e-series tower - how to replace the pads between tower and boat?

[rhoadsdj]

My 2008 22Ve has seen the black 'pads' between the tower and boat (4 of them total) start to crumble over the past 2 summers of ownership to the point that I think I need to replace them.

Has anybody done this? Is is straightforward? Or do seats need to start coming apart?

Lastly - any easy on-line place to buy or do I need to hit up the dealer?

Thanks.

-Dan

[KoolAid]

The bow ones should be fairly easy. The biggest concern would be seizing up the lock nuts when you are removing them from the all thread/tower base. Being 8 years old, I would put fresh anti seize on the threads and hope for the best. The factory will not have the rubber pieces anymore. You will need to custom cut your own replacement parts. You will need some type of UV stable foam rubber 1/4" thick or a clear vinyl 1/8" to 3/16" thick.
The cockpit area most likely will require removal of the gunnels which the bolts holding the upholstery should be accessible from the storage areas. Kind of think of it the port side may not need removal of the gunnel because you may be able to access it from the observer storage area. Plan for the worst (meaning you may need to replace some/all of the all threads and nuts because of them seizing) and hopefully everything goes well.

[talltex360]

I have a 2008 RZ4 with the e-series tower and the same thing is going on. Please post progress. Someone has to be the guinea. lol . Good luck with it.

[Thegerman618]

I would go to your local auto parts store and buy some rubber gasket material. Its cheap and you can cut it to whatever size and shape you want, believe they have several thicknesses as well.

[chpthril]

No interior part need to be removed. the rear tower leg is threaded into a threaded aluminum plate thats glassed into the under side of the deck. Simply back out the allen head bolt. However, you have speaker wires and anchor light wires through both rear tower legs that go through those rubber pads. Splitting the pad to go around the wires would allow it to ooze out over time. You really need to pull the wires and pass them back through the pads.

Fronts are easy as they are just bolts with nuts. Can be done with one person, but two makes it much easier. That 2nd person will help in lifting the tower legs and swapping the pads and getting the leg back in place. Do one leg at a time.

[dj2]

Talltex360, The 08 RZ4 likely has the Z series tower, the main difference with this process is that tower has speaker/light wires pass through the front legs.

[retox1]

I replaced mine shortly after i got my boat a few years ago. I bought a strip of hard 1\8 inch thick rubber from Mcmaster-Carr and used that. Nothing really complicated to it. Just undid the bolts and lifted the tower feet, then set it back down on the rubber and used it as a template. Not 100% sure but i think the speaker wires and nav light wiring were run through the front legs on mine. Just unhook the wires from your amp and pull them through, then replace them after you cut your new rubber.

Make sure you use rubber thats hard enough that when you retighten the tower feet down it doesnt just squish out. Its gotta be firm but not solid.