Bought a factory SS Arch for my FS234

marietta_ken · **Joined:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:16 am **Posts:** 38

I recently bought a used 2003 FS234 that I really like. Needs a wake tower, though. I had a Big Air H2O tower on my previous deck boat. Was great, but not as clean or sleek of a look as I want for this boat. Wanted to get the Samson tower like someone else on here has on his 244, but I just didn't want to drop $2K+ to get there. Lo and behold, I stumbled upon a surplus FW OEM SS "Arch" tower (like a $6K option!) that should work almost perfectly for me. The arches were meant to be oriented with a forward swoop -- which looks pretty cool but would interfere with my bimini (a deal breaker) -- but it has identical geometry to what I wanted when turned "backwards." I got it for a fraction of the cost of even the Samson (which is a very nice tower, btw), and am very excited about how it's gonna look. I'll post some pics when I have it installed in the next few weeks. In the meantime, here are a couple of pics of the tower:

aguyindallas · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 7:49 am

Good ole eBay....I've seen those on there. Be sure to post some pics.when you get it on the boat. Installing it yourself or having it done?

Paul I. · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 9:31 am

LOOKS GREAT!! I see the backer plate, but you may want to add a wooden plate or something, so the glass will not flex.

I added one to my FW. When I his a good wake or wave, without it, the arch was shaking and the glass was flexing back and forth.

marietta_ken · **Joined:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:16 am **Posts:** 38

aguyindallas wrote:

Good ole eBay....I've seen those on there. Be sure to post some pics.when you get it on the boat. Installing it yourself or having it done?

Yeah, GLS had them on eBay, but you can't really buy a fixed dimension tower that way. I called them up directly to get several more, critical measurements. The guy there was very helpful.

I'll be installing it myself. I installed a Big Air H2O tower on my last boat. Not too hard -- but definitely learned a great deal about placement relative to bimini.

St. Louis Dave · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:03 am

Paul I. wrote:

LOOKS GREAT!! I see the backer plate, but you may want to add a wooden plate or something, so the glass will not flex.

I added one to my FW. When I his a good wake or wave, without it, the arch was shaking and the glass was flexing back and forth.

+1

marietta_ken · **Joined:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:16 am **Posts:** 38

Paul I. wrote:

LOOKS GREAT!! I see the backer plate, but you may want to add a wooden plate or something, so the glass will not flex.

I added one to my FW. When I his a good wake or wave, without it, the arch was shaking and the glass was flexing back and forth.

Definitely gonna put plenty of beef back there. I find it a little odd that each foot just has the single bolt for support. Gives a nice, clean look, but puts all the stress on the one hole. A good backer should do the trick, though!

St. Louis Dave · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 10:06 am

I would almost want to glass a wood backer plate in place just to help distribute the load. You're going to have a ton of stress on those 4 points. Let us know how you do it.

marietta_ken · **Joined:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:16 am **Posts:** 38

St. Louis Dave wrote:

I would almost want to glass a wood backer plate in place just to help distribute the load. You're going to have a ton of stress on those 4 points. Let us know how you do it.

Great idea...plus, I have some left over glass and resin from a sub box I made a couple of months ago. Will also basically eliminate the deterioration factor as well. Thanks for the tip!

Paul I. · **Posted:** Thu Nov 17, 2011 1:34 pm

marietta_ken wrote:

Paul I. wrote:

LOOKS GREAT!! I see the backer plate, but you may want to add a wooden plate or something, so the glass will not flex.

I added one to my FW. When I his a good wake or wave, without it, the arch was shaking and the glass was flexing back and forth.

Definitely gonna put plenty of beef back there. I find it a little odd that each foot just has the single bolt for support. Gives a nice, clean look, but puts all the stress on the one hole. A good backer should do the trick, though!

The bolt itself, is fine. Most likely it is 3/8"s, which is plenty.

My setup was different, The "big" bolt is on a flange, than four 1/4 bolts thru the hull to a flat backer plate. I used a piece of 1/4" plywood 8" x 8" using glass cloth & West Systems resin. The cloth made it a little bigger and the resin will also seal the wood.

marietta_ken · **Joined:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:16 am **Posts:** 38

Got the tower on today. Put it back clear of the bimini to make sure there was no interference up, down, traveling. Very pleased all around! See what you think:

aguyindallas · **Posted:** Thu Nov 24, 2011 7:18 am

Good work!

St. Louis Dave · **Posted:** Thu Nov 24, 2011 10:31 am

Looks GREAT!

What did you do for backers? Pix?

marietta_ken · **Joined:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:16 am **Posts:** 38

St. Louis Dave wrote:

Looks GREAT!

What did you do for backers? Pix?

I still have to install backer plates. I had the tower shipped to a metal shop as I knew I was going to need the front bars spread about 6" at the bottom. We accomplished that by using a roller in the top corners. Worked like a charm. Anyway, that was the focus of the day -- just getting it fitted and secured. I'll do the backing sometime in the future (ie, before I take it out next spring. Still planning to do the glassed 1/4" ply backers as you guys suggested. For now she's just sitting in storage...looking pretty.

ric · **Posted:** Mon Nov 28, 2011 6:10 pm

nailed it.

marietta_ken · **Joined:** Fri Nov 11, 2011 10:16 am **Posts:** 38

ric wrote:

nailed it.

Hey, thanks!

www.iFourWinns.com

Bought a factory SS Arch for my FS234

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