Metcraft ** metcrap) what tower did you replaces yours with?

[IDBoating]

Might be a little late, but...

I did a ton of research on aftermarket towers a couple of years ago and chose Joystick. Their design, construction, and appearance are the best IMHO and the presales support was the best (BTW, Monster was the worst). Aftersales support was great too.

I used their Pro Series tower. Here's their webpage:

http://www.joystickpylons.com/towers_pro.htm

...and here's a writeup of my installation process:

http://articles.richardhartman.net/tower/tower.htm

They have them for any make and model. Call them and tell them what you have and they'll set you up.

Mine cost under $1K for the tower. The racks added a bit. Still an awesome deal.

Hope this helps!

[kko]

WOW I just got to see this tower in person for the first time. WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!! Was tige thinking. LOL I really never understood why it got such a bad rap. Well now that I have seen it I understand. I would never trust that thing. I have a metcraft tower on my 03. It may not be the sexiest tower ever but I have never had a moments trouble out of it,and never understood why people bagged on the metcraft towers. Well thats because I have a metcraft not a metCrap.

[rostap]

Dude I'm stoked to see this tower on your/our boat! Cant wait to see the pics. Once i'm off of spending restriction..thats the setup i'm going for too.

[Fiveflat]

Hey rostap, Local neighbor of yours it appears. How do you like your 2000 21v?

[rostap]

Hey rostap, Local neighbor of yours it appears. How do you like your 2000 21v?

Hey Five. I love it. This was our second summer with it and have had zero problems with it other than the usual minor boat stuff. I looked around at a few other boats that may be a little newer that some features mine didnt have that were more $$$, but i figured i could add as i go as long as the motor had low hours. We paid $17k, and had 270 hrs on it. Interior/Ext was in good shape. I figured as i went i would add a new tower, perfect pass, depth sounder all for around $3k so for comparison it was about a $20k investment. So for now $17k has given us 2 awesome summers on the water. We are just starting to surf and with a handful of people in the boat and some meager ballast, we have gotten a pretty good surf wave. We're still dialing it in, but once we get some REAL ballast i think we'll be loving it. Wakeboarding, no problem, with taps more than enough wake.

If your looking at around this year model, and want to go for a ride, check out the wake/etc. let me know. We're out at folsom all the time!

[lohe]

And here we go!!!





So I decided to use the factory holes up front on the bow.



Now this towers tubing was longer to I can't use the factory rear holes... I had a hard time deciding to mount it on top or the side for the rear. I liked the how it followed the windshield line with mounting on the side. But then the distance width wise was much greater... Also mounting it up top the top section thins out. So round mount sides would have hung over the edges... So I went with the side for the rear.



Top VS my marking for the side



Now the support mounts for the front holes on the inside are so close I had to trim them down a little.



and installed.


Side rails on.

[Fiveflat]

That looks good! I thought there was structural backing where the towers mounted, but going to the side like that is okay?

[lohe]

Oh BTW drilling holes in the side of your boat is a bit nerve racking.

For the tower itself over all I am happy with it couple of issues.

These mounting couplers one the hole for the bolt was not machined correctly so the bolt was to tight and would not slide down ( just barley) I ground down the head of the bolt just a little and it went in.

Then the other ones larger opening was just slightly to small so I had to slightly grind down the tube going into it.


My other issues is I can't seem to get it 100% symmetrical no matter how much I loosen and adjust it between the tubing and windshield on the port side it is almost 1 inch closer... I finally gave up yesterday and finished mounting the rest of the tower.

My other issue is the tower itself is not very easy to fold up and down... I thought it was going to be easier but its a bit of work and I don't want to have to fold it EVERY time I park it under the new canopy I purchased. So I am going to return the canopy and figure something else out to cover the boat.


I will get more pictures tonight of my progress.

[lohe]

That looks good! I thought there was structural backing where the towers mounted, but going to the side like that is okay?

Nope they just use a large metal washer to distribute the load... If the fiberglass is less then 1/4 inch thick then you have to reinforce it.

[lohe]

Oh I got the Bimini top yesterday... Its HUGE but not really looking forward to how it installs. So far it does not look like it will be easy to come on and off.... We shall see.

[rostap]

Looks good! Cant wait to see the rest of the pics.

[laserfish]

Lookin good. Couple of questions. How far do the mounts stick out from the side, and how hard is it to fold? I have to fold every time, and only have 1.25 inches on each side to clear when backing down the driveway. Plus, can you get rotating board racks to fit?
Cant wait to see the bimini and finished pics. Great job so far.

[thtrog]

Show us the finished product....looking good so far!

[lohe]

Show us the finished product....looking good so far!

My wife took the camera I have pics on and she is out of state till Sunday.

The tower does not fold very easily. But it does fold something I decided I would not want to do every outing. Not sure if you can get rotating racks with the way you mount the racks to the tower... I would say it sticks out around 2 and 1/2 to 3 inches.

[Iwndr]

Looking sweet Lohe
nice work
need more pics