www.iFourWinns.com

well here goes...please don't try this at home....at least not the way I did it!

So I figure..I get the lumber and carpet and hardware ahead of time and get a jumpstart.

3 trips to HomeDepot and a few more to lowes and I think I have everything I will need...

yes this is how you fit two 2x6x16's in a short bed crew cab...sliding rear window is awesome!

Now go get the boat, drop it in the lake at a courtesy dock and drag the trailer home.
This is some of the problems.

warped


Warped


Broken


Torn


Exposed


As I start to tear her apart I find this..



and this


And this


and this...


Now please understand, I figure I can do this on a Saturday afternoon in June in Las Vegas...it's now 105 degrees...I am already about two hours behind.... and I want to get out on the water on Sunday...silly me....

I cut my carpet and my 2x6's


and I realize my hardware is wrong..

this is what I remove.


as you can see I take off a nut and washer, a carriage bolt, and something I will soon come to realize as a very rare torque washer that can only be purchased in certain odd locations monday through friday...

what I have is a a galvanized carriage bolt and a stainless steel tee-nut (and a stainless washer and locknut not in the picture) obviously they are not going to work... and it's past 10 PM every place is closed...I'll have to wait till morning


back to lowes...wait if I thread a bolt all the way through the tee-nut and then put that in the hole and tighten it down with the nut..it's the same thing (I have to go to a regular bolt because they don't sell stainless or galvanized like this)
(at least in my mechanically deficient brain...what do you want from an artist?) so drill and countersink all my holes,


place all my hardware in them give it a quick coat of rustoleum to help prevent the rust and commence to stapling...


this is the only stainless staples they sell.


no wait the stainless staples don't fit my staplegun...arghh back to lowes to buy an electric staple gun (maybe the only smart thing I did)

now a smart person might do one and test it...no I do all four, two 11' 2x6's and 2 4' 2x6's guess what...the bolt un-threads from the tee nut once I start tightening the nut.....disaster...

now I have to take out many of my staples (approximately 83 per board) what a waste...


and I am going to have to tighten down the bolts from both sides and then re-attach carpet..


I finally get it done about 3:30PM and re-attach the side boards and replace my old failing jack stand (this remarkably only takes 5 minutes)

after


Give her a good wash...


soap up those new bunks..


and go pick her up...hoping she will fit on the new 2x6's

Arrive back at the lake to 25 mph wind gusts in the bay! this is going to be fun all by myself...

takes me a little while (to go from the courtoesy dock to the launch ramp, I have to switch my ropes and fenders from port to starboard while fighting the winds) but I get her back on the trailer

She fits!





She fits quite well.


and I tow her back to storage just as the sun sets..


As I am tossing the old bunks in the garbage I easily break each of them in half by hand to place in garbage can...glad I replaced them.

_________________


Chris and Alicia
Las Vegas, NV
ALTIVA
1996 Four Winns 238 Vista Dlx 5.8Fi

The end result looks nice - Well done!

The process that you described is likely what 90% of us go through during every project.

_________________
2002 Funship 214
VP 5.7 GX Si
2003 Tahoe

Nice job! One question - why mount the bunks off-center on the stanchions?

_________________


Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

So the outside ones had to be so the hull would fit...see how there is an angle here with the old bunks just at the outer edge.



The other one was just consistency I guess.

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Chris and Alicia
Las Vegas, NV
ALTIVA
1996 Four Winns 238 Vista Dlx 5.8Fi

After seeing what your bunk/hardware looked like, I'm thinking I may want to consider this project. BTW, your description of the project with multiple trips / do-overs sounds a lot like most anything I take on. Even when I think I have planned really well, something inevitably rears its ugly head.

_________________
2005 FW Horizon 250
8.1L VP DP

Glad it's not just me. My dad made everything look so easy growing up that I always feel like I must be doing something wrong.

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Chris and Alicia
Las Vegas, NV
ALTIVA
1996 Four Winns 238 Vista Dlx 5.8Fi

Definitely not just you. You were probably too young to remember the crap he went through before he got good at it.

Those offset bunks - most people would have centered them, and then gotten a nasty surprise. So you're better than you think!

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Mike
2005 Four Winns 230/240
VP 5.7GXi/DP
1998 F-150 XLT
Boat Pic

Sounds like me trying to do a quick Garbage Disposal Replacement last Sunday only to have all the pipes under the sink start breaking!

2 questions though if you don't mind---

1) How much did this end up costing you vs what someone would have charged to do it on your behalf?

2) How often should these realistically be replaced?

_________________

2012 H210--First Boat! Woo Hoo!
2013 Ford F150 Eco-Boost V6

My trailer looks faded like yours did. Did you repaint it or rub it out and then wax it. Looks good. I have been planning on either doing all that or just wire wheeling some of the rust areas and then rattle can paint the thing and then add some new four winns stickers. Havent decided on what to do yet. Yours looks great now, Nice Job.

_________________
1997 Horizon RS 180
5.7 GL Volvo Penta /SX drive. (1.60)
2018 Ford F-150 super crew 4x4

Not to sound dumb, what does soaping up the new bunks do. stationary wash board? lol I'm learning fellas. I'm learning.

_________________
1997 Horizon RS 180
5.7 GL Volvo Penta /SX drive. (1.60)
2018 Ford F-150 super crew 4x4

and how often should you soap these bunks?

Hey.........I am learning too!!!!

_________________

2012 H210--First Boat! Woo Hoo!
2013 Ford F150 Eco-Boost V6

That's a very good question. When I started I began documenting everything I was doing. Taking pictures along the way, and setting each receipt aside....in the end I had done some many returns I lost count...but here is my best guess:

The Pressure treated lumber - 2x 2x6x16 $17 each - $34
I think I had to buy 12 feet of carpet (12x6) - $60

Hardware
12 bolts - $11
12 stainless steel t-nuts - $48 (the wrong thing to use but all I had)
12 locking nuts - $7
12 lock washers - $3
2 boxes of stainless steel staples - $24

Total - $187

(plus a $20 dollar electric stapler, but I will use that again)

That should get you a close estimate.

As for how often, my guess is these came with the boat from 1996...and although I may have to re-do some hardware (because I couldn't get the right hardware in Las Vegas on the weekend) I doubt I will have to do this again as long as I own the boat.

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Chris and Alicia
Las Vegas, NV
ALTIVA
1996 Four Winns 238 Vista Dlx 5.8Fi

Thanks, but hoestly all I did was wash it...I didn't have time to wax it that weekend. I will make time in the future, it is still in good shape for a 1996 and I'd like to keep it that way.

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Chris and Alicia
Las Vegas, NV
ALTIVA
1996 Four Winns 238 Vista Dlx 5.8Fi

I read somewhere to soap them with the new carpet, not sure why or if it made a difference. My guess is it didn't. However I will say that I keep a bar of soap on board for the zippers on my canvas and soaping them up every so often works wonders!

_________________


Chris and Alicia
Las Vegas, NV
ALTIVA
1996 Four Winns 238 Vista Dlx 5.8Fi

The torque washers can be ordered through Lowes. Do a search on their website and they will pop up.