in the center, plus with people stepping into the boat there and water dripping, didn't want water to get down into the seat foam. I then securely screwed the top step down thru the vinyl and into the lower blocking I had previously installed and then installed a custom piece of decking I had previously ordered from Aqua Marine. Turned out very nice and it has worked perfectly since install. Only thing I would have done differently is not have 90 degree corners on the exposed step since even tho its not happened, I was afraid someone may catch a toe on the corner.

Pics attached of the step in the seat I added. Also the full order of the extra Aqua Marine decking that I ordered which matched the factory decking, but added non-slip surfaces to bow & gunnels. Also replaced the snap on carpet on my built-in cooler lid along with few other areas like installing pieces at bottom of my cup holders, etc.