Transom Tie Downs?

[MoneyPity]

Knowing that the transom eyelets are meant for lifting the boat onto a trailer or a boat stand tells me that they are meant to handle the weight of the boat distributed in three places. The bow eyelet and the two transom ones.

In short hauls say from house to lake ie. a couple of miles may be ok but IMO using the swim platform brackets I would suspect that in a panic stop that the brackets will bend or worse.

If the concern is the web strap rubbing the gel coat slide a thin tube sock cut open so that the sock can slide down the strap. You may have to pull the platform pin and slide the sock between the platform and then push platform up so pin can be re-inserted. This slight inconvenience will protect the gel coat but will allow you to properly tie down the boat as it was designed to handle.

If you have a teak platform and are concerned about the tie down strap and the gel coat when using the lifting eyes and sock cannot be slid down between platform and gel coat you may want to sand the platform 1/8" or so to allow the sock to be pressed between the teak platform and the gel coat. Mens tube socks work well for this work around. Heck you could even die them to match the gel coat behind them.

[mneal]

I agree that all threads on the nut should be fully engaged, or else you may not be able to provide the maximum load carrying capacity of the nut/bolt system. Anything beyond that is unneeded (I think...again, mechanical or structural eng may say that I'm full of baloney).

But, I would be extremely surprised if they were not constructed with some additional support plates inside the glass to distribute the load when they are lifted.

You are right, to have full strength in a threaded joint the powers to be typically say you need ~1 to 1.5 threads protruding thru the backside of the nut, anything beyond that is no added benefit.

I too was surprised they didn't use a backing plate, at least it didn't look like there was one in that pic somebody posted. Maybe they have an embedded plate in the lay-up though.

I wouldn't tie the boat the to swim platform brackets. You hit it exactly right, the section (shape) of the platform bracket is very strong "in plane" but very weak with any lateral load. Try to bend a ruler both directions (one edge and when flat), is the same kinda deal.

Although in a serious crash the inertial loads created by the boat are far greater then the straps and tie down points can tolerate, all they really need to do is overcome the weight/friction of the trailer, not the boat. Think of the boat flying thru the air and trailer still attached.

I think tie down straps are very important, in fact I have a friend that is a DOT guy and I believe he said it can be considered an unconstrained load w/o them. Wouldn't get a ticket for just that but if you were in an accident or were stopped fort anything else it could be added to the list. He has written lots of tickets for no "over size loads" paperwork with larger boats.

[mtnsmith]

Interesting, I have backing plates on my 2005 22v I believe. From the shot of how you hook to the platform, it seems that you could just take the yellow protective pad that is around the buckle, but not touching anything, and allow it to go up betweek the strap and the transom where it rubs, which is what I have done on my boat, and hook it to the lifting eyes.

[ajholt7]

I think I will just buy the retractables. The straps I have are just not going to work unless I use the uncoated hook on the boat side and I don't want to do that.

[Fast1911]

OK, here is a pic of a boat in the air using the transom eyelets

[da.bell]

^^^ Oh the horror of that picture

[jwanck11]

OK, here is a pic of a boat in the air using the transom eyelets

What is the boat doing on the highway without a trailer underneath of it???

[R&T Babich]

... But, I would be extremely surprised if they were not constructed with some additional support plates inside the glass to distribute the load when they are lifted.

When I replaced the transom U-bolts I looked inside the holes for imbedded plates.
One of the holes was not drilled with the right spacing and had to be offset a little more.
All I could see was wood & fiberglass.
I was more concerned with towing another boat and the U-bolt pulling thru the transom.

[Big Wave]

I don't know if it is right or wrong but our dealer told us it was fine to hook to the swim step as close to the transom as pos. When he delivers the boat back to our lake house (2 hour drive)after service it is always hooked to the swim step.
It is a short drive from house to lake so I have not given it alot of thought

[whitlock87]

I run my tie down between the swim deck and the transom to connect them to the transom eye. I had my wife make two small trey covers to keep them from scratching the boat. It has worked out great.